What Happens When You Plug a SUICIDE CORD in a LIVE OUTLET? Do Not Try This Ever
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- Опубликовано: 19 сен 2022
- I was asked this question at least 500 times & now you can see what happens when you take a backfeeding suicide cord & connect it to a live electric outlet. Learn a little about outlets & wiring in the process too. DO NOT attempt to replicate anything shown in the video as your individual situation may be different & there is serious risk or injury or death. The purpose of this video is for entertainment purposes only. This video is not an instructional guide. I am 100% AGAINST all back-feeding cords, cables & illegally connecting generators to homes
Watt Tester: amzn.to/3C8NCqI
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Disclaimer:
Due to factors beyond the control of Silver Cymbal, I cannot guarantee against improper use or unauthorized modifications of this information. Silver Cymbal assumes no liability for property damage or injury incurred as a result of any of the information contained in this video. Use this information at your own risk. Silver Cymbal recommends safe practices when working on machines and or with tools seen or implied in this video. Due to factors beyond the control of Silver Cymbal, no information contained in this video shall create any expressed or implied warranty or guarantee of any particular result. Any injury, damage, or loss that may result from improper use of these tools, equipment, or from the information contained in this video is the sole responsibility of the user and not Silver Cymbal. 
Хобби
Power Tester Used: amzn.to/3C8NCqI Remember Suicide cords should never be purchased or used. Backfeeding is illegal & it can and has killed people. *This video is for entertainment purposes in a testing environment with safety controls in place. I do not recommend purchasing these cables or attempting any of the testing shown* Backfeeding a generator into your power system without an interlock safety device will always be illegal & is totally unsafe.
That's a great video. I didn't realize the hots and neutrals were connected inside, so I was one of those expecting sparks, and that you were brave doing so with light, rubber gloves. 😊
Yes and no, if off grid its a legimate way to feed a cottage but of course better to have 30 amp or higher panel feed from a generator.
Background, I'm a master electrician. So just FYI, its pretty common in houses to break that little tab off the side of the outlet to separate the top and bottom plugs so you can wire one constant hot and the other controlled by a switch for a lamp. In those cases, its not guaranteed that the 2 outlets will be the same phase. Hope nobody tries this at home! At least you have a disclaimer, I'm sure everyone will read that...
My DUMB ASS room mate took a plug apart, twisted the two wires together and plugged it back in .....idk wtf they did exactly but it immediately caught the socket on fire when plugged in
@@RoryVanucchi I can't think of any cable having 'back-to-back, uninsulated male plugs is acceptable.
so gay wires
So what? Why do we need this plug for them??? Weast of time.
Yeah gay wires
The gayest of wires.
It always was.
Adam and Dave would appreciate not being ATE RIMED 🤣🤣🤣
Thank you for not turning this into a 35 minute video.
TheEvilFoxy
@@byronobrien3121 byronobrien3121
Seriously. Videos are getting oddly long. Surprised he didn't explain the basic of electricity as a side note then read an add. Then finally explain the outlet with an affiliate link to buy outlets and cables
I appreciate you delivering the goods without wasting the viewer's time like 99% of youtubers. Thank you
don't listen to this guy , ask an electrician what a split receptacle is and how it can explode when this kind of cord is plugged in.
@@jimballard7217 A split receptacle should definitely have been mentioned but doesn’t negate the info here.
Hmmm. This almost gave me PSTD! When I was six, I saw a two-prong wire lying around with its other end stripped and copper exposed. Curiously, I plugged it in both sides of an outlet and got the shock of my life! In a split second, suddenly there was a
VERY LOUD SCARY SPARK, soot, and blister burns on my hands. Also it blew a fuse. Apparently there was a lamp with a bad plug that it was gonna be spliced to. I was nicknamed "Livewire" for a long time after that! Subsequently, I took electronics in vocational school and had jobs dealing with electricity for years!
Or your cable had crossed wires? Or your two outlets were actually on different circuits?
PTSD? I'd see a shrink...
@@PauxloE OIC Perhaps. Come to think of it not sure if there was an outlet cover on the wall on it or if some electrical work was being done
@@jw5031 Haha...I do. - Still. :). Had to have them move the loveseat away from the wall. LOL
@@PauxloEmore than likely crossed wires!
I would suggest not wearing those gloves with electrical circuits. Those could possibly burn into the skin and painful to remove with an electrical accident. I’ve unfortunately known people in the electrical industry that have made this mistake.
But it would make for a good video
an arc flash in this situation (this cord, 120v, etc) that would make these gloves a danger is highly unlikely. While these gloves aren't thick enough to ensure no shock - I believe there is a definite added layer of safety in the specific use for this video.
@@ian3580 we all know those types of glove rip very easily. It’s a false sense of protection. Any little pin prick hole is 100% failure in protection. I would rather use my hands than wear gloves that would make me complacent.
Yeah I don't recommend these either as a form of protection.
Those gloves are nitrile.
As an electrician for the last 25 years that is exactly the result I expected...keep one end plugged in that outlet then plug the other end into an outlet that's on an opposite phase if you want to see sparks fly
Exactly right. He must think we're stupid.
@@edwardfrostickblois4191 no that's what I really thought. Not everyone knows. I don't know anything about electricity. I even muted thinking there would be a blast
My son wants to be an electrician and this was a great chance to get him to try to figure out what would happen. Unfortunately he decided that nothing would happen _"because there was no load attached"_ so I had to explain that if it did work the way people were thinking, that wire would demand as much power as your power source could provide until it burned up or the breaker tripped. We've got a ways to go lol.
Most people expect an explosion from that thumbnail alone probably
Agreed do it on a split plug. Usually found in a kitchen so people don't blow a breaker using a toaster and microwave at the same time on one outlet.
There could be other types of wiring configurations for an outlet like this. The top and bottom could be fed from two different circuits if the connecting tabs have been removed. If those two different circuits are from two different legs in the panel you might be looking at much different results.
That's true, and he definitely should have mentioned that.
But nothing would happen but a popped fuse and maybe a little bit of smoke.
Agreed. Sometimes the hot legs can be split (remove the tab connecting the two outlets,) and be wired with 240volts. It allows more power at the outlet. Plug that thing in, and it goes BOOM!
I thought it would be like a 6-plug adapter I have for my guitar pedals. Each plug is daisy-chained, so if it's plugged in when you're hooking up the pedals, it starts shooting sparks when you get to the last couple. I'm guessing it's like daisy-chaining subwoofers, how each additional one cuts the ohms in half?
