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U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
@cpsc.gov

CPSC has secured the removal of hazardous male-to-male extension cord listings from major e-commerce platforms, including Walmart, eBay and AliExpress, and is warning consumers to stop using these products immediately. cpsc.gov/Newsroom/New...

cpsc.govCPSC Warns Consumers to Stop Using Male-to-Male Extension Cords, Secures Delisting Commitments from e-Commerce PlatformsCPSC Warns Consumers to Stop Using Male-to-Male Extension Cords, Secures Delisting Commitments from e-Commerce Platforms
Eric Adler
@ericadler.bsky.social

Most likely these 'suicide cords' are a half-ass way to connect a portable generator to a house during blackouts. In theory, they work, but as Yogi Berra said: "In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is."

Eric Adler
@ericadler.bsky.social

Houses are wired with heavy gauge wire for the main 'trunk' feed, and thinner, lighter gauge wire on the 'branch' circuits after the circuit breakers. turning the main breaker off and plugging a generator into a random outlet to power the house is a good way to summon the Fire Department.

Eric Adler
@ericadler.bsky.social

Most likely an electrician. At the lab where I work, there are test machines that use the mini twist-lock NEMA plugs for Auxiliary Outputs, but the output is a "dry contact" (no power supplied by the machine, in essence just an on/off switch that relies on the Auxiliary device for r power)...

Eric Adler
@ericadler.bsky.social

And the connection on the test machine is a female socket. So the Auxiliary machine has power coming out of a male plug, easily shouted against another pin, to damage equipment if it's plugged into the wrong place, or shock a hapless worker who touches it.