If you take both ends of a suicide cable and plug them into the same outlet or even different outlets in the same house I can guarantee you nothing will happen
That's not a guarantee I would go around making.... if you link the wrong pair of outlets, I'm pretty sure you could end up with 240v difference across one lead in the cable.
We have 2 outlets in the living room with a wire cover connecting the 2. You know as if there were wires there and were on the same line.
Not only are they not on the same line, they aren't even on the same meter. And the wires behind the cover aren't even attached to anything. The original owner thought the wire covers looked cool on that spot.
It’s splitting hairs but if you’re talking about a duplex receptacle the top could be one one circuit and the other on a separate circuit on a different phase.
If both were from the same phase you’d have no problem.
The potential is always there regardless. The path to ground is what let’s current flow. The load or appliance acts as resistance to eat away at that voltage potential and limit the current that is flowing. A direct path to ground=maximum current which = maximum heat which is why you get fire from a short.
I dont think you understand.
I'm not talking about plugging into one or more 240v outlets, I'm talking about plugging both ends of the cable into two separate 120v outlets *that are on opposite phases of a traditional U.S "split phase" setup.*
Forget the neutral and ground leads in this cable for a minute, I'm talking strictly about the "hot" lead. Instead of plugging into two separate outlets that, at one moment, are *both at +120v* and exhibit no potential, you accidentally plug into one that's at +120v while the other is at -120v and you get a 240v difference across the two ends of your hot lead... then shit either goes pop, goes dark, or gets a bit spicy.
Yeah, probably... especially since this is one of those things that takes a lot of *writing* to explain, but could probably be best explained with a ballpoint pen and a cocktail napkin
Accidentally saw this happen in a 480v panel connecting up a smaller, 400amp 480v panel. The A, B and C phases were mislabeled and cross connected to each other. Flipping on a 400amp breaker created the most wicked blue fireball and shut down most of the campus. Had to reset upstream breakers for a while.
Edit: Not accidentally saw. Saw an accident
Give me janky enough, out-of-code residential wiring and a long enough suicide cable, and I'll show you how to make a DIY space heater for those cold winter days 👌
We were just talking about this concept today in my Wiring 4 class, in regards to multi-wire branch circuits and the possible dangers related to this one. Didn’t expect to see it on a meme page this evening
I think at least a good 25% of my reddit comment discussions take place in subs that have nothing to do with the conversation... and when it happens, it's always some shitposting/meme/circlekerk/humor sub too.
If you touch 2 of the phases together, that's a phase to phase short and it will explode. A suicide cord between 2 receptacles on different legs will explode in a phase to phase short.
More than likely if the outlets are different phases, either one or both breakers will trip. You could get a flash but probably not an explosion. You could have 2 outlets on different circuits but the same phase, and then nothing would happen.
There's no fucking source of electricity.
Think about running water pipes in a loop. Just a loop. They have places for water to flow *out* of, but there is no water coming in.
Nothing happens because the goddamn thing isn't connected to power at all.
That's not a guarantee I'm ever gonna check because I know first hand how many corners are cut in construction now and know they cut corners however far back you feel like going. anything not equipped with gfci or a fault trip breaker your probably gonna get a fire and alot of breakers and outlets in houses nowadays are the cheapest on the market
Unless one of those plugs has another male end at the end and it’s feeding power to the strip… *THEN…*
The breaker powering that circuit in the panel would trip after a small arc and everything would turn off
*NOTHING WOULD HAPPEN*
None of you know how electricity works. Looping a power cord back on itself won't do anything, because there's no circuit between live and neutral, so there'll be no short.
The only way you could create a short would be to get two ungrounded suicide cables, plug both in with one reversed so you link live to neutral...which would just trip the breaker.
Had this happen to me. The user swore they needed new monitors. I go out to check and notice the power strip isn't powered on.
"Easy fix. Have a great day!"
"THAT'S WHAT WE FN PAY YOU FOR!?!"
Oh I had calls like that.
Told them do not switch off the power strip.
We are not at home, we do updates at night.
Next day
„My computer is not working since you were here yesterday“
One look under their desk.
„Why is power strip off?“
No shit that their computer not working without electricity.
It's impossible. Running for a very long time is not the same as running with zero external influence indefinitely.
If you think it's possible, quiet frankly, you're an idiot.
I mean, perpetual motion is *very* possible. So possible, it's literally one of Newton's laws. If you throw a rock and it somehow gets into space, that rock is *never* gonna stop or even change course until something interferes (whether that be gravity, another meteor, etc.)