As a person who stuck a paper clip into a wall outlet two days ago, this is life-changing information.
One question:
Why?
@@Eric-vs2he He didn't want to die wondering...
@@MaZaKeRaL 🤣
@@Eric-vs2he I doubt he did. He's trying to say only a numbskull would think anything would happen. If you don't know how electricity works, it's best to stick to standard devices in normal usage.
I did that at least two times as a kid
Wow, a youtube video where someone actually got straight to the point. Instant like for you good sir
He could be dead wrong... many kitchen plugs will be split into 2 separate circuits and he would have caused a dead short melting the cord and blowing breakers.
@@snsjeep I wasn't planning on mythbusting it lol
Yeah I just watched a bunch 20 minute videos for 2 minutes that I cared about. When I saw this video was less than 3 minutes I was surprised and also stoked! That will earn some subscribers quick
This post was brought to you by RAID SHADOW LEGENDS
@@snsjeep yh but generally two rings wouldn’t be on the same socket 😊
When people break out the angle grinder to open up stuff, you have my full attention
Excellent video. Quick, to the point, and informative! Great job!!!
While most videos will drag on with 10+ minutes and filler, you explained it well and within the appropriate time without losing my attention. Bravo, Sir.
Here here!
I worked hardware stores for years, without fail every Christmas I would have to explain several times to people why this cord can't be bought, and is extremely dangerous. The dull looks on people's faces as I explained will never leave me..
It's because they strung their Christmas lights backwards, and have the wrong end at the outlet.
**Edit** wow, thanks for all the comments, hilarious read through 😂
This is one of the funniest comments I've ever read
This would be so dangerous, as it would expose live prongs on the other end.
I never even heard of this chord. What is the purpose of putting those 2 ends in the same outlet.
@@kennethbailey6634 It would never be used as we saw in this video. There is no purpose to putting the 2 ends in the same outlet. Such cords are usually homemade and are used by people who are trying to hook up their generators to their homes in a dangerous/illegal way during power outages.
The best use of this chord is for extracting the sour apple flavor from within the outlet.
People keep telling me to stop doing that though. They say I have to be taken to the hospital afterwards, but like… I don’t recall any of it, and I really feel like I would remember something like that.
I keep seeing videos about these cords, now I feel compelled to try one
I learned more in this 3 minutes than I did in the 1.5 years I took electronics class for.
is that supposed to be a self-burn? : p
MAJOR WARNING: Occasionally an individual receptacle will be wired with a separate circuit on each plug, with 240 VAC between the hots. As an example, I was once hired by an apartment complex after their maintenance crew attempted to replace an under-the-sink receptacle which resulted in tripped breakers. What their crew failed to recognize was that the original receptacle was wired for two separate circuits, one for the dishwasher, and the other for the disposal. For this to work, the receptacle common tab must be removed, otherwise the result is a direct short between phases. DO NOT PLUG IN A SUICIDE CORD EVER. Also: HIRE A LICENSED ELECTRICIAN. Silver Cymbal, be careful about representing this in this way.
I was thinking the same thing. He should have mentioned the break away tabs on the side of the receptacle.
@brianj7367 He did but did not explain that they can be broken out.
And checking one side of a receptacle with a meter and checking the other side of the receptacle with a meter will give you a separate reading of 120 volts it will not tell you it’s a different phase. The way around that would be to check both hot sides of that duplex receptacle to see if you get 208-240 volts. Then you’ll know it’s a split fed receptacle and to never plug in a suicide plug! Shouldn’t do it anyways!
@@bobdamico3715 Wow, exactly!
Who would do that ?
Really happy you didn't turn nothing into a 6-10 minute RUclips video. Loved the short learning.
But first we have to understand the history of electricity....
I love the 20-minute prank vids that end up having no real point or satisfying ending. NOT!
If i have an interlock installed. Can i plug this with my echo flow on any outlets in the house.?
I have no use for this information, but I clicked and watched anyway. I'm that much more knowledgeable now.
Don't ever do this in a kitchen. In many older homes they use what is called a split plug arrangement, the upper and lower halves of the outlet are on separate breakers and share the neutral wire. When it was installed a tang on the outlet was intentionally broken off to separate the halves. The two breakers are on the opposite bus bars in your panel and if you measured across them you would get 240 V. This is done to give full 15 amp capacity to each of the two outlet sockets. Plugging a suicide cord into a split plug will give you all the fire works you would expect. Modern homes have moved to conventionally wired 20 amp circuits because they can be protected by a GFCI. You have been warned!!!
Yeah man. I’ve wired older kitchen outlets and we used to cut the brass that jumped the two hot sides together so we could have two breakers on one outlet. So of course it’s 240v. Between the two hot sides of one outlet and shorting those would be not good.
Now with GFCIs being kitchen and bathroom code, you can’t jury-rig it the old way and that’s a good thing. If he’d have tried that suicide cord on one of our rigged outlets from the 80’s, it would have been much more exciting. I hope nobody in an older house tries this suicide cord assuming it’s just fine. If those two receptacles are on separate breakers on opposite buss bars…Boom! You shorted 240v. Hope you had safety glasses on.
Both breakers will trip but not without some sparks and possible arc-welding involved. I think he needs to clarify this for those who think his experiment is completely safe to try in their homes.
I was a licensed electrician when I was 16 years old in the sixties when a rule used to be, reach into a fuse box with only one hand. That way, the electricity can’t cross your heart and kill you. An apprentice when in attics they used bare wire on stand-offs on dry wood joists.
Many houses burnt down. I’m 60 years old now. Still an electrician.
So, I’ve dealt with 12,280 volts coming into substations with rain drip pans on the ceilings and water on concrete floors. Still alive after 60 years.
Now here’s this kid with a “suicide cord” on RUclips and explaining how completely harmless it is. Not good my friends. If you don’t understand how electricity works from the transformers to your homes, please don’t f*ck with it.
@Repent and believe in Jesus Christ, You know what else Jesus said? Don’t mess with electricity. “It’s the gates of hell.”
Well, he didn’t say that, no electricity back then, but it’s fun to mess with stupid trolls.
