I wonder why it won’t turn on?

[u/Nightfallen__]

I’m going to start turning on lights before plugging things in

[u/assidiou]

Technically this should still work

[u/Vesalii → u/assidiou]

Yeah I'm a bit stumped as to why it doesn't.

[u/assidiou → u/Vesalii]

My best guess is there might be some internal circuitry like a surge protector or GFCI that won't allow power to flow unless live and neutral are balanced which isn't uncommon, on a per plug basis is uncommon though.

[u/assidiou → u/[deleted]]

Sir, this is reddit, we don't subscribe to Occam's razor

[u/Shadowmant → u/assidiou]

[u/Uselesserinformation → u/Shadowmant]

[u/staticattacks → u/Shadowmant]

Close enough

[u/hippoctopocalypse → u/Shadowmant]

It’s what Clara would’ve wanted

[u/apatheticandignorant → u/Shadowmant]

[u/MarsD9376 → u/[deleted]]

Solid guess.

However, the contacts inside the sockets are supposed to clamp the prongs from both sides, and they should be somewhat springy. Even if the prongs were pulled apart (or pushed together) because the spacing between the sockets wouldn't make for correct pitch between the contacts of adjacent sockets, there should still be some contact.

More likely the pitch is right, but one (or both) sockets' contacts are just worn out.

[u/Tratix → u/[deleted]]

This thing was completely mangled for upvotes.

[u/DUNDER_KILL → u/[deleted]]

Or it was just a photo taken for content and the person never tried to turn it on because he intentionally plugged it in wrong

[u/Emotional-Present813 → u/DUNDER_KILL]

Booooooooooooooo

[u/Ikentspelgoog → u/[deleted]]

Or the image is just a joke and the OP did not actually try this, or intend for it to actually work and this is just for humor.

[u/Correct_Chemistry_50 → u/Ikentspelgoog]

HOW DARE YOU SPEAK THE LIKELY TRUTH. /s
(take the upvote)

[u/MarsD9376 → u/assidiou]

Separate GFCIs for every single socket would make one really expensive power strip 😵‍💫
Doubt anyone would make that. It would be pretty much unmarketable. And if it existed, plugging something in accross two sockets should at least work for a split second before tripping the GFCIs. Rather than not work at all. If the draw was below residual (leakage) current rating, it would still work.

A GFCI equipped power strip would in all probablity have one common neutral rail for every socket's N contact, and one common Line rail for every sockets' L contact.

More likely it's just a poor contact (or no contact at all). Or the appliance is just broken.

[u/twilighttwister → u/MarsD9376]

Or maybe it did work, and the text on the image is just for karma.

Most sockets are spaced far enough apart that you can't do this.

[u/Disastrous_Kick9189 → u/assidiou]

This is nonsense lol there’s no power strips like this commercially available

[u/twilighttwister → u/Disastrous_Kick9189]

Yeah the best I've seen is sockets with individual switches, but even those are rare. Even in the UK, where wall sockets each have a switch, it's a little challenging to find a power strip with individual switches.

[u/linkinstreet → u/twilighttwister]

huh? Here we've adapted UK's "G" type plug, and almost all commercially available power strip would have their own individual switches. Examples:

https://imgur.com/a/K0Mu5Os

[u/Obvious_Peanut_8093 → u/assidiou]

I don't think I've ever encountered a power strip that would be smart enough to switch the breaker when you do this. They're all just wired in parallel with a chain of wire from plug to plug.

[u/mordacthedenier → u/assidiou]

It's insane that this has over 1200 upvotes.

[u/Maleficent_Memory831 → u/Vesalii]

The switch on the power strip might be off.

[u/s29 → u/Maleficent_Memory831]

The strip might be unplugged.

[u/ovr9000storks → u/s29]

That outlet's circuit breaker might be turned off.

[u/anna_lynn_fection → u/ovr9000storks]

The power might be disconnected at the service pole.

[u/CocoMilhonez → u/anna_lynn_fection]

Electricity might not have been invented yet.

[u/Sufficient-Salt-666 → u/CocoMilhonez]

Look up, there may have been an EMP from air-burst nuke.

[u/VacationingAtDisney → u/Sufficient-Salt-666]

New data center was built and is diverting all of the town's power

[u/Revolutionary-Key650 → u/Vesalii]

Maybe it does and he's just being a jerk.

[u/NightmareJoker2 → u/Vesalii]

This is one of those cheap power strips that swaps live and neutral every other outlet in order to save on material and manufacturing cost.

Basically, the prongs the plug is inserted into are connected to each other. Therefore there is no potential between them and without the potential difference, no appliance would work.