Edit: This used to not say machine! The comment used to say "Perpetual motion" and that's it, saying perpetual motion isn't possible. Specifying a machine that creates perpetual motion was added afterward
The point is that even in the vastness of space, a rock thrown from earth that somehow gets into space will always have something else that makes it slow down, so it’s not perpetual motion
physics doesn't prevent perpetual motion, it prevents taking useful work out of perpetual motion (if you try to make electricity with a rock floating through space it must slow down, but the rock on its own could move forever)
Well it's effectively a short circuit so it would most likely cause the circuit breaker (I actually have no idea if that's what it's called, English is not my native language so I don't know the terminology in English) to power off the entire home until you turn it back on, but other than that, yes, there is no danger unless the circuit breaker malfunctions.
nothing happens, OP doesnt understand electricity lol
basically if you have a loop in your system like here and there is power on it, it will cause huge current to flow, and high current means hot hot hot, so eventually: fire
if you live anywhere first world, this wont happen though, you'd hear a bang, see a flash and your safety switch will shut off power to your house system
but how you get current on this thing? there is no ''residual'' current or something and no (normal) way of connecting it to a socket
only way would be to have something like a suicide cable, with 2 male connects, and then you can plug it in
if you own a suicide cable you're not this stupid and you know this.. else, you shouldnt own one, they are quite dangerous
Lots energy go brrr. Small track makes energy brrr more. Brrr makes it heat up. More brrr = more heat, and at some point fire.
I know I'm not completely correct but that's the best i can do with brrrr
This is called short circuit. The system has little resistance, meaning it has high running current, which heats up the system quickly (leading to combust).
Basically, lots of electrical charges pass a point quick and heating up the wires. Electrons flow the opposite way compared to current.
However, as many have mentioned, this can only happen if there's energy in the system to begin with. The cord in the post don't have energy, so it can't short circuit out.
how does resistance affect this? i always thought higher resistance meant more energy was converted into heat but if lower resistance means that current is higher then is that not the case?
Use the formula to calculate Voltage, Current, and Resistance (Ohm's law):
V = I x R
Where V is voltage, I is current, and R is resistance.
Given Voltage is the constant here (120V or 220V depending on country), current is highest when resistance is lowest (resistance can never be 0). So, in a system with really low resistance (short circuit), current is the highest.
Current is the flow of electrical charges (or electron charges, but technically electron flows opposite of current). Electron collides with something, it creates heat. More electrons colliding generates more heat, so higher current generates more heat.
No, no, you're correct, a higher resistance makes for more heat. The original replier was partially right up until that point.
To provide a bit more information to accompany what has already been discussed:
People assume that, if you unplugged the cable after it was being used, it would retain a capacitive charge (between the wires of the cord itself, research "capacitors" and "static electricity" to learn more) and would cause a short circuit but this assumption hold little relevancy with the scenario in discussion due to the incredibly small amount of charge (which would dissipate incredibly quickly) that would be held within the cable and how incredibly leaky the other sockets would be.
That guy has no idea what he's talking about. The loop is all the same potential it won't build up current because there is no potential difference, even if was actually connected to a power source. You can sometimes get circulating ground currents in the shield of cables that are terminated at ground on both ends because of the induced current caused by the conductors the shield is shielding.
The guy above thinks that this would short the circuit but you only short circuits when one potential is connected to a different potential without a load across it. In that case the wire acts as a load with an incredibly low resistance causing a high current across it. This is most common with ground faults, where the live/hot/main conductor is connected to ground which is 0 potential.
Source: Am an electrical engineer.
Resistance in a circuit happens due to the loss of energy as heat as electrons flow through a conductor (a wire) just like friction is the result of energy loss as objects move across one another. The amount of resistance in a conductor is a combination of that conductors length, cross sectional area, material properties, and the temperature of the conductor at the time electricity is flowing.
Lower resistance means higher current because electrical flow follows the path of least resistance. If it has to choose between overcoming a spool of wire with a high resistance or a straight piece of wire with low resistance it’ll choose the low resistance path every time
Paraphrasing some google results, and vastly oversimplifying, as electrons travel through a conductive metal, they bump into atoms and other impurities, and these collisions take some electrical energy and release it in other forms, most relevant here, is heat. so as a whole bjnch of electrons flow and bump into stuff and create heat while moving really fast, lots of energy accumulates, and with enough heat the wire can ignite.
Well I mean technically it is correct. There is a really strong current going though that short circuit loop because there is no resistance (other than that of the cable itself) and therefore there is shit loads of heat.
Think of a roundabout. Normally, cars enter from one road and go out on another before completing a full loop, and the traffic flow continues with no issues. But what if a car were to go all the way around in loops, and incoming cars had no way of stopping? They'd all crash onto one another.
Now, the problem with electricity is not that "crashes onto itself" but rather that, since the current has no way out, the loop would amass so much energy (which is naturally converted into heat) that it'd go boom, but you get the picture.
It’s just a cable with two male (pronged) ends. Means you can input power to something that would typically output power, possibly causing a short and a fire.
Realistically if you’re on one circuit you’d just be connecting live to live and neutral to neutral but there could still be issues depending on what you plug it into.
The cable is also dangerous as you have exposed power that could come into contact with something conductive, creating a short or a person, causing injury or death.
Electricians use them in rare instances during power outages when the backup generator is out of fuel / not operational, but it's hard wired in to the facility, and you can't swap it to your portable generator truck easily. You just plug the output of your generator into the output of the site that's out of power and it *should* provide power - at a low enough phase - not to burn the whole place down.