I remember being an electrical engineer working with the navy and assigned to a transformer restoration on a 50 year old neglected hotel substation in Hawaii. I’m not navy, I’m a subcontractor who worked with submariners
I went to the hotel and the chief engineer said the contacts were welded shut. 12,480 volts at 500 amps. Not cool. They needed to be opened. You can’t shut down an active hotel with guests who think they’re in paradise, so I looked for the transfer switch. Put my meter on it. Checked the springs. Looks operational. The problem is the breaker on the transformer. One leg would disconnect, the other wouldn’t. Spring broke. Huge spring broke. The thing with high voltage breakers and contractors is spring speed. Between on and off it has to be super-fast or it’ll weld itself shut. That’s fine for power but you’ll be hard pressed to ever turn it off again. It’s magnetic. Electromagnetic. One side fails, you’re screwed and we were.
Face-shield time. Leather gloves, a dry 2x4. I slammed the contractor to closed and everything came on. Didn’t weld. That’s good.
Everyone cheered like I was a hero. Not even close. Called Hawaiian Electric and they came out for emergency supply and all the tourists in the hotel thought nothing was wrong. That’s how it should be, and it was. Fireworks for Aloha Friday, everything above ground goes as planned. In the substation, complete mayhem. We were able to transfer power seamlessly and I remember that as my proudest moment.
Nobody noticed a thing besides us. The lights in the hotel didn’t even flicker as we shut the transformer down. Hoops and hollers about the fireworks on Aloha Friday as we’re covered in sweat in the substation. We didn’t get to enjoy the fireworks display but you know what? We didn’t care. We were the silent heroes in the bilges for everyone else to enjoy this night. I loved every moment of it. Even though I saw no fireworks. I heard them, but what we were doing was for the others, the building, the guests, and everything that revolved around it.
Radio chatter on secret channels, nobody knew that we were the hero’s of this at all. I thought that so cool.
One transformer just had to go. We’d hire a crane in the morning when nobody is looking.
The building was built around the mechanical things too large so they called in a helicopter.
Nobody was hurt during the Aloha Friday celebration that happens every Friday, but they noticed the helicopter the next morning and asked security what’s going on. No big deal, just replacing a transformer, go on about your day. Have fun in paradise.
Everything worked out fine. Nobody had a suicide cord to test a single circuit. This guy needs to figure out if he’s talking electrical he better make damn sure what he’s talking about before wasting all our time and putting morons in jeopardy. Don’t tell home owners or renters to plug a “suicide cord” into outlets no matter what.
@@Woodstock271 Not sure you ever really got it if you think reaching into a fuse box with one hand won't kill you. Sounds like you just got lucky. Current does not pass through your heart via each arm like there's some concealed cable running up each one. If you are grounded, current hitting you pretty much anywhere on your body will disrupt your heart rhythm. Your entire body is conductive and your nervous and vascular system will carry current to places it shouldn't be.
Just don't do it! You've seen the video, so you know what happens!😁
For anyone in regions with different standards: DON'T EVER DO THIS! Here in the Netherlands for example, plugs can be inserted in two ways, even with grounded sockets. The chance of having shortcircuits is 50%. And with the 230 V we use, this can be lethal. So just like Silver Cymbal said: do not do this, for any reason, ever!
bruh u guys run direct current?
or what
@@r30413 Yeah 230 V and 1500 A dirrect current :D In Europe we are just welding and galvanize everithing and it's enough for us. We are happy with that.
@@matelabanc2516 never mind that, i tought they use the funky ones like the one in the vid
@@r30413 230Vac. What I mean is you can flip your plug 180 degrees, no matter the type of socket, and you will still be able to plug it in.
@@sander-MW3 I was thinking u where taking about "tripods" like the one in the vid, since u cant flip them...
On most outlets, you are correct. But if the jumper is purposely broken and another another feed is brought in from the other hot (houses are fed by 240vac center tapped, the center being the neutral lead) then it would be shorted.
Edit: Btw, if you are using a suicide cord to power you house from the generator, you arenlikely only feeding half the house and any 240vac items will not work.
and if your e.g. water heater or some other high power 240V appliance comes on the other phase will be pulled up through the low resistance connection, with loads on the other phase effectively in series with the water heater - this is why it can be confusing to diagnose what's wrong if one phase of the service goes bad if you don't know what to look for.
I thought that it was going to short, but a fraction of a second after it didn't, I realized why and facepalmed! 😂
As an electrician for the last 1.7 days I am completely surprised by these results.
Either me or you are completely dumb. I'm finding it difficult to figue out that though!
🤣🤣
@@wayne6777 nobody asked
@@TheSucram729 i asked
@@TheSucram729 I also asked
For this experiment I would make sure though that the suicide cord is not crosswired by doing a continuity check on each end of the cord.
Yeah, I wanted to mention that
Exactly like in most kitchen where I live ;)
Good point!
PLEASE PIN THAT ONE! DIYers can become DIErs with one simple error of mixing up the wires on repair plugs.
Precisely. Or that the 2 sockets are actually one piece and not 2 different lines internally that could eventually be wired one different from the other. Unlikely but never second guess when you're dealing with live circuits.
So my question is, would this be using any power? Could you leave that plugged in and your electric bill wouldn't go up? Curious where the power is going, is it just making a loop and going right back into the circuit or would the cord eventually become hot to the touch??? Sorry I know these are lame questions but I'm not an electrical guy by any stretch. Just curious. Thanks
Wow. That’s exactly the opposite of what I expected to happen, but after hearing the explanation it made a lot of sense.
just wanted to say thank you for the vid format, quick and straight to the point thats how everyone should do this, im just amazed you did not give us 15 mins of filler before doing what everyone was here to see!
I came here to say the same thing. Nothing worse than a video being about one single (relatively simple) question, but somehow being 17:00 long.
I call those types of videos "Plexiglass Man"
How many different angles do you need to show me the piece of transparent plexiglass?
Apparently 5 seconds of each of the three-axis gimbal possible combinations.
It is now a running joke with family.
I agree - for the longest time RUclips has been telling creators, that you better get some watch time or we just will not promote your video. The creators have felt forced to make their videos at least 12 to 17 minutes long. I'm glad to see a video of this length showing up in my feed, it gives me encouragement too.
@@guitarmeetsscience Yep, YT these days is like telling a chef to make it 3% sauce and 97% the cheapest pasta you can find and make sure it's an oversized plate. Also tell them upon serving it up what brand the pasta is and why it's the best in existence, hand them a stack of coupons for it and command them to not only finish the entire dish no matter what, insist they hand them out to everyone including their pets, else never come back to this place and make sure none of our friends/family will, either.
@@ithink3979 hahahahahahahaha that is it right there in a nutshell! 😆😆😆😆😆
FYI You can break those side tabs in order to put the bottom and top outlets on different circuits, breaking the tabs electrically separates the top and bottom outlet. The most common reason to do this is if you want the top or bottom outlet to be switched for a lamp, but still want the other outlet to be fully powered.
then do we get our boom?
