The explanation of why they’re a bad idea is valid though. Usually the kinds of people who know just enough to want this type of plug are also the type of people I wouldn’t trust with one.
Edit:
I’ll go ahead and explain why people want plugs like this.
These can be used to backfeed power from a generator into a house, letting you used different outlets/lights in the house. A knowledgeable person can actually use something like this safely, but most people who would use something like this don’t know enough to do it correctly. The dangers about doing this are:
You can easily shock yourself off of the exposed pins of the cord. You can avoid getting shocked by waiting to plug into the generator until the other end is connected first.
You can backfeed power onto the electrical grid. The power going backwards through the transformers will step up the voltage to thousands of volts, and could seriously injure or kill the linemen who are trying to fix the outage. This is avoided by making sure you’ve opened either the house’s main disconnect breaker or the breaker for the individual circuit you’re plugging into.
There are some safer ways to setup this type of generator use, there are special generator power cords/outlets that won’t have exposed energized prongs if plugged into a generator. There are also transfer switches or breaker interlock kits designed to prevent someone from being able to backfeed power by requiring them to disconnect commercial power before the generator can be fed into the house’s distribution panel.
Even funnier is if you click on the brand SCTOU to see other products, the other items from SCTOU appear to be questionable body armor and anti-bird spikes. Seller names are different as well, but they’re all similar random Chinese names.
I’m not well informed, but I wouldn’t be surprised if in some places it wouldn’t be legal to sell that kind of cords (because of being a safety hazard and such).
Here’s a short extension cord version of one
The explanation of why they’re a bad idea is valid though. Usually the kinds of people who know just enough to want this type of plug are also the type of people I wouldn’t trust with one.
Edit: I’ll go ahead and explain why people want plugs like this. These can be used to backfeed power from a generator into a house, letting you used different outlets/lights in the house. A knowledgeable person can actually use something like this safely, but most people who would use something like this don’t know enough to do it correctly. The dangers about doing this are:
There are some safer ways to setup this type of generator use, there are special generator power cords/outlets that won’t have exposed energized prongs if plugged into a generator. There are also transfer switches or breaker interlock kits designed to prevent someone from being able to backfeed power by requiring them to disconnect commercial power before the generator can be fed into the house’s distribution panel.
It’s pretty telling that the product page has zero reviews. I don’t think this product has any surviving users.
I think it’s been taken down and relisted multiple times, possibly due to reports. I’ve seen these plugs on amazon for years now.
"Is this UL certified?
Their expected response.
I trust NANCHANGZHENGFUYUANGUOJIMAOYIYOUXIANGONGSI for all my dangerously illegal electrical needs!
Even funnier is if you click on the brand SCTOU to see other products, the other items from SCTOU appear to be questionable body armor and anti-bird spikes. Seller names are different as well, but they’re all similar random Chinese names.
Those “anti bird spikes” look like razor sharp bladed caltrops to me!
The car community has a saying “Only when you know all the rules are you allowed to break some of them”
Also in TTRPG community, but they break it all the time.
Am I crazy or is the example picture of the interlock backwards. Both sides can be turned on, but only one can be off at the same time 😅
You’re right, I hadn’t noticed that. They have the breakers labeled backwards from how they normally are.
Yea I had to scroll down to the review pictures, I seriously thought I was going crazy over what is a super simple thing lol
I’m not well informed, but I wouldn’t be surprised if in some places it wouldn’t be legal to sell that kind of cords (because of being a safety hazard and such).
For a generator you ideally want a 220v version so that you can power all the circuits in your house. Which makes the suicide cord all the scarier.
Omg please everyone report that listing z