Used to do property preservation (cleaning out foreclosed homes), and would use a male-male to get power from the generator around the house. I’ve never felt so much fear as when hooking those things up. I was as safe with it as possible, which is, obviously, not safe enough. But my dad now knows that’s possible, and I’ve caught him trying to do similar since, and it scares the shit out of me, because he’s the type that thinks some duct tape around a frayed extension cord is good enough.
That works great until you accidentally connect one side of the split-phase service with the other side… Your male-to-male cable becomes a short across 240vac.
Also: if you don’t turn the main breaker off first, you are now back-feeding power into lines the local linemen expect to be dead, potentially electrocuting them… This is why specific receptacles connected with a generator interlock kit (breaker that can only be turned on while the main is off) are used.
Used to do property preservation (cleaning out foreclosed homes), and would use a male-male to get power from the generator around the house. I’ve never felt so much fear as when hooking those things up. I was as safe with it as possible, which is, obviously, not safe enough. But my dad now knows that’s possible, and I’ve caught him trying to do similar since, and it scares the shit out of me, because he’s the type that thinks some duct tape around a frayed extension cord is good enough.
That works great until you accidentally connect one side of the split-phase service with the other side… Your male-to-male cable becomes a short across 240vac.
Also: if you don’t turn the main breaker off first, you are now back-feeding power into lines the local linemen expect to be dead, potentially electrocuting them… This is why specific receptacles connected with a generator interlock kit (breaker that can only be turned on while the main is off) are used.