@@dbaker280 yep
Or, just stretch an extension cord from any other outlet in the house and make a SUPER SUICIDE CORD, muahahahaha
The electrical code does not permit putting the bottom and top outlets on separate circuits when the separate circuits are controlled by different breakers. So if you have to turn off two separate breakers to kill power to both outlets, it is not allowed.
@@brianleeper5737 Ahh, exceptions on top of exceptions.
As you say you cannot have top and bottom outlets on separate breakers, but you could place them on opposite poles of 'double pole' breaker. This places 240V between the two 'hots' and if you plugged a suicide cord in I'd expect a significant arc as the contact was made, followed by the breaker tripping.
if person accidentally shock themself and fail to buy one of these ... Could it affect shock experiencer if plugged in thereafter?
As an electrician let me make this clear: if the two tabs on the outlet are broken 99.99% they are two separate circuits.
1. They might both be 120v but from a different circuit
2. It might be a switched circuit (turns on with a switch)
3. one maybe a 120 and the other 240
Best thing to do is use a multimeter if your having issues and separate all circuits and do a continuity test on all the wires. Hope that helps!
My thought too. Thank you for saving me all that writing.
great minds think alike@@dennis1954
If no 3 is the case then you need to reevaluate your entire electrical system because you're working with some 3rd world country sh^t!
NO EVEN IF the tab is broken it will be 120 on both outlets and should be on the same breaker.
It should be on the same breaker, correct . But if it's broken, it's because there's another circuit if an electrician was there.@@zed4229
As a guy who installed a 3-way light switch in the attic once during high school that surely must have violated electrical codes, but worked and never burned the house down, I had expected a blown fuse or tripped circuit breaker. Live and learn, but also learn to hire an electrician, like I did.
Was it just one 3 way or 2 😂
When I saw you open up the outlet I remembered the two were already electrically connected but during the initial experiment I expected a breaker to trip. Cool video!
I thought the exact same thing. Totally forgot they were connected.
swapping around the positive, negative, or ground wires could make for some fireworks
Question. If the outlets are all connected and your using multiple plugs at the same time, how does that affect power output? Would the first outlet receive more energy to dump into the first plug and still power the second? Is it up to the appliance to regulate the voltage or does the outlet do that inherently?
"To understand why this doesn't blow up we need to talk about parallel universes"
When your grid power goes out and you plug your generator into your house outlet without disconnecting the grid, your generator power goes back into the grid with serious consequences for those linemen working to restore power. That is why these cables should be illegal. Only a house that has been setup for generator power should be allowed to connect a generator during an outage. Generators are installed all over Florida and Vermont, but they don't use these cables to do it. You can legally and safely setup solar and generator power along with grid power, but it has to be done correctly. These shouldn't be called suicide cables, they should be called murder cables.
Well the power companies are dumb for not supplying their employees a simple $20 current sensor to prevent such accidents. Even after flipping breakers, I still use the current sensor to double check.
Transfer switch
@@CJForlorn sure until someone plugs it in while you're working on it
ב''ה, in an emergency, pull the whole house disconnect, however confirming that's worked is sufficiently difficult.
Around Hurricane Sandy utilities began offering a simple automatic/intrinsically mechanically disconnecting generator socket that slots in as part of the meter assembly.
The reason why it isn't illegal is you have legal uses for it. You have stupid people who use it in illegal ways that have killed people but you still have the legitimate use case of a house set up for 2 power inlets to it. Unsure how that would work as i am not in that field but when it is working like it should no power should feed back onto the grid. In the USA anyways you do have other countries that that is a thing and i am unsure how they do electrical cable and electrical wire maintenance when the power plant connection goes down.
excellent job explaining this ,I've replaced outlets in my house pretty easily done with breakers off ,but knowing exactly how the outlets actually work is very important, thanks we can always learn something new .
Terribly said.
@@Physics072🤓
I had to replace a broken light switch before - the only thing I knew about it was to turn off the breaker first, but otherwise I was clueless.
But, because of that, I was very careful to closely observe where each wire was connected on the bad switch (even taking pictures on my phone in case I forgot) and just moved each wire to the exact same point on the new switch. The house didn't burn down, so I must have done something right.
It wasn't until years afterward that Technology Connections put out a video explaining why light switches make clicking sounds and dissected one that I finally understood what each wire was, what it did and why hooking it up right was so important.
Glad I have enough of a basic education that I already knew nothing would happen on a normally wired dual AC outlet.
You know. I already thought nothing was going to happen exactly because of the explanation near the end. But my curiosity and self-doubt still got the better of me and I had to look it up.
I actually winced when you plugged in that top plug! 😂 Very interesting, thanks for posting!
As an electrician, that was exactly what I was expecting!
As NOT an electrician, me too.
lol
Same here. We also don't do split outlets here. We have multifase outlets, but those have different sockets, usually earth, neutral and 3 phase and are clearly incompatible with standard mains plugs.
Being a bit of a specialist in model railroad wiring and circuitry, it was also what I expected. A whole lot of nothing.
Pretty much. If they're on the same 3 wire, then they're already connected. Kinda freaky looking, tho. (not an electrician, but I like to play with stuff)
I was half expecting the universe was going to explode when he plugged it in
Technically speaking, something *did* happen when you plugged that in: The overall resistance of the circuit reduced to the sum of *Ω(outlet) ÷ Ω(cable)* ...But because you'd basically wired two outlets on the same circuit together in parallel, this would only be visible through an Ohmmeter. 😇
To achieve the _expected_ effect you'd need to have the cable bridging two separate AC supplies with phase difference (And you could wire two such supplies into different sides of the same NEMA outlet¹) but if this was done for a YT demonstration I'd have to strongly recommend using two truck batteries and inverters to keep this completely in isolation. Your energy supplier (Or generator) will *not* like an experiment like that being carried out on a public supply network! ⚡😋
(¹ - It's probably for this reason our BS-1362 multi-way outlets are engineered _against_ each side being fed from a different supply, as this could lead to very dangerous oversights when trying to safely isolate a circuit before working on it. Most will assume that *One faceplate = One supply* and the divisability of NEMA 5-15 outlets completely breaks that (Generally widely held) assumption. 😇)
If the plugs are polarized, then there is no problem for the SAME (unmodified) receptacle. You are guaranteed to have the same phase, by construction, as you have shown. The danger is if you connect to another wall receptacle, which may or may not be the same phase of the house supply (it is possible in an old house). It would be like connecting the "red" and "black" wires of your fuse box. You will be creating a very hot copper plasma, which may or may not be ok depending if your face or house is flammable or not. And then the breakers will trip stopping the arcing and melting. In a single receptacle, it is possible to break off the bus connecting the two sides and have two separate circuits feeding the top and bottom (why would somebody do this? I don't know). All bets are off for that situation. How did you know your receptacle was unmodified?
