4 ms·
When I was maybe 8-9 I found a dual plug extension for the Christmas lights. It looked like two of those cheap green plugs with a little socket on the back, wir
by throwaway34511 5y ago
When I was maybe 8-9 I found a dual plug extension for the Christmas lights. It looked like two of those cheap green plugs with a little socket on the back, wired to each other. I think some people call it a widowmaker, and to this day I can't imagine why something so dangerous would have been manufactured. Anyway, I wanted to know what would happen if I plugged both plugs into the wall at the same time. I got paralyzed right there in front of mom, unable to even talk or shout, for at least 15 seconds, but it seemed like forever. It's weird because I knew to only touch insulator. I somehow fell off it and then unplugged it. I slunk away without her finding out, but my arm had a strange feeling for a while.
- boring_twenties 5y agoDo you mean one of these? https://i.imgur.com/SM60upY.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/SM60upY.jpeg
- throwaway34511 5y agoIt was like that, but with light string style piggyback plugs on both ends. So the non-wall side could have been in the middle of a bunch of piggybacked plugs, but there would still be two exposed, energized prongs on whatever it was plugged into.
- cyckl 5y agoSuicide cables!
- morpheuskafka 5y agoIn theory, plugging both of them into the same circuit (such as two plugs in one receptacle) shouldn't damage anything as far as I know. Of course, it won't do anything useful, and if the plug is not polarized then there's a good chance of plugging it in backwards and shorting out the circuit. And, as you learned then, there is a great danger of accidentally touching the live end. "Proper" use of this, if there is such a thing, would dictate plugging the load in first, then the supply, but in this case there was supply on both ends.