What Happens When You Plug a SUICIDE CORD in a LIVE OUTLET? Do Not Try This Ever 

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.

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

You know he wanted to!!

😂 Real ​@@XenoTravis

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.

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.

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 🤣🤣🤣

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

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.

Like the yiutube commercials that use his video here in the netherlands abd make it a commerciak for cheaper electricity....

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 😊

is that supposed to be a self-burn? : p

Should've paid more attention in class

That must have been one shithouse of an electronics class then 😂

Were you sleeping through all of your classes? Cuz this video only taught one very basic concept....

Must be pretty dumb

lmfao gridless behavior

Exactly, but not surprised 😂

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 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 ?

😂😂😂😂😂😂

😨 😨

@@_WOR yea 👌🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Here here!

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.

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!

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 RU-vid 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!😁

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.

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...

😂😂

Omg SAME PAGE CLUB!!

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 RU-vid 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! 😆😆😆😆😆

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.

I thought the exact same thing. Totally forgot they were connected.

swapping around the positive, negative, or ground wires could make for some fireworks

Try it kid

Was it just one 3 way or 2 😂

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.

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.

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.

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.

They even looked surprised 😮

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!

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

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.....

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)

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.

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!

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

​​@@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.

That is awesome

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! 😃"

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.

Nice stolen comment

@@XAEzl As an electrician for the duration I watched this vid...I am stunned by the result.

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

Understand your point clearly and don’t recommend it unless a transfer switch is in place. However, there is a “safe” way of being stupid if one doesn’t mind potential for a fire, easy to turn off the Main so back feed doesn’t occur when the lineman completes the connection.

...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.

You could say the result would be shocking

I hope it doesn't take all of your 30 years to figure this out. I feel sorry for anyone that hired you

I dont have as much experience as you, but im surprised a lot of people dont know how a power outlet works

@@looper964 he didn't say it took all of his 30 years, wiseass.

Holy shit you are so cool & smart!!!

I am pretty sure 90% knew nothing would happen and i don't have any significant electrical knowledge

Very true. bad practice but very possible....

@@davidsoulsby1102 Not really. IIRC electrical code (at least in my area) specifies that the outlet for a refrigerator must be on its own circuit, with at most a clock on the same circuit. As you might want a microwave in the same area, it could be a good idea to have the top outlet on a completely separate circuit, or on the same circuit as the rest of the kitchen, as it is likely that if the fridge's compressor kicks in while the microwave is running you will blow a fuse.

@@xilstus1776 So 2 separate circuits, 2mm apart, in the same box, isn't bad practice? Tracking from moisture on either the inside or outside in a kitchen where water, grease, are commonly used 🤔. I suspect the registration is talking about running a physical separate circuit, different cable, box, outlet.

@@davidsoulsby1102 1mm is plenty space in a dry environment for

That still would make no difference

Right! I want to see him get a longer cord and plug the other end to another socket across the room!

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.

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

The whole video was fluff

Technically, the current alternates within it's own circut. The neutral is there to balance the load from the phasing. There are many circuts that don't have neutrals. Especially for motors.. However, at the tap yes. (For simplicity of someone who would look at a circut and assume they need a neutral to comeplete a branch circut... or even sub panel.)

@@_Jake.From.Statefarm_ The average household transformer has a 220/240 coil in it. The sole purpose of the neutral is to get 110/120 volts from that same coil by connecting to the center of the coil. That is why and the only reason why it is called "neutral." Alternating current is called alternating for a reason. And that reason is because electricity flows both directions half the time, because it alternates the direction it travels. Only circuits that use 220/240 volts do not have neutrals because they are 220/240 volt circuits, not 110/120 volt circuits. If you want a 110/120 volt circuit then you must have the "neutral" wire in the circuit

@@oldtimefarmboy617 I fully understand that and most households don't have transformers at all (on the property), they are connected to one generally at the pole. I made it clear that you weren't wrong about the nutral from the tap. I'm simply stating that branch circuits dont always have neutrals for people who aren't journeyman electricians, not that they should be touching any thing to begin with . There is no need if the circuit is balanced.. I didn't want to get into theory class for people who dont understand resistance, disipation, unbalanced loads, and things they likely won't see in an electrical system. Just that they do exist, I never stated a single pole circuit wouldn't need one... You inferred that I thought that.

@@_Jake.From.Statefarm_ A transformer at the house or one the pole makes zero difference. The average household transformer is connected to only one phase at the pole. There is no phasing and no phasing to balance out. The only purpose of the "neutral" wire is to get 110/120 volts from a 220/240 volt coil. And alternating current has no polarity. The use of the word polarity in the industry is only a technical term to standardize how things are wired up so no matter where you go everything is done the same. It is like a gallon is a gallon and a foot is a foot and a pound is a pound everywhere you go in the United States and if some tells you to go east you know exactly what direction they are talking about.

@@oldtimefarmboy617 I dont need a lesson guy. You keep being up shit I never said, nor claimed. I never said it did matter if it was on a pole.. and I know how transformers work and their different configurations. I've been a JC for 15 years and have worked in multiple facets of the trade. I've started in commercial/industrial became a foreman, worked in the generator sector, and later a lead at a major data center.

if you connected two outlets that were on different hot legs they'd be out of phase and you'd get 208 or 240 across the cable and something would probably trip or burn up

in theory you could still cause a short to ground if at least one end of your cable lacked the features that enforce polarity (ie no third prong or unequally sized prongs)

@Flying C Land Wrong. Almost all US homes are two phase, with phase to neutral voltage being 120V and phase to phase being 240V. Most commercial buildings are three phase, with 208V phase to phase.