[u/3720-to-1 → u/NightmareJoker2]

This is not the case, it has large and small blade inlets, so they have to be live=small neutral=large (edit: now criss cross)

[u/Exotic_Fortune5702 → u/3720-to-1]

Wait , usa is : live= large and neutral=small?! Here in Canada its the opposite way.

[u/3720-to-1 → u/Exotic_Fortune5702]

Shit, no. I had it backwards. Thanks!

[u/KitamiSamaOmede → u/Vesalii]

The switch needs to be set to "more magic".

[u/Evening_Scale_5755 → u/Vesalii]

Or it did work but op did this just for the funny pic and didn't even try it.

[u/wackawonka → u/assidiou]

Yes, i’m actually surprised it dosent.

[u/_Katla_ → u/assidiou]

This works perfectly fine on my power strip lol

[u/OGigachaod → u/_Katla_]

Yeah, works fine on cheaper ones :)

[u/deathray420 → u/OGigachaod]

The difference between a power strip and a surge protector

[u/VoidJuiceConcentrate → u/assidiou]

I had this same exact thought when this happened to me.

I was wondering why my phone wasn't charging, and looked down at the power strip for a minute like "...huh"

[u/Marty_mcfresh → u/assidiou]

[u/ElectricSpock → u/assidiou]

Is it possible that there is some measure in the surge protector to prevent it?

[u/fsa3 → u/ElectricSpock]

It is, but that would be a pretty expensive surge protector, and the one in OP's pic doesn't look like it is.

[u/Deep90 → u/ElectricSpock]

That's what I was thinking.

[u/FatherFenix → u/assidiou]

Came here to say the same thing.

Technically still accurate as long as the right prongs are in the right “holes”, just a really dumb way to be accurate. It’s still plugged into a hot and a neutral, even if the hot and neutral are from separate receptacles.

[u/Rulanik → u/FatherFenix]

Most stuff it really doesn't even matter if the "right" prongs are in the right spot, cuz lots of people's homes are wired up backwards in the first place and are none the wiser.

[u/famousxrobot → u/assidiou]

Yeah I accidentally did this and didn’t notice for a couple weeks. I was shocked

[u/SplatThaCat → u/assidiou]

Yeah I was like - stupid (like the plug design) but it would work.

It would be impossible with the plugs here. (https://www.power-plugs-sockets.com/au/australia/)

[u/questron64 → u/SplatThaCat]

Yeah, American plugs are an artifact of the 19th century. Everyone else got to learn from our mistakes.

[u/No_Jello_5922 → u/SplatThaCat]

We get it, you have italic plugs.

[u/Inner-Medicine5696 → u/assidiou]

the issue is what kinda crackhead designs a power distributor where you can even make this mistake.

[u/mr_ji → u/assidiou]

Many modern outlets (as in last ten years+) have a sort of built in mechanism sort of like GFCI that won't allow power flow unless both prongs are plugged into the same pair of sockets. That way when kids stick a fork into one they don't get electrocuted. I wouldn't expect it on a power strip but all of the sockets in my house have them, not just the manual ones in the bathrooms.

[u/FigMan → u/mr_ji]

Those are TR (tamper resistent) and you have to apply pressure to the gates on both prongs for them to open. But it's just a mechanical piece, so electrically the plugs are still energized.

[u/DrachenDad]

Though not how you should be plugging it in, it should still work as all power holes are on a rail. All neutral holes are on another rail.

[u/honeywhereismypenis → u/DrachenDad]

And as we all know, a hole is a hole

[u/LightlySaltedKoreo → u/honeywhereismypenis]

And every hole is a goal

[u/crooked_kangaroo → u/honeywhereismypenis]

That’s right; it goes into the square hole.

[u/Karoolus → u/crooked_kangaroo]

[u/Steel_Bolt]

Actually surprised it doesn't work. You got a hot from one and neutral from the other. They're just in parallel in the power strip anyway.

[u/TheBupherNinja]

That should work fine.

[u/couchcushion7]

This is perfectly safe and legit. Its a feature not a flaw. Otherwise they woulda spaced them differently.

Read the UL listing for this device and i guarantee it mentions that this is fine.

Source: am licensed general contractor, am almost licensed electrician, am pc nerd.

[u/BoysenberryFinal9113 → u/couchcushion7]

You had me at PC nerd.

[u/chezzer33 → u/BoysenberryFinal9113]

Well that’s good because he didn’t have anything else after that

[u/Deadmeet9 → u/BoysenberryFinal9113]

that's the last thing he said

[u/Elfaerys → u/Deadmeet9]

Then it's a good thing he said it

[u/solar_pilgrim → u/BoysenberryFinal9113]

You had me at almost licensed

[u/Raphi_55 → u/couchcushion7]

I'm sorry, but from a non US perspective, this sound insane.