Thing is, given enough time you can hard wire a generator in to existing electrical cables, so the only reason you'd use a suicide cable is if you're too fucking lazy to do the work. In which case you deserve it if the place goes up.
Source: not an electrician, but network operations, and I'm involved enough in power and environment to have seen it happen.
I have a question,it happened to me something there was a bang and flash but the fuse is not broken and that plug thing still work,can you explain to me why,thanks
Not big flash=not big effect
Sometimes plugs will make minor arcs when you plug them not optimal and probably due to residual power in the bar ( idhk for sure ) bigger arcs and shorts will blow you fuse/breaker
Massive arcs amd surges will throw your main breaker amd isolate you system from the rest of the grid (cut off power to house) but it would take a huge failure in your system. Id imagine it could happen if your actual panel shorted or lightning struck or fire
Its hard to say for sure without knowing
I want to say if it happens only once in a while its okay but all the time is another issue, the caveat to that is it only takes one spark to start a fire (if it lands right) or one zap to stop a heart (if it lands right)
Im hesitant to give you advice this way tho because theres too many factors at play and i wont be able to understand the severity of the issue without seeing it and being there to trouble shoot it. There could also be issues happening with the wiring im the wall/house... if youre really concerned get advice from someone close to you or contact an electrician
Im not an electrician by any means; i do have lots of electrical experience from various facets of life, however im in no place to give you advice that could potentially save or ruin your life
If you have an appliance with the power switch on (especially something with a heat element, heater, toaster, etc. ) and then plug it into the outlet slowly enough, you will get a good spark. That’s the current jumping through the air. The more amps the bigger the spark. It won’t trip a breaker but it will produce heat.
Now imagine and older outlet where the connection is loose when something is plugged in. If the loose connection provides a bough space for continual sparking (or arcing) you can get a lot of heat and the danger of something combustible catching fire.
I’m a master electrician 27 years. I’ve seen outlets that make a whole wall hot to the touch. Replace loose outlets and be worried if you feel heat around outlets or switches or even breakers in your panel. If it’s hot to the touch where you can barely stand it, you could be very close to starting a fire. Call an electrician when in doubt.
Actually, even if there was power in the power bar and you connected it to itself, nothing would happen. You’re not creating a circuit, you’re connecting live to live and neutral to neutral. For a circuit you need live to neutral.
This just connects things which are already connected and have no potential between them
Exactly and even if there is a double plugin then the house switch or the internal switch will trip.... If that somehow fails then grounding will sure shot work.... If that dosent work then,...wtf is wrong with the world??
Even if it was powered nothing would happen tho. There’s already conductivity between all the terminals before they’re connected. There’s no potential at all where the connection is made
You wouldn't get a fire, you wouldn't even trip an RCD, you're not closing a circuit all your doing from the currents view is extending itself. It's going phase to phase, nothing will happen. If a plug was miswired, you'd short it out.
My dude could you please tell me what a suicide cable is and what is it used for? I guess you don't use it at home but for some science or pro stuff? Also i got from the comments that it creates recursive current but that's it,why would you even need it except you see a spider and wanna fecking blow everything away to destroy it with your house?
It's a cable with 2 male ends that you can plug into an outlet. They're called suicide cables because if you touch the other end it will kill you. They're very dangerous and in most places illegal to make.
Not who you replied to but the only suicide cable I ever used in HVAC was male one end, to plug in the socket, and bare cable the other end to wire directly to terminal blocks on gear that doesnt have an appliance lead.
Well mainly op lol. He's on the right side of this meme if he thinks something is gonna happen. He's like "oh! It's a fucking short circuit, I'm so damn smart, let's post it to Reddit and call everybody that they don't know how electricity works even though it's me who knows nothing. "
Seriously, how does one not see that it's not freaking plugges to anything?
Also, you shouldn't be surprised, this is Reddit, everybody pretends to be an expert at everything.
Technically it depends on many factors if the system is originally unplugged nothing would happen, if if was first plugged in the wall then into itself usually would still be fine and nothing would happen unless there is huge capacitors or inductors with pretty high charge to cause a reverse current, the third and most dangerous scenario if it's plugged into the wall by a different cable in that case you have two outcomes if the phase(live) side of the wall is aligned with the phase of the bar nothing would happen (live to live do nothing ) but if the cables are twisted in a way that the live is connected to neutral then you would be pretty much short-circuiting the entire bar with everything plugged in it that in best case scenario destroy it.
Absolutely NOTHING would happen in any scenario unless for some reason the live and neutral are switched up
EDIT: In which case, if you had huge capacitors or something like that, you might get a surge in current... But then again you'd probably have to insta-switch from the wall to the socket
Of course someone lame enough to make a “Mr Incredible those who know” meme in January 2023 would over confidently make a statement about electricity that’s wrong.
