Author Topic: A male to male 120VAC grounded outlet?  (Read 6307 times)
F96T12 DD VHO
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A male to male 120VAC grounded outlet? « on: February 06, 2018, 07:42:15 AM » Author: F96T12 DD VHO
This is at school and yes it’s male to male and how do I know, well just take a look for yourself...
This was at my schools shop
« Last Edit: February 06, 2018, 07:58:10 AM by F96T12 DD VHO » Logged

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Re: A male to male 120VAC grounded outlet? « Reply #1 on: February 06, 2018, 05:25:42 PM » Author: Lightingguy1994
I've heard people call those suicide cables and some people will use one to connect a generator or battery/120v inverter system to their house wiring by connecting the power source into a wall outlet during a power outage. Very very unsafe and not recommended. Your school shouldn't even have that where students could access it.
« Last Edit: February 06, 2018, 10:17:44 PM by Lightingguy1994 » Logged

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Re: A male to male 120VAC grounded outlet? « Reply #2 on: February 06, 2018, 05:32:04 PM » Author: Lodge
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Re: A male to male 120VAC grounded outlet? « Reply #3 on: February 06, 2018, 09:02:21 PM » Author: F96T12 DD VHO
The fact that it's grounded makes it safer by 1% because if it were plugged in and you were to touch the other end you would cause a GFS ( Ground Fault Short) and trip the mains

@Lightingguy1994 the plug took a lot of force to get it out so that made is not easily accessible but still unsafe
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Re: A male to male 120VAC grounded outlet? « Reply #4 on: February 06, 2018, 09:21:12 PM » Author: sol
I'm not convinced the original post is really a double end male-to-male cord set. It looks like the green box is a controller of some sorts (a thermostat maybe) and has a 120V supply cord. Then there would be the plug on the second cord that goes to whatever is plugged in the control. Both lengths of cord are sort of rolled together, and makes a confusing path that can be easily mistaken for a male-to-male cord especially that they are both black, the same gauge and with an identical moulded plug.

Now as to real male-to-male cords, they are dangerous. There is no other way to describe them. The ground pin does not really augment the safety at all. What if you touched both blades without touching the ground pin ? They are readily available online, but they are certainly not CSA, UL or anything approved.

My grandfather, who was good at many things, was not particularly good in electrical. He fashioned several of these for Christmas lights. What a surprise when you search around blindly in an area for something with your hand and get zapped... I'm not sure what happened to these cords, but as far as I know my father doesn't use them.
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Re: A male to male 120VAC grounded outlet? « Reply #5 on: February 06, 2018, 09:24:16 PM » Author: sol
Oh, and male-to-male cords are very very lethal when used inappropriately to connect a generator to a panel. Should you forget to throw the main breaker, you run the risk of electrocuting the power crews that think they are working on dead lines (especially if they test for power, get zero volts and then you turn on your generator). They have no way of knowing. Such use is also illegal in many jurisdictions. That's the reason the proper way is with a proper transfer switch that most likely cuts the neutral as well.

And the power can come back on with the generator plugged in as such and destroy it (and anything in its path).
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Re: A male to male 120VAC grounded outlet? « Reply #6 on: February 06, 2018, 10:06:41 PM » Author: Lodge
Oh, and male-to-male cords are very very lethal when used inappropriately to connect a generator to a panel. Should you forget to throw the main breaker, you run the risk of electrocuting the power crews that think they are working on dead lines (especially if they test for power, get zero volts and then you turn on your generator). They have no way of knowing. Such use is also illegal in many jurisdictions. That's the reason the proper way is with a proper transfer switch that most likely cuts the neutral as well.

And the power can come back on with the generator plugged in as such and destroy it (and anything in its path).

And if you kill the linesman/women working on repairing the cause of the power outage, which you can using a suicide cord, you will face more serious charges with longer jail sentences, rightfully so it's not hard or even that expensive to do it correctly or just power your items with an extension cord plugged directly into the generator..

I've been there and done that extension to the generator during a prolonged power outage, the only item that is a pain in the house is the furnace but I just disconnected it added a plug to it and plugged it to the maze of extension cords running through the house it only takes a couple of minutes to add a plug or rewire it to the switch when the power comes back on, the plus side to doing it this way is when the ceiling lights come back on you know the power is back so you can shut it all down.. 

The best thing you can do with a suicide cord is cut off one end and change it out for a female end and use it as an extension cord..
« Last Edit: February 06, 2018, 10:11:55 PM by Lodge » Logged
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Re: A male to male 120VAC grounded outlet? « Reply #7 on: February 06, 2018, 10:07:32 PM » Author: HomeBrewLamps
I was repairing an extension cord at school and accidentally created one of these because I was not paying attention to whether the other end was fitted with a male or female connector, I ended up dismantling it once I found out but ever since then I've called these things cattle prods...
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Re: A male to male 120VAC grounded outlet? « Reply #8 on: February 06, 2018, 10:08:31 PM » Author: sol


The best thing you can do with a suicide cord is cut off one end and change it out for a female end and use it as an extension cord..

Or better, don't build it to begin with.
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Re: A male to male 120VAC grounded outlet? « Reply #9 on: February 06, 2018, 10:16:06 PM » Author: Lodge
Or better, don't build it to begin with.

I never have, but I've got two free extension cords because some other Darwin award contestant built them..
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Re: A male to male 120VAC grounded outlet? « Reply #10 on: February 06, 2018, 10:20:08 PM » Author: xmaslightguy
The term I've always heard a double-male-end cord called is "dead mans cord"
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Re: A male to male 120VAC grounded outlet? « Reply #11 on: February 06, 2018, 10:21:07 PM » Author: sol
I never have, but I've got two free extension cords because some other Darwin award contestant built them..
I know, some people just don't know better. In that case, a pair of wire cutters are handy.
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Re: A male to male 120VAC grounded outlet? « Reply #12 on: February 06, 2018, 11:28:26 PM » Author: lightinglover8902
Yeah these things are death traps, and should not be used, by any circumstances.
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Re: A male to male 120VAC grounded outlet? « Reply #13 on: April 15, 2018, 12:44:23 PM » Author: streetlight98
We've wired many new houses that have a metal clip that pivots on a screw that prevents the generator input breaker and main breaker from both being on. They're essentially manual transfer switches. There's a male 30A dryer plug outside the house somewhere where your generator is plugged into in an outage. That male plus is never energized when not in use because you need to flip off the main breaker before turning the generator plug's breaker on. On the same token, you cannot have the generator plug feeding the house unless the main breaker is off. It's the way of doing things for the average person who can't afford an automatic transfer switch.
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Re: A male to male 120VAC grounded outlet? « Reply #14 on: April 15, 2018, 01:52:05 PM » Author: Rommie
I used to know a guy back in the 70's who ran a disco. He used one of those cables with a 13A plug on each end to power his console..! These things are bad enough at 120V, at 240V they really are suicide cables  :o
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