Why You Should Never Make (or Even Buy) a Male-to-Male Extension Cord
A recent warning from the Consumer Product Safety Commission urges people not to use male-to-male power chords. Although illegal, the product is available online with the intended use to feed electricity from a generator into the building’s main power grid. However, the consequences of such actions can be dire. Many hardware stores have also warned consumers over the years that male-to-male “adapters” for things like holiday lights are unsafe, but sometimes these warnings go unheeded, resulting in preventable accidents.
Risk of electric shock and electric shock
As soon as the cord is connected to a power source, the other end becomes “live”, and when using the male-to-male connector, the metal pins of the plug are electrified and cause a serious risk of electric shock. The ends also electrify any conductive object they come in contact with, including household items made of metal. This means that if you come into contact with a live wire, you can receive a 120V shock, enough to kill you under certain circumstances. If the energized end of the cord is not connected to a circuit breaker or any other safety shutdown, the electricity will not be cut off when the circuit is overloaded, so the chance of electric shock under these circumstances is higher than under normal conditions.
Fire risk
Unfortunately, electrical shock is just one of the many ways a double extension cord can harm you. If you are using it to try and electrify your home’s system with a generator, it will run in the opposite direction for at least some of the time. This means that safety features such as circuit breakers will be bypassed and could start a fire, causing catastrophic damage to the building it is connected to, not to mention serious injury or death to anyone inside. A fire can also start in a generator if power is restored while connected to the house, causing the generator to ignite with more fuel to burn.
Risk to utilities
Bypassing standard security systems is dangerous not only for those using the generator. Utility workers who are trying to restore power to the area where the outage has occurred are also at risk as the power lines they work on may suddenly become energized. Even if you turn off the main switch in your home while the generator is running, without proper security, the switch can be accidentally turned on again.
Risk of carbon monoxide poisoning
Another hidden danger of using a short reversible adapter like those sold online for generators you may not have considered: The Consumer Product Safety Commission warns that gas generators operating so close to your home can increase your risk. carbon monoxide poisoning due to generator exhaust.
Always Leave the Wiring to the Professionals
Your best bet is obviously to leave home wiring to the professionals. While an adapter might seem like the perfect solution for a string of Christmas lights pointing in the wrong direction, the possibility of the plug end being exposed while still plugged into the outlet makes this plan more dangerous than it’s worth. Keep yourself and your neighbors safe by never using these dangerous adapters unless you are a certified electrician.