What you are supposed to have done after the 0:52 demonstration of the voltage-checking devices, was to use a regular voltmeter to check that the potential difference between like terminal of the receptacles is zero. That way you know for sure the live terminals are connected to the same phase of the house feed. I realize you made the video for demonstration of the normal situation. I'm writing this for others.
Th e reason you would do that is ....lets say for a kitchen, 2 1500 watt appliances can use 1 receptacle without blowing the breaker (1 receptacle..2 breakers) or if you have 240v going into a receptacle box you can make each single plug 120v! Making a comment on vids like this LOuie, you should know this
lol I was thinking the same thing, no difference in potential, no explosion. he just ran a short at the other end of the receptical.
Following a finish for another guy this week, couldn't figure out why I had two separate live cables in a box (more complicated troubleshooting at first). He ended up putting two circuits in a box on a remodel for a dishwasher and disposal. So two circuits on one outlet, completely separate from each other. There's another reason why you would have to do this.
My mother-in-law was complaining about receiving a shock from the kettle when she was leaning on the kitchen sink's s/s draining-board, so I tested the double power-outlet & found that the active & neutral cables were connected the wrong way around. Easily fixed with the power off at the fuse-box. Also tested every outlet in the house, but fortunately there were no other problems. However, the strangest thing was that they had been living in their house for over 25yrs since having it built, & that power-outlet had been installed that way, but as her arthritis had worsened my M-in-law was finding she needed to lean on things more & more!
It was commonly done in the 70s when they were installing radiant heat in the ceilings. They usually didn't have an overhead light, and so they would install one wall receptacle upside down to indicate that it had been modified and they would wire the bottom or in this case the top(?) to the light switch so it could control some type of plug in lamp or light stand. The other slot in the receptacle would be normal 120v without a switch.
Dude , your awesome no long speeches just answers and quality content. Not only did you explain why you showed why ....great job. Definitely earned my sub
Your?
@@ppal64
Yes, illiteracy is the wave of the future. Didn't you know?
you're*
@@ppal64 you beat me to it. Haha
@@ReligionAndMaterialismDebunked is it really that important? I'm trying to give my man a compliment and everyone is worried about punctuation.....
I appreciate that you wore latex or rubber gloves that would probably melt to your skin if you were wrong and small drops of molten copper blasted out on to your hands.
I know it's probably just the cable returning to its default state, but seeing it slowly rising after you plugged the second end in made me think "oh god it's filling up like a balloon!" for a moment.
I think you forgot some pretty critical and dangerous caveats. If this was a split receptacle, you could have backfed another circuit (if it's switched, but the same leg), or caused a short across both hot legs (240v). which could be significantly more exciting than your demonstration.
I was gonna say. I’m no electrician, but even I knew right off the bat how to get around that little obstacle
What the hell are you talking about? If it's a switched receptacle, NOTHING would happen.
That’s the point. There are dozens of potential applications other than the one demonstrated here. That’s not the only way these cords can be used.
Well, it will just create arc flash that will make you crap your pants, and then the breaker with pop. The main danger of this cable is that when you plug in one side, exposed live wire is sticking out of it, and it becomes very tempting to poke someone with it, and go to jail.
@@retabera WTF are you talking about, he stopped to say, the real danger here is this is live right now, and then he voltage tested it for emphasis.
Way to Karen out and prove you didn't even watch the whole video
Interesting video. I know others have previously commented on this topic, but I wanted to add more. Clearly Silver Cymbal you clearly explained/proved that there wouldn't be an issue in your particular outlet (which would be the same as most outlets in our homes). However if you have a split outlet where the top and bottom plugs come from different circuits (breakers) AND from different phases, there will be a problem. Remember that most homes are fed 240 VAC hydro via two "hot" 120 VAC lines out of phase plus one neutral. If the top outlet was fed from one phase and the other outlet from the other... you would a serious problem. You are basically then shorting out the 240VAC feed to your entire house (ie shorting one "hot" 120 VAC phase with the other). But, fortunately the breakers (or fuses) for both separate circuits should blow pretty quickly when you do this. Typically "split" outlets are found in kitchen outlets (in newer homes). Your video is good in explaining what happens, identify safety concerns and make us think.
A very good additional point Rick F. I found your comment to be the 7th comment when i viewed the video and hopefully it stays that way. While watching the video I felt like all the info you stated in your comment should have been mentioned. Hopefully nobody ever actually tries this in a kitchen on an outlet that was wired on 2 breakers so that large wattage appliances like toasters ovens and microwaves can be run simultaneously.
That was interesting. Did the cable get hot, like when you plug two 9v batteries together?
I love how outlets look at you with a sad face lol
Exactly what I expected to happen. However... you should mention that sometimes these types of outlets are in fact separated. Sometimes the little connecting tab is broken off, usually so that half of the outlet can be switched (with a wall switch). I don't know if current codes allow for this any more, but this was very common back in the 1970s (when my house was built).
Would still be the same circuit though so you would have the same effect. You are correct about the tabs though. Its so you can have a lamp in the room that works off the light switch.
Exactly try that in a kitchen plug they are seperate circuits to run for example a toaster and a kettle in the same receptacle. The tabs will be broken. That suicide cord will trip the breakers
So what would happen if I took a 20 foot suicide cord plugged it into two different outlets across from each other on the living room? I figured he'd address something like this after explaining why a single plug doesn't go kaboom.
You can definitely break the tab these days (allowed by code). I have an outlet in my garage with the tab broken off, as it has two separate runs, one to each plug, with each on it's own 20am breaker on the panel. This way I can run more heavy duty tools simultaneously, as I have a total of 40amp available (2 x 20).
@@larrym603 Very few kitchen circuits are run like you describe, code wants kitchen duplex outlets to alternate legs but almost never are alternate legs hooked into the same split duplex outlet. But if you have a kitchen wired like you describe pull the outlets out and make o video of it so we can see that setup.