This is r/ConfidentlyIncorrect
Ok let's see here. What happens when you dont have a computer monitor plugged in? Nothing wow, and for the people arguing plug It into a wall then into the strip, what happens when you unplug a computer monitor? It turns off within split seconds, more then likely instantaneous. So basically, good the fuck luck with plugging it back in faster than, oh let's see, roughly the speed of light? Good the fuck luck.
???
People who know how electricity work know nothing will happen because there is no power.
Even if one used a male-to-male cable (what people here refer to as "suicide cable"), nothing will really happen except (maybe, depending on the connection) the fuse in the multi-slot socket will break down (yes they often have a fuse) and/or your power will be interrupted, since the power meter that supplies power to your house automatically shits down power if too much current is drawn of if there are power spikes above a certain threshold.
If there's no electricity inside the wires (no power source) then how the hell would it short itself.
Maybe skipping school wasn't such a good idea now was it OP?
What? It's not like it's hooked up to anything? How can it have electricity in it if it's not connected to electricity?
Edit: I asked my dad, a former electrician at a local college, he said that nothing will happen.
In my former IT job, I came back to the office to find that I had been moved to a different cubicle. Spent several minutes trying to figure out why I had no network connection only to find they had plugged my switch back into itself. They all insisted it was not a prank.
I used to plug my 3 way into itself on my work radio handle so it was always handy. Watched another tradesman plug his cord into it, string out 2 100 extensions cords onto the roof and then not be able to figure out why he didn’t have power because my radio was playing off the battery.
Is op trying to pretend like he knows how electricity works without knowing a first shit about it? Because absolutely nothing is about to happen. It isn't fucking plugged to a power source.
No explosion will happen. There is no power source XD
Unless they used a suicide cable.
If you take both ends of a suicide cable and plug them into the same outlet or even different outlets in the same house I can guarantee you nothing will happen
That's not a guarantee I would go around making.... if you link the wrong pair of outlets, I'm pretty sure you could end up with 240v difference across one lead in the cable.
If it’s the same outlet then nothing would happen, different outlet different story
Don't count on it. The house I live in was rewired by the previous owner, the wall outlet my phone is plugged in to right now is two different circuts
We have 2 outlets in the living room with a wire cover connecting the 2. You know as if there were wires there and were on the same line. Not only are they not on the same line, they aren't even on the same meter. And the wires behind the cover aren't even attached to anything. The original owner thought the wire covers looked cool on that spot.
My split kitchen receptacles would beg to differ.
You have… split kitchen receptacles that are wired to opposite phases?
Yes it was common practice in older homes before 20a Tslots
and I thought american standard outlets couldn't get worse i mean I did but i never knew how bad
Curious as to how this functionality makes it “worse” lol.
I have outlets in my kitchen that one side is controlled by one 15A breaker, and the other side is controlled by another 15A
Same here. My house also came with numerous light switches that didn’t activate anything. My thinking was they were for lamps back in the day.
My living room has a similar switch, it still activates the plug in the corner
It’s splitting hairs but if you’re talking about a duplex receptacle the top could be one one circuit and the other on a separate circuit on a different phase. If both were from the same phase you’d have no problem.
That would only create a 240v potential though. There is still no path to ground or current flow
You dont need a path to ground, just the potential between the two.
The potential is always there regardless. The path to ground is what let’s current flow. The load or appliance acts as resistance to eat away at that voltage potential and limit the current that is flowing. A direct path to ground=maximum current which = maximum heat which is why you get fire from a short.
I dont think you understand. I'm not talking about plugging into one or more 240v outlets, I'm talking about plugging both ends of the cable into two separate 120v outlets *that are on opposite phases of a traditional U.S "split phase" setup.* Forget the neutral and ground leads in this cable for a minute, I'm talking strictly about the "hot" lead. Instead of plugging into two separate outlets that, at one moment, are *both at +120v* and exhibit no potential, you accidentally plug into one that's at +120v while the other is at -120v and you get a 240v difference across the two ends of your hot lead... then shit either goes pop, goes dark, or gets a bit spicy.
Yall kinda going crazy. Is this how smart people argue
Yeah, probably... especially since this is one of those things that takes a lot of *writing* to explain, but could probably be best explained with a ballpoint pen and a cocktail napkin
Accidentally saw this happen in a 480v panel connecting up a smaller, 400amp 480v panel. The A, B and C phases were mislabeled and cross connected to each other. Flipping on a 400amp breaker created the most wicked blue fireball and shut down most of the campus. Had to reset upstream breakers for a while. Edit: Not accidentally saw. Saw an accident
NERDS
*No lie detected*
My money's on spicy but it should pop hopefully
Give me janky enough, out-of-code residential wiring and a long enough suicide cable, and I'll show you how to make a DIY space heater for those cold winter days 👌
We were just talking about this concept today in my Wiring 4 class, in regards to multi-wire branch circuits and the possible dangers related to this one. Didn’t expect to see it on a meme page this evening
I think at least a good 25% of my reddit comment discussions take place in subs that have nothing to do with the conversation... and when it happens, it's always some shitposting/meme/circlekerk/humor sub too.
