There’s a factor male-to-male expansion cables have actually been nicknamed “widowmakers” and “suicide cords.”
“If you put a male into a female socket, the other end of that male is going to be live,” Paul Martinez, proprietor of Electrified NYC in Brooklyn claims. “So when you touch it, you’re going to get the shock of your life.”
A male-to-male expansion cable is a power cable that has prongs, additionally called the “male” end, on each side of the cable while typical expansion cables have both a male end and a women end. In 2022, the Consumer Product Safety Commission released a warning concerning male-to-male cables, specifying that when made use of, they can create “shock, electrocution, fire, and carbon monoxide poisoning hazards.”
Why are male-to-male expansion cables so hazardous?
Male- to-male cables develop shock, electrocution and fire threats when being used. If the cable is connected into a power electrical outlet, the prongs on the revealed end have an electrical present going to them, implying if you unintentionally touch it, you can be seriously damaged.
One Reddit user described the real-time side of the cable as “essentially a taser,” yet it ends up that it can be much more hazardous than that. Matrinez claims that injury from these sorts of expansion cables can also lead to fatality.
“It’s not the voltage that’s going to kill you, it’s in the amperage,” Martinez claims. “And you can be killed on a 20-amp circuit, trust me.”
For recommendation, 20-amp outlets are typically installed in kitchens and garages for devices that call for even more power.
“We never use male-to-male extension cords,” Martinez claims. “All extension cords are male and female on either end to extend whatever you’re extending.”
What to make use of rather than a male-to-male expansion cable?
An excellent general rule is that if an electrical contractor does not utilize it, neither need to you. So, instead of utilizing a male-to-male expansion cable, you need to constantly stay with routine– and secure– extension cords for your family requires.
Read much more: 7 Things You Should Never Plug Into an Extension Cord or Power Strip
And while some state they have actually made use of a male-to-male expansion cable with a generator throughout a power failure at their home, electrical experts state this produces various safety and security threats. The secure remedy is to have a transfer switch that would certainly collaborate with a whole-house generator set up by a specialist in your house rather.
Read much more: Best Smart Plugs