Thanks exactly what I expected. It’s the same circuit. I am not an electrician but have done my own work. Now the idea of using the generator with that cable is something I never thought of
And you should never, ever, do. Don't do it. Get a transfer switch
You can feed your generator back onto the grid. That is a real big mistake- very unsafe.
don't. *theoretically* it's possible to sever your boxes connection to the grid to contain the generator's power to your own home, but many people don't do that correctly, and wind up backfeeding electricity into what are supposed to be dead lines (during an outage).
This is incredibly dangerous for the electricians trying to repair lines, and regularly causes fatal accidents.
@@rickhawkins218 i think any sane person would just manually turn off their main breaker before that.
@@voidseeker4394 That's the problem. We trust too many people to be sane. Sadly, too many people don't think about things like that.
Hey" can you take the 110 voltage and run it to a series of step up transformers then feed it back into a 220 plug and create more energy and save on energy. Will this work or not?
Would the same outcome result if you plugged the same cable to two different boxes (outlets)?
A guy at my church once asked why we don’t make plugs like that. As an electrical engineer, I was aghast at such a _shocking_ question knowing full well that some enterprising individuals will make such a thing with parts from their hardware store only to be in for a surprise of a lifetime (a shortened one). Sort of like people who have made fractal wood burners from microwave oven transformers. Plenty of sad tales there.
at hardware store I worked at least 1 personal a years wanted one or was buying the pieces for it at Christmas. i always made it a point not to tell him we don't have it, but to tell them they're an idiot
I don't understand a single thing you said dude.
What’s this fractal wood burner you speak of ?
Honestly, if you actually built one and can't see the issue with live wires sticking out of a plug, I'd argue you have bigger issues than a suicide cord in your hand.
I did that for a while. Always felt good being still alive when I walked away.
It was nice to see a video on this. I already knew the answer, so I wasn't surprised. I think you would get the same results even if the clips on the outlet were removed as long as they are connected to the same line. However I did have an interesting similar situation a couple of years ago that was a bit shocking. I ordered some of those 2 ft LED tubes for my aquarium lighting. The tubes can be plugged in from either end and since there were four tubes, there were also four plugs. I don't remember why I tried it (it seemed logical at the time), but with one end of the light plugged in (and the light lit), I used another plug to connect to the same line (but a different outlet) to the other end of the tube. There was a pop, the light went out, and a little puff of smoke actually came out of the light tube. Scared the hell out of me. In hindsight, I think the electronics within the tube changed the phase from one end of the tube to the other. The line fuse blew and I removed the plugs from both ends of the tube. Here's the really weird thing. After an hour (and feeling really stupid for frying my new light), I thought let's at least verify that the light is fried and I plugged it in (just one end this time). And believe it or not, it worked! Switched on an off as usual too. It's been a year and a half, and it's still working just like the other three. Not sure what actually caused the smoke, but apparently it either wasn't a vital component or the component wasn't completely fried. Might make a good subject for another video. I don't recommend this for the general public.
It may have been that you plugged into an outlet of a different 120V. Usually there are 2 120V circuits in a home, if you connect hot wires between outlets, if they are on opposite circuits you will get 240V, the same as if you had wired 240 from the breaker box.
Hi. Sometimes LED tubes came in one format or connection, others came different.
You only need to check if the 2 contacts in the same extreme are same point (electrically speaking). With a multimeter or an continuity tester is extremally easy.
Greetings!
Came here randomly while looking up how to install 3 way smart light switches. Learned something new.
Wow! As someone who thought he knew about electricity and have even replaced all the outlets in my house, I STILL believed this would blow a fuse. OF COURSE it won't do anything! Thanks! You're completely correct to warn 'don't try this at home!', though.
unless they run a 3 wire home run, split the plugs. then you have 240 volts across the 2 hot pins of the duplex recepticle and would short 240v and blacken the plug and/or trip the breaker....
The more I observe others explain their grasp of electromotive force, the more grateful I am for my teachers and the time they gave to give me an absolute treasure
All this comment is really saying is “Look at me, I’m smarter than other people.” Don’t try to pretend it’s about gratitude to your teachers.
@@therainman7777 i dunno, people are really dum
In basic terms, the reason nothing happened is because both of those outlets are on the same phase. If you were to use that cord to connect two different outlets that are on the same phase nothing would happen. If you were to connect that cord to two outlets that are on different phases, that's when the sparks would fly before causing one or both of the circuit breakers to for those outlets to trip. Also, in the US backup generators that use a suicide cord use 240volt and not 120volt which use both phases to power aplences like electric stoves, electric whole house heaters and electric hot water heaters. Also 240volt and 120volt use a different type of outlet.
He already described it in basic terms. Your version was just better 😁
Now can we see the video with the sparks?
So, essentially, as long as the outlets are both in phase, that thing is no more or less dangerous than a standard extension cord?
Also as long as you haven't messed up the connection on the suicide-cord (active/neutral/earth connection wrong), nothing will go zap! An outlet-tester is very useful to own, as even an incorrectly wired extension-cord will work plugged into a correctly wired wall-socket, but then becomes deadly when plugged into an incorrectly wired power-outlet!
Somewhere I have on old bakelite double-adapter which were banned from use here in Australia decades, which I would open & show alongside a legal one from that time. Side by side you can clearly see the difference as the illegal adapter swaps the active & neutral pins on one outlet!
"sO tHaT's PrObAbLy NoT tHe ReSuLt YoU wErE eXpEcTiNg" 1:05
yeah, you sounded like an expert here didn't you.
the guy's hand looked like it was shaking anxiously awaiting for the result but found out the result a second before us lol
I had a buddy that used these. He's dead now. No joke. He hated paying bills just as much as he hated the city. These cords he'd make, he'd call them something like "starfish" cords, because of the sparks in star patterns that they'd throw when used or misused. He'd have them in 1ft., 3ft., 6ft., 10ft.,50ft.,100ft., and 500ft. sections. You'd have to literally check both ends on the cord only to make sure you where using a cord you really wanted? Or the one that would end your life?
As someone from a country where polarisation isn't important I was expecting it to go wrong, I was also scared cuz in USA you can have plugs next to each other that are out of phase
I have done this at the Power Plant I worked at. We had a CEMS analyzer on a running Boiler Steam unit that was online from a UPS that needed to have a battery replacement without doing an outage. I made the same plug he had and back feed the output of the UPS input with the utility power during the outage. You have to know how to do this without damage to equipment and personal injury. That is why they call it the Death Cord.
You weren't just doing that to save your arcade Frogger game? Or maybe Roy?
Of all those fancy acronyms CEMS, UPS, SCFM, NOX, DCS, PLC, GC, I bet your favorite is uS/cm.