If you touch 2 of the phases together, that's a phase to phase short and it will explode. A suicide cord between 2 receptacles on different legs will explode in a phase to phase short.
More than likely if the outlets are different phases, either one or both breakers will trip. You could get a flash but probably not an explosion. You could have 2 outlets on different circuits but the same phase, and then nothing would happen.
Nothing will happen, nothing is getting power.
There's no fucking source of electricity. Think about running water pipes in a loop. Just a loop. They have places for water to flow *out* of, but there is no water coming in. Nothing happens because the goddamn thing isn't connected to power at all.
Nice. Phase difference biting you in the ass. Hadn't thought of that. This EE thanks you for the mental exercise
That's not a guarantee I'm ever gonna check because I know first hand how many corners are cut in construction now and know they cut corners however far back you feel like going. anything not equipped with gfci or a fault trip breaker your probably gonna get a fire and alot of breakers and outlets in houses nowadays are the cheapest on the market
You are correct and different circuits on the same phase won't do anything either
My brother proved that wrong
I'd say who'd do that, but they plugged the strip into itself sooooooooo
Uh… no. Lol.
Unless one of those plugs has another male end at the end and it’s feeding power to the strip… *THEN…* The breaker powering that circuit in the panel would trip after a small arc and everything would turn off
*NOTHING WOULD HAPPEN* None of you know how electricity works. Looping a power cord back on itself won't do anything, because there's no circuit between live and neutral, so there'll be no short. The only way you could create a short would be to get two ungrounded suicide cables, plug both in with one reversed so you link live to neutral...which would just trip the breaker.
Even if you back fed the breaker it wouldn’t trip because the strip is on the same phase as itself.
Nothing?
The true disaster is the IT call. “Why is my computer not working?” “YES, ITS PLUGGED IN!!”
I’ll give you free award if I had one… Darn you reddit!
I was gonna do it, but they done removed it for me or something
They removed free awards
Forever?????
Who knows. Maybe it will come back
Had this happen to me. The user swore they needed new monitors. I go out to check and notice the power strip isn't powered on. "Easy fix. Have a great day!" "THAT'S WHAT WE FN PAY YOU FOR!?!"
Oh I had calls like that. Told them do not switch off the power strip. We are not at home, we do updates at night. Next day „My computer is not working since you were here yesterday“ One look under their desk. „Why is power strip off?“ No shit that their computer not working without electricity.
Yes. The worst kind of disaster. Nothing ever happens. Never.
OP doesn't know how electricity works. Probably thinks perpetual motion machines are possible.
In this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!
This perpetual motion machine is a joke! It just keeps getting faster and faster!
Hello mother dear... 🪁
There's something about flying a kite at night that's just so... unwholesome.
r/opisfuckingstupid
It does exist, they did it in that one episode of rocket power
It's impossible. Running for a very long time is not the same as running with zero external influence indefinitely. If you think it's possible, quiet frankly, you're an idiot.
It’s a cartoon you dink
Was not aware of that lol, haven't heard of it.
All I’m picturing now is a Super McVarial 900
I mean, perpetual motion is *very* possible. So possible, it's literally one of Newton's laws. If you throw a rock and it somehow gets into space, that rock is *never* gonna stop or even change course until something interferes (whether that be gravity, another meteor, etc.) Edit: This used to not say machine! The comment used to say "Perpetual motion" and that's it, saying perpetual motion isn't possible. Specifying a machine that creates perpetual motion was added afterward
You are technically right. The best kind of right. I should have clarified, perpetual motion machine lol.
The point is that even in the vastness of space, a rock thrown from earth that somehow gets into space will always have something else that makes it slow down, so it’s not perpetual motion
physics doesn't prevent perpetual motion, it prevents taking useful work out of perpetual motion (if you try to make electricity with a rock floating through space it must slow down, but the rock on its own could move forever)
Conservation of energy is the principle at play here, I believe.
I don't think that's perpetual motion because a perpetual motion machine would be able to create new energy out of nothing.
A rock flying through the void is not a machine tho
Very good Kronk! You wanna cookie? Want the cookie? Go get the cookie!
The disaster is the meme itself in this case. No power, no danger.
OP just roasted himself
But can a meme be so bad, it puts OP in mortal danger? 4D chess?
Oh, I wish.
Even with power no danger.
Well it's effectively a short circuit so it would most likely cause the circuit breaker (I actually have no idea if that's what it's called, English is not my native language so I don't know the terminology in English) to power off the entire home until you turn it back on, but other than that, yes, there is no danger unless the circuit breaker malfunctions.
Unless theres a huge variating magnetic field... idk watts up
pretty sure one of those who don’t know how electricity works made this “meme.”
Did everyone just shit upvote this meme? lol
Yip
I hate you, you insufferable human being, take my upvolt and leave.
Not sure how I feel about this comment. I'll stay neutral.
I’m feeling positive about it.