@Flying C Land So how many phases are there? If it's the same phase, the voltage between them is zero. It's not. There are two phases, and they're 180 degrees out of phase. Yes, the two phases are created by splitting up one phase, but it's still two phases.

@Flying C Land You do not add the voltages together, you subtract.

At least we know of its taste.

should have spliced a breaker in line with the suicide cord

@@blacknoir2404 yes, that's always a good idea, then you can isolate the ends from each other before unplugging. Even better, have a breaker near each end of the cord if it's going further than a few metres. Then you can always keep yourself safe by using the bearer breaker. If you remember if course. It's still not recommended as it's too easy to forget. Perhaps with a breaker it should be called the "are you sure suicide cord"

Exactly.

Eliminating the bridge to run 2 different phases, let alone circuits, to different plugs of one outlet is possibly the dumbest thing you can do is literally asking for trouble.

@@GurtTheHurt I’ve seen it done in small kitchens to allow for a fridge and another appliance (usually a oven) to be run off of one outlet but 2 circuits. I’d rather use a 2 gang box but oh well. Although I have cut the bridge for some outlet in my living room, having one plug be always hot and the other be on a switch for a lamp. Technically different circuits same outlet, never really though about the phases though.

@@GurtTheHurt This was literally the standard way of wiring kitchen outlets for decades...

@@ButterfatFarms it was a simple demonstration and experimenting. Anyone who knows how electrical works already knew what would happen. This is to teach those who don't know. What they didn't explain is no one should use these cords professionals and especially DIY'ers. This is not the proper way to backfeed power and is incredibly dangerous

Yes, you can, but why would you lol. Bypass failing wiring behind the walls???

Poor thing, if you had used my hands instead that wouldn't have happened!

@@sayori3939 Good one.

They have to be on separate phases, not just separate circuits.

@@TheEulerID Those split outlets are always on separate phases. If they were on the same phase, it would be easy to overload the neutral. With opposite phases and a balanced load, there is no current in the neutral. With the same phase, the neutral could have twice the rated current. To support these outlets, there are ganged breakers, one on each phase or blocks for holding 2 fuses, again on opposite phases. Any other use of the split outlet is a violation of code.

​@@James_Knott Would it be legal to put them both on the same phase if you pulled separate neutrals? I know there would be no point to it but just hypothetically.

@@jtofgc I don't know, but I've never heard of that happening.

@Marty's 4x4 I have never seen that. I have seen plenty as I described, including 2 in my kitchen. To do what you want would require ganged breakers on the same phase and it's not possible with any panel I've seen. You need ganged breakers to ensure there's no power in the outlet box, when the breakers are tripped.

I can't believe how much I learned about wiring here, after maintaining my own homes for decades. Thanks to you all. Even your comment would sound like a sure bet that it wasn't possible, but you just have to think for a second..... and very cool, I must say!

Nope. Sorry. Wrong. What happened was, you summoned ghosts over to your place.

Had this happen during hurricane Ian. I lost only one phase of power, half of my house was without power and any 240V appliances of course could not work.

I agree and am 100% against these cables and the use of them for generator backfeeding. I take a lot of heat as many want to believe for generator use they are safe when in fact they are not: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9kjpS1vfGio.html

Not just Canada but USA too. Learned it from personal experience and tripped the main fuse because i forgot to remove the little tabs on the outlet. He should of covered that in the video.

@@SilverCymbal they work great, stop lying to people

@@chucksu3413 There’s always gotta be that one guy that’s like “Well aCtUaLlY 🤓🤓”

@@looper964 Yeah they do a real good job of electrocuting the electrician restoring your power.

@@deang5622 Absolutely. Indeed, you are correct!

I was just thinking that… what if connected to the other phase. Thanks for clearing that up. That would knock you on your butt. 😵

I was thinking the same thing. I wonder, if using standard 20 amp circuit breakers, if the arc would be hot enough to weld or ruin the outlet tension. In my experience there would likely be some damage.

@@td389 Uhm, why would it "knock you on your butt" if the fuse would blow???

@@deang5622 Except wiring doesn't work that way. If you have a split receptacle, IT MUST be protected with a ganged breaker. Which means you have 1 from each phase.

I have never understood this from a safety standpoint. The load obviously doesn't care, but even with a double-insulated device there's still an additional level of safety with knowing which lead is neutral and which is hot.

Correct

Or the same phase just further down the wave(effectively out of phase like your other suggested scenarios).

dose he even know

@Flying C Land line 1 and line 2, red and black, whatever pronouns helps you sleep at night.

Wasn't that emplied when he explained that the it was only ok because the two were connected on the sane circuit?

I was just about to make the same comment. Saw yours, so no point.

@@emilye709 You can't tell just from looking at the outlet that it is a split receptacle. You would have to inspect the complete unit to know this.

@@emilye709 Yes but often people don't realize the top and bottom plug can be on different circuits.

1 receptical will never be on seperate circuits and unless your running to a different room all the outlets will be on the same circuit in that room unless its an old house someone remodeled and didnt get the proper permits for

Wouldn't you need a different receptacle for that?

For it (The 2 hot terms) to work correctly, anyway.

@@lashaunbeazer9264 it is possible to have two 120V sockets powered from one 240V circuit. Remove the hot bridge between them. Ground and neural to both, and either hot to each. I know I have seen a video mentioning they had a socket like this. I think they had two 120V sockets fed by 240V, but wanted to replace them with 4-pin 240V sockets to use a welding machine. I'm not at all an expert on American wiring code, but I think it's interesting to observe how they are different from the system commonly used in Eorope, where we have 230V single phase and 400V three phase, while the American system is 120V single phase and either 240V split phase, or 208V three phase.