You should've been fired.
Fired? Nope. They probably wrote him a procedure/work package giving him permission to do this. It's amazing what I&C, PME and OPS can do to stay online lol
Thick leather gloves might have been safer incase arc flash occurred. But also this is not what I was expecting you to do and was in fact far safer than I thought I’d find on RUclips.
With the existence of USB-C-to-C cables, as well as charging adapters for USB-C, would that have the same effect or would the cable realize something is up and refuse to do anything?
That’s pretty cool that you have testers in the forms of outlet plugs. Honestly never seen that before, my dad has these little stick like things with a plastic flat nipple on the end(he used to do repairs and maintenance live generators). Even seen those stick things being used by other electricians as well who came into the house when I lived with my mom.
Those were probes. These are much safer. Basically impossible to accidentally zap yourself.
@@dylanharding5720 a socket tester is standard kit in the US too alongside probe testers and ncvt testers, these people just don't do electrical work and dont really think to look these things up to be honest.
I made one actually blow many years ago.
My Papa (Grandad on Dad’s side) made his own cord with both male ends, but his only had two prongs on each end, which were polarized, with no grounding prong.
I did experiments like this, when I was little, to see what would happen.
I did mine by first turning off the breaker for the outlet I was going to use then I plugged both ends up to the top and bottom receptacles.
After I plugged them up, I went back over to the box and flipped the breaker back on. When I did, there was an immediate bright blue flash with a loud pop, and the male end in the top receptacle blew straight out of it along with a pretty good puff of smoke that smelled like something electric being burnt along with some black on that receptacle of the outlet. It did not trip the breaker, though, but I tripped the breaker back myself, after it happened, to unplug the other end.
Oddly enough, the outlet itself was just fine, and both receptacles still worked afterward. The cord still worked, too, with there just being some black on the prongs on that end of the cord.
It looked like maybe the load from both of the receptacles tried to collide against each other and ended up force blowing one side completely out of the receptacle.
I don’t know if the fact that there was no grounding prong, even though the prongs were polarized on each end, made a difference, but it definitely didn’t like being hooked up in such a way.
Many years ago - I did the same (fuse box and no breakers) - same result though.
The grounding wire should make no difference, everything should work fine without a grounding wire IF EVERYTHING IS CORRECTLY WIRED AND WORKING PROPERLY.
The fuse should have popped, cus you just made a full short circuit with maybe 50-200 A or what that cord could deliver in a split second.
Fuses must not connect if it would cause more than their specified rating to flow. So it shouldn't do anything in the first place. I would suggest your fuses being checked.
The plug should not have popped out the receptacle. Receptacles must be tight, otherwise there is a possibility the connections are loose, overheating the socket and cause burns. So I would suggest checking the receptacles.
So good at explaining things. Great channel!
What if you do it between circuits? Does it just run the two circuits in parallel, so the load is distributed?
It's great to see a video about basics. Beginners are often left behind. We all have to start somewhere.
...This almost gave me PSTD. There's a reason. I posted it on here somewhere recent.
Well, if this is for beginners, he should have mentioned that the receptacles could have different phases (common used in the US cus of their low 120 V) or neutral and live could be switched (common in many countries all over the world where that's just not specified). He also should have explained the basics, not only one single incomplete fact.
This was a very well done and informative video. No wasted time and fully communicated.
I got to be honest, I was a little worried but it was what I was expecting to happen. I’m just always hesitant when it comes to electricity but the ground goes to the ground, neutral to neutral, and hot back into hot.
Sometimes they bring two phases to the outlet in the kitchen, because there are appliances that draw more. If you plug that into one of those, you'l get some sparks!
As an electrician this was what I expected. Great short to the point video!!
Most electricians would probably tell you to stay away from those cords to begin with, though I don't think arc flash is the particular hazard they're worried about @@jimballard7217
@@jimballard7217 It's fine, always going to be hot to hot and neutral to neutral if the outlet is wired correctly. If it was unpolarized 2 prong, you could flip one and get a hot-neutral short and likely trip the breaker, hopefully, before the cord caught fire. That said, don't own one of these or do that.
@@jimballard7217 I wouldn't have a suicide cord in the first place.
Do an experiment that actually shows what happens with the phase mismatch like you'd get if you had a generator connected and the main breaker was closed when the power came back on :)
Right! I want to see him get a longer cord and plug the other end to another socket across the room!
So if I have a duel outlet, but the top one is on a switch and the bottom one isn't what would happen??
"The reason why it dosent blow up" Blows up.
As an electrician for the last 2:41 minutes I am completely amazed by these results.
Nice stolen comment
@@Ohree As an electrician for the duration I watched this vid...I am stunned by the result.
I work in electricity, and i knew exactly what would happen, but as you were plugging it in, you somehow had me second guessing myself.
Me, too!
Same. Even though I understand electronics, my heart still stopped beating for that moment
I was hoping the bridge was cut 🤣🤣😂
I kind of expected a safety feature like that. Makes sense to have them as one circuit.
At first thought I was thinking a shorting plug or aka circuit breaker locator plug lol
I did wonder if that' would be the result. Thanks, now I know something that I had no idea I really wanted to know!
It's actually exactly what I was expecting. Now, if the power on each socket was wired to 2 separate circuits on opposite poles, THEN you would have a problem. You'd blow a breaker or two... or three, potentially.
I was actually a little scared the moment you plugged it in. LOL
It made sense after you explained it.
I love how straight to the point and informative this video is.
Yes! There was no, "but first, before we test it out, let's do something to add 8 minutes or run time for mid roll adds! 😃"
I do not know about US electrical circuits in homes, but in Germany you normally get a three phase ("rotary") house connection and you distribute those three different phases more or less evenly to the sockets. So if you use a suicide cable and hit two different phases, be happy for not a nice time :)
I believe this WILL blow of fuse unless your conductors flipped? Is the left prong from top socket connected to the left prong on the bottom socket? It seems essential to mention that.
Large=neutral
Small=hot
That’s so much easier for me to remember than the gold and silver plates on the sides of the outlet!
Easier to identify too, especially in dim lighting.
Thank you kind sir!
Black and brass both start with b. Works for me. Also smooth is hot if I'm working with lamp cord.
@@robertmiler6652 almost all the time I’m doing this I’m dealing with subpar lighting, I’m not always able to confidently distinguish between the silver and brass. On top of that poor working memory on account of my ADHD has me constantly going back to the box to relearn this only to forget it as soon as I get distracted by bending, organizing, stripping the wires. It’s like constantly digging the pizza box out of the trash to find out what temperature and how long to cook it, every time…
It’s funny how different brains can be, sometimes it’s frustrating.