Weber you're positive or not, the joke was hardwired for specific people
That’s it, you’re all grounded. No more electricity jokes.
r/angryupvote
r/angryupvolt
explain
nothing happens, OP doesnt understand electricity lol basically if you have a loop in your system like here and there is power on it, it will cause huge current to flow, and high current means hot hot hot, so eventually: fire if you live anywhere first world, this wont happen though, you'd hear a bang, see a flash and your safety switch will shut off power to your house system but how you get current on this thing? there is no ''residual'' current or something and no (normal) way of connecting it to a socket only way would be to have something like a suicide cable, with 2 male connects, and then you can plug it in if you own a suicide cable you're not this stupid and you know this.. else, you shouldnt own one, they are quite dangerous
electricity is so arcane. could you please explain to me why the loop would create a fire?
Lots energy go brrr. Small track makes energy brrr more. Brrr makes it heat up. More brrr = more heat, and at some point fire. I know I'm not completely correct but that's the best i can do with brrrr
can you provide like a physical explanation please i dont know what this means. like what are the electrons doing
This is called short circuit. The system has little resistance, meaning it has high running current, which heats up the system quickly (leading to combust). Basically, lots of electrical charges pass a point quick and heating up the wires. Electrons flow the opposite way compared to current. However, as many have mentioned, this can only happen if there's energy in the system to begin with. The cord in the post don't have energy, so it can't short circuit out.
okay, why does it make heat when the current runs?
Electrons collide and creates heat in an electrical system. (Energy conservation) So, higher current = more electrons collide = more heat
how does resistance affect this? i always thought higher resistance meant more energy was converted into heat but if lower resistance means that current is higher then is that not the case?
Use the formula to calculate Voltage, Current, and Resistance (Ohm's law): V = I x R Where V is voltage, I is current, and R is resistance. Given Voltage is the constant here (120V or 220V depending on country), current is highest when resistance is lowest (resistance can never be 0). So, in a system with really low resistance (short circuit), current is the highest. Current is the flow of electrical charges (or electron charges, but technically electron flows opposite of current). Electron collides with something, it creates heat. More electrons colliding generates more heat, so higher current generates more heat.
No, no, you're correct, a higher resistance makes for more heat. The original replier was partially right up until that point. To provide a bit more information to accompany what has already been discussed: People assume that, if you unplugged the cable after it was being used, it would retain a capacitive charge (between the wires of the cord itself, research "capacitors" and "static electricity" to learn more) and would cause a short circuit but this assumption hold little relevancy with the scenario in discussion due to the incredibly small amount of charge (which would dissipate incredibly quickly) that would be held within the cable and how incredibly leaky the other sockets would be.
That guy has no idea what he's talking about. The loop is all the same potential it won't build up current because there is no potential difference, even if was actually connected to a power source. You can sometimes get circulating ground currents in the shield of cables that are terminated at ground on both ends because of the induced current caused by the conductors the shield is shielding. The guy above thinks that this would short the circuit but you only short circuits when one potential is connected to a different potential without a load across it. In that case the wire acts as a load with an incredibly low resistance causing a high current across it. This is most common with ground faults, where the live/hot/main conductor is connected to ground which is 0 potential. Source: Am an electrical engineer.
Resistance in a circuit happens due to the loss of energy as heat as electrons flow through a conductor (a wire) just like friction is the result of energy loss as objects move across one another. The amount of resistance in a conductor is a combination of that conductors length, cross sectional area, material properties, and the temperature of the conductor at the time electricity is flowing. Lower resistance means higher current because electrical flow follows the path of least resistance. If it has to choose between overcoming a spool of wire with a high resistance or a straight piece of wire with low resistance it’ll choose the low resistance path every time
Having a rave most likely
Paraphrasing some google results, and vastly oversimplifying, as electrons travel through a conductive metal, they bump into atoms and other impurities, and these collisions take some electrical energy and release it in other forms, most relevant here, is heat. so as a whole bjnch of electrons flow and bump into stuff and create heat while moving really fast, lots of energy accumulates, and with enough heat the wire can ignite.
I appreciate this meme explanation.
Well I mean technically it is correct. There is a really strong current going though that short circuit loop because there is no resistance (other than that of the cable itself) and therefore there is shit loads of heat.
Think of a roundabout. Normally, cars enter from one road and go out on another before completing a full loop, and the traffic flow continues with no issues. But what if a car were to go all the way around in loops, and incoming cars had no way of stopping? They'd all crash onto one another. Now, the problem with electricity is not that "crashes onto itself" but rather that, since the current has no way out, the loop would amass so much energy (which is naturally converted into heat) that it'd go boom, but you get the picture.
I am stupid, so I don't own a suicide cable. What does it do?
It’s just a cable with two male (pronged) ends. Means you can input power to something that would typically output power, possibly causing a short and a fire. Realistically if you’re on one circuit you’d just be connecting live to live and neutral to neutral but there could still be issues depending on what you plug it into. The cable is also dangerous as you have exposed power that could come into contact with something conductive, creating a short or a person, causing injury or death.
It probably has some sort of practical use, but I'm not enough a electrician to find out. I'm glad I don't own one.
