Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/02/28/stop-asking-about-this-extensi.html
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A bit of googling comes up with this ill-advised use, which is using a live AC supply to energize the circuits in an RV in an ass backwards way.
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Poorly thought out Xmas light design perhaps?
Been there.
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The RV thing as someone noted or to steal/share power between houses. Called a Kill Cord by a guy I know.
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@frauenfelder - Comment link on the main page of this goes back to the main page, not to the BBS.
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Obviously to give out to your adversaries.
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And, I was going to say, such a cord is a very bad way to backfeed power into an otherwise dead circuit. Don’t do it.
When I got my organ, the previous owner had powered the Leslies with such a contraption. I replaced it with an RV power inlet. The ‘before’ picture is frightening; that mess wasn’t even in a junction box!
Before:
After:
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Last time I saw this, it was claimed people ask for these in hopes of incorrectly hooking up generators at home.
The correct way to run your house off a generator involves installing a “power transfer system”
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Which is an extension cord from my generator into the house, where it connects to a plug strip, each plug of which goes to another plug strip, with extension cords running from those to the different parts of the house where electricity is required, like my heirloom electric blanket and the bathroom toaster.
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but I could still make one, right?
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They’re used all the time to bridge circuits. It’s not a good idea but, technically, it works in a pinch. Not that I’m recommending doing it of course.
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Without polarity and a ground contact, that’s nightmare fuel. With polarity and a ground contact, that’s a bad idea.
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Jesus sphincter-clenching Christ! That’s going up on the wall in the lab.
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But how will I power my peanut-mobile?
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You are Manny Bianco, and I claim my £5!
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I used it to power an apartment for three months from the hallway when I discovered that I was paying the hallway bill. Just cut the breaker and jump it.
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I believe it.
I’ve always known a power cord terminated at one end by a plug and the other with alligator clips as “fool killers”. The difference seems to be that a fool killer looks janky enough that a normal person with any common sense would be scared to touch it, let alone plug it in (thus it only poses a risk to fools.) That “kill cord” almost looks like a legitimate product, if you know nothing about electricity, or don’t think about it; so that makes it more likely someone would try to plug it in. Plus, even if you manage to plug it in without killing someone, back feeding a circuit is a great way to kill an electrician or two.
Pretty much it just looks like a murder weapon.
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Was the only way to get them to swap the meter. The dte guys face when he saw it was priceless all the sudden it was important when for months I sat with no power because the landlord didn’t pay my bill, which he thought was a super expensive hallway.
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