As long as the hot and neutral wires weren’t crossed then you should be fine. If there was a cross in the cable you may be in a little trouble, fire at the worst and popped breaker at the least. What’s also exciting is if you plug into another plug on a different breaker.
Nothing just the same if the same voltsge
@@jamesgoggle3421 It's just not as simple as that. Electricity to the home is three phase (L1, L2, and L3, mutually 60° out of phase), but only two phases go on a single breaker. If you plug the cord between a circuit that uses L1-L2 and a circuit that also uses L1-L2, and they have the same polarity, nothing will happen. However if the other circuit is L1-L3, you're now shorting L2 to L3. If your electrical system uses two-pole breakers, at least one breaker will trip. If you have single-pole breakers or old fashioned fuses, and they're connected to L1 in the fuse box, you will trip the main fuse, but not before you've had some severe overcurrent. Depending on your electrical system and the type of main fuse, it could take several seconds and be a fire hazard.
In short, if you plug between different circuits you're doing things to your electrical system that are extra extra dangerous and you may burn your house down. Do not.
What if you plugged it into another outlet on different phase.
@mc1847 There are 240 volts between the two phases, just as there are 120v between a single phase and neutral. This voltage allows current to move along the wire (with very little resistance stopping it), so you would generate a short circuit. In the very short amount of time before the breakers reacted, twice the current and four times the power would be dissipating on your wire vs a phase to neutral short.
You would get some fireworks and, hopefully, one or both breakers would trip before something melted (probably your cord near the prongs).
@@tykjpelk No you are wrong too, three phase is common in Europe only and some other countries outside the US, and more important, at least in the US and Europe, not two phases are connected to an outlet and breaker, but one phase and neutral. And also wrong, even if you connect outlets with the same phase, neutral and that phase could be switched (to code in Europe or not to code in the US but possible either) and thus cause short circuits.
Great example of 'A little knowledge is dangerous' . If that was a 3 wire split he could have had a flash.
“So that’s probably not the result you were expecting”
Meanwhile at that city’s power plant:
*”CODE RED! CODE RED! WERE GONNA DIE!”*
electrician student drop out here. ;-) I thought I'd add that you can break that tab off and have two independently wired outlets. This can be useful if you want to attach a wall switch to one of the outlets for a lamp and have the other one always on. If someone does this correctly and you plug in a suicide cord, you'd see the same results. If someone screws up the neutral wiring on the switched side, which is a very common problem in the real world, then you will have an exciting surprise in store for you.
You could say the result would be shocking
I dare you to do that in your kitchen. (Kitchens often have two circuits, usually each half of split-phase, in each outlet.)
When we had electrical work done, we found that there were two circuits to one outlet box, but one had been terminated because that was no longer up to code.
My guess is this is because people kept forgetting to split the tab and then they may have had a dead short between the two 120v phases, and so a dead short at 240v, which is yikes.
Our kitchen had a split outlet where the top had the polarity reversed. Not the only poorly wired outlet. This is why a house inspection should include testing every outlet - there are too many amateur electricians
I wouldn't say "often." Yes, you need a minimum of two circuits in a kitchen to be compliant, but unless there is a shortage of receptacles, most electricians won't split individual duplex receptacles, they will alternate the circuits, every other receptacle. It is much less work. Aside from switching which is generally not done in the kitchen, the only reason to split a duplex is if there is a strong indication two "high" power appliances (generally heating elements) will be close together and plugged into the same receptacle. Which is why there are so many receptacles required over counter tops. The expectation is that the user will never plug two appliances into the same outlet if there is another empty one nearby (I know, wishful thinking). There is a risk of overloading circuits in either case, with about equal likelihood, so most will just do the easier (more profitable) work. -retired electrician
Different group, noproblem.. different phase boom ya go!🎇
@@twerkingfish4029 The practice of splitting the kitchen outlets to opposite phases ended with the requirement of GFCIs in kitchens. Old houses still have em.
Yeah, that was exactly what I was expecting and wondering why it would even be an issue.
The comments are mostly about what will happen plugging in a suicide plug into a house outlet. The mention that it's illegal to back feed a generator onto a incoming line drop to your home. This is a DEADLY practice as a lineman for the Electric company who is up on a pole is working on a dead branch circuit to your neighborhood. He's checked the line & knows it is a dead feeder circuit because a tree has fallen & broken the line from the pole. For safety, He pulls the neighborhood fuse that has the line dead until he's completed his repairs & then he'll go to that fuse switch & re energize that feeder again. In the meantime, Joe has gotten out his generator & suicide plug, Filled it with gas & plugs it into his garage outlet to power up a few things in the home. That 120 or 240 volts he puts on the meter box goes back out to the pole transformer. A transformer does the job of taking approx. 13, 000 volts on the branch circuit (that wire on the top of the poles that goes into the top of a transformer hanging on it) when its operating properly, And steps it down to a relatively residential safe 240/120 volt house feed. BUT A transformer works either direction. That generator voltage goes out the breaker panel in the basement, through the electric meter, out to the pole transformer, WHERE It's stepped up to 13,000 volts AC & travels down that suddenly now live line to a block away where that lineman is restringing it through the insulator eyelet on a pole. Yes, Your right, That generator will not power that block of homes for more than a couple of seconds & pop a breaker or something else. BUT That won't save the poor lineman who knows he's working on a safely dead feeder line. He's now laying at the bottom of the pole. Just a little more info about how a grid works.
If you try that on a plug where the tab is removed and the other plug is on the other half of your panel you could create a 240v short circuit across your hots.
Yep, it only makes 240 volts if the hot for each, was on a different phase.
Otherwise, it just links the two together as the same 120 volts they already were….just like the tie bar on the receptacle, that was linking the two halves.
No it's still single phase. You need to learn the difference between hot and neutral.
Resi service neutral is center tap on transformer on street near 0v which electrically is the same as ground. Hot is +120 and -120 of a single phase for a grand total of 240v
what if you plug the 2nd end into a separate circuit? Like that's totally disassociated from the first?
I had a very long cord like this, with two "male" ends. One end we plugged into the wall outlet in the garage, the other plugged into the end of a lawn mower. Apart from the fact that the outlet on the mower itself was kinda jank, needing wrapped around the handle and held in place, lest it fall out, it worked fairly well. How we acquired such a thing, I've no clue.