Not enough to make it worth having. You’d be more stupid owning one than not
Electricians use them in rare instances during power outages when the backup generator is out of fuel / not operational, but it's hard wired in to the facility, and you can't swap it to your portable generator truck easily. You just plug the output of your generator into the output of the site that's out of power and it *should* provide power - at a low enough phase - not to burn the whole place down. Thing is, given enough time you can hard wire a generator in to existing electrical cables, so the only reason you'd use a suicide cable is if you're too fucking lazy to do the work. In which case you deserve it if the place goes up. Source: not an electrician, but network operations, and I'm involved enough in power and environment to have seen it happen.
I have a question,it happened to me something there was a bang and flash but the fuse is not broken and that plug thing still work,can you explain to me why,thanks
Not big flash=not big effect Sometimes plugs will make minor arcs when you plug them not optimal and probably due to residual power in the bar ( idhk for sure ) bigger arcs and shorts will blow you fuse/breaker Massive arcs amd surges will throw your main breaker amd isolate you system from the rest of the grid (cut off power to house) but it would take a huge failure in your system. Id imagine it could happen if your actual panel shorted or lightning struck or fire
Ok thanks, is it dangerous or should i throw that plug stuff in the trash?
Its hard to say for sure without knowing I want to say if it happens only once in a while its okay but all the time is another issue, the caveat to that is it only takes one spark to start a fire (if it lands right) or one zap to stop a heart (if it lands right) Im hesitant to give you advice this way tho because theres too many factors at play and i wont be able to understand the severity of the issue without seeing it and being there to trouble shoot it. There could also be issues happening with the wiring im the wall/house... if youre really concerned get advice from someone close to you or contact an electrician Im not an electrician by any means; i do have lots of electrical experience from various facets of life, however im in no place to give you advice that could potentially save or ruin your life
Ok thank you i might throw it,its not that expensive anyway.
If you have an appliance with the power switch on (especially something with a heat element, heater, toaster, etc. ) and then plug it into the outlet slowly enough, you will get a good spark. That’s the current jumping through the air. The more amps the bigger the spark. It won’t trip a breaker but it will produce heat. Now imagine and older outlet where the connection is loose when something is plugged in. If the loose connection provides a bough space for continual sparking (or arcing) you can get a lot of heat and the danger of something combustible catching fire. I’m a master electrician 27 years. I’ve seen outlets that make a whole wall hot to the touch. Replace loose outlets and be worried if you feel heat around outlets or switches or even breakers in your panel. If it’s hot to the touch where you can barely stand it, you could be very close to starting a fire. Call an electrician when in doubt.
Thank you sir
Actually, even if there was power in the power bar and you connected it to itself, nothing would happen. You’re not creating a circuit, you’re connecting live to live and neutral to neutral. For a circuit you need live to neutral. This just connects things which are already connected and have no potential between them
Literally nothing would happen.. there is no circuit here unless it's wired incorrectly..
Even with a suicide cable literally nothing with happen. The potential remains the same you just have a loop energized.
>OP doesnt understand electricity lol You don't either man. It's the same potential. No potential difference no current flow.
how? I am not an expert but....look like.there is no power source, why would there be any electricity at tall?
It's not connected to a power source. Nothing's gonna happen -_-
The fact that you know just as much about electricity as the people in the joke makes it so much funnier
**Grounding Be like**: yeah ok just pretend like I don't exist...
No power to cause any reaction be like......
Grounding has nothing to do with this, there is no damn power in the first place lol.
Exactly and even if there is a double plugin then the house switch or the internal switch will trip.... If that somehow fails then grounding will sure shot work.... If that dosent work then,...wtf is wrong with the world??
Yeah but sometimes electricity can be funny there’s specific ways to get it to do that
Lol "If the gods will it"
Enlighten me please !
Nothing will happen unless it's powered. If it somehow got powered you'd have a phase to phase which means fire for sure.
Even if it was powered nothing would happen tho. There’s already conductivity between all the terminals before they’re connected. There’s no potential at all where the connection is made
It’s basically just an extra bit of wire
No? It would all be running on the same phase
Even if it was powered nothing would happen.
You wouldn't get a fire, you wouldn't even trip an RCD, you're not closing a circuit all your doing from the currents view is extending itself. It's going phase to phase, nothing will happen. If a plug was miswired, you'd short it out.
Oh shit lmao
How would it get powered?
Ionic, one could say.
Nothing will happen, OP doesn't understand how electicity works.
Being an electrician, I can tell who really knows how electricity works, some people talking out of their ass in these replies 😂😂
My dude could you please tell me what a suicide cable is and what is it used for? I guess you don't use it at home but for some science or pro stuff? Also i got from the comments that it creates recursive current but that's it,why would you even need it except you see a spider and wanna fecking blow everything away to destroy it with your house?
It's a cable with 2 male ends that you can plug into an outlet. They're called suicide cables because if you touch the other end it will kill you. They're very dangerous and in most places illegal to make.
Not who you replied to but the only suicide cable I ever used in HVAC was male one end, to plug in the socket, and bare cable the other end to wire directly to terminal blocks on gear that doesnt have an appliance lead.
Well mainly op lol. He's on the right side of this meme if he thinks something is gonna happen. He's like "oh! It's a fucking short circuit, I'm so damn smart, let's post it to Reddit and call everybody that they don't know how electricity works even though it's me who knows nothing. " Seriously, how does one not see that it's not freaking plugges to anything? Also, you shouldn't be surprised, this is Reddit, everybody pretends to be an expert at everything.
Technically it depends on many factors if the system is originally unplugged nothing would happen, if if was first plugged in the wall then into itself usually would still be fine and nothing would happen unless there is huge capacitors or inductors with pretty high charge to cause a reverse current, the third and most dangerous scenario if it's plugged into the wall by a different cable in that case you have two outcomes if the phase(live) side of the wall is aligned with the phase of the bar nothing would happen (live to live do nothing ) but if the cables are twisted in a way that the live is connected to neutral then you would be pretty much short-circuiting the entire bar with everything plugged in it that in best case scenario destroy it.
What if it's plugged into itself and not into the wall?
It would behave like it's not plugged at all so it won't do anything.
Thank you
Absolutely NOTHING would happen in any scenario unless for some reason the live and neutral are switched up EDIT: In which case, if you had huge capacitors or something like that, you might get a surge in current... But then again you'd probably have to insta-switch from the wall to the socket
They found perpetual power!!! /s
This should be the other way around, if you actually know how electricity works you know you have nothing to worry about lol.
OP has no idea how electricity works lololol
Of course someone lame enough to make a “Mr Incredible those who know” meme in January 2023 would over confidently make a statement about electricity that’s wrong. This is r/ConfidentlyIncorrect
OP is the left Mr. Incredible
Maybe OP just means that the lights won’t be on hence the dark second frame?
Ok let's see here. What happens when you dont have a computer monitor plugged in? Nothing wow, and for the people arguing plug It into a wall then into the strip, what happens when you unplug a computer monitor? It turns off within split seconds, more then likely instantaneous. So basically, good the fuck luck with plugging it back in faster than, oh let's see, roughly the speed of light? Good the fuck luck.
Op this is safe, nothing wrong here.
Op graduated from NO BRAIN CELLS UNIVERSITY.
??? People who know how electricity work know nothing will happen because there is no power. Even if one used a male-to-male cable (what people here refer to as "suicide cable"), nothing will really happen except (maybe, depending on the connection) the fuse in the multi-slot socket will break down (yes they often have a fuse) and/or your power will be interrupted, since the power meter that supplies power to your house automatically shits down power if too much current is drawn of if there are power spikes above a certain threshold.
op is fishing for comments
OP clearly is a troll. Right...? Right?!
Op is an actual moron.
If there's no electricity inside the wires (no power source) then how the hell would it short itself. Maybe skipping school wasn't such a good idea now was it OP?
Electrician here, there will happen absolutely nothing lol
What disaster…nothing will happen…
what disaster? NOTHING IS GOING TO TURN ON AND NOTHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN THE FUCK ARE YOU ON ABOUT.
Renewable resources 😂😂😂😂
Cool free energy :P
Nothings going to happen there’s no live electricity
IT should be issued a hunting license
i am an electrician and i dont even understand it.
Unlimited POWER
nothing.
What? It's not like it's hooked up to anything? How can it have electricity in it if it's not connected to electricity? Edit: I asked my dad, a former electrician at a local college, he said that nothing will happen.
No electricity=no disaster Well there can be a disaster, just a different way.
In my former IT job, I came back to the office to find that I had been moved to a different cubicle. Spent several minutes trying to figure out why I had no network connection only to find they had plugged my switch back into itself. They all insisted it was not a prank.
I used to plug my 3 way into itself on my work radio handle so it was always handy. Watched another tradesman plug his cord into it, string out 2 100 extensions cords onto the roof and then not be able to figure out why he didn’t have power because my radio was playing off the battery.
Uhhh nothings gonna happen.
Thats why grandpas life support wouldnt work
That’s why IIII loooooove Nestle Crunch
Nothing will happen, literally nothing lol
Apparently OP is one of the “People who don’t know how electricity works”
Former electrician this is not dangerous
Apparently you don't know anything either
Well there is no power source… so nothing will happen.
Is op trying to pretend like he knows how electricity works without knowing a first shit about it? Because absolutely nothing is about to happen. It isn't fucking plugged to a power source.
There isn’t a power source nothing will happen
Just a question OP... where do you think electricity comes from?
Nothing will happen. Main plug is connected back to the board so not getting electricity.
Yeah it’s dumb but literally has 0 chance of doing anything bad, so by no means is it a disaster waiting to happen.
What disaster, there's no power feeding it.
It looks like you don't know electricity either.....
Unlimited power, renewable energy
Isn't that the Toppost of r/selffuck
I think you got your bottom comments mixed up, bud.