[u/LutimoDancer3459 → u/Raphi_55]

As an EU citizen I would say its... unusual. But not insane. I dont see why you would want to support that... but not like it would be a big problem

[u/Code_Merk → u/LutimoDancer3459]

My best guess, if this was truly a supported usecase, would be to allow a user to use a very chonky power supply/ wall wart type of plug while only taking up 2 plugs instead of 3, if it were to be used normally.

Guessing old AV Uints, old sewing machines, battery chargers, Brother Label Makers, old power tool stations, ect.

Just a shot in the dark though.

[u/couchcushion7 → u/Code_Merk]

This is precisely the reason. That and its just harmless. One safely connected hot and one neutral from the same circuit- is the same thing no matter how you accomplish it.

[u/EndIsrael → u/Code_Merk]

Brother Label Makers

r/oddlyspecific

[u/Jman43195 → u/LutimoDancer3459]

Big adapters might cover up only 1 prong of the adjacent socket, so if you have multiple adapters, you can rearrange them to be able to get one more plug in that would otherwise be covered up

[u/jackofslayers → u/LutimoDancer3459]

The older I get the more I realize that everything American that seems insane to Europeans (and vice versa), are actually fine when you break down the differences. US and EU do lots of things different, but one is not always obviously better or worse.

...Except for profit healthcare. Fuck that shit.

[u/PMacDiggity → u/jackofslayers]

Imperial units are pretty dumb too, except Fahrenheit, I still like Fahrenheit.

[u/LutimoDancer3459 → u/PMacDiggity]

Fahrenheit makes no sense.

[u/Maleficent_Memory831 → u/Raphi_55]

Not every outlet in the US has a ground, some aren't even polarized correctly. This is mostly due to older homes not updating their wiring. Many smaller appliances that are older won't have polarity either.

What happens if polarity is wrong is that some lamps might accidentally shock you (only at 110V in US, unlike the the higher voltage in most other countries).

We did get a shock at work with a new product that accidentally connected the hot voltage to the case due to a deisgn flaw. Sent a worker to be checked out a the hospital, a nasty letter sent to the hardware team regarding their design, and a redoing safety training for the entire company.

[u/Dapper_Woodpecker621 → u/Raphi_55]

It seems insane if you dont know how a power strip works, this is basically no diffrent then plugging it in “right”. Each slot is just an alternating hot and neutral. Any two slots next to each other is a hot and neutral regardless.

[u/terorasta → u/Raphi_55]

As EU based electrician, I am now mad that this is not a feature on EU plugs too.

[u/couchcushion7 → u/Raphi_55]

Fair! From a US perspective-
Your entire world sounds better than mine.

So trust i feel that emotion

[u/Circuit_Guy → u/couchcushion7]

Bold of you to assume it has a UL listing

[u/Narwahl_Whisperer → u/couchcushion7]

We have one of those "one outlet become three outlets" things. It has a hinge for easy access, baby!

Anyway, you can totally plug stuff in 'between' the official slots and I can confirm, it works just fine.

[u/taintedcake]

Im more surprised it isnt working tbh. Technically they should still have both polarities

[u/TheOgGhadTurner]

That’s not your pc cable. That’s not why it’s not turning on. If this is your whole power strip. I don’t know what monitor you’re using but every monitor I’ve had has a three prong like the far right cord. Assuming it is indeed a three prong you’re missing a cable plugged in here. If this 2 prong donger is for your monitor. This should work fine and shouldn’t prevent your pc from powering on.

All this too say it’s likely something is not assembled correctly in the system. Reseat all components and cables

[u/bswalsh]

If it doesn't turn on, you need to replace that power strip. While not ideal, there's no reason why that shouldn't work unless if the power strip is broken and unsafe.

[u/OldManGrimm]

I work in an ER. I recently had to “fix” the docs’ PC - someone had plugged the power strip into itself.

[u/OmenQtx → u/OldManGrimm]

That happened to me at my manufacturing job about 10 years ago. Pioneers of industry, I tell ya.

I just set the entire thing that was plugged into itself on top of the desk and left for the day.

[u/TheProphesy1086]

Licensed electrician here, this should work. If this doesn't work, you may have a separate problem.

[u/gerowen]

I mean, it's wrong, but not so much that it shouldn't work. You've still got one prong in hot and one in neutral, and they're sized so they won't fit in the wrong holes. Seems like it would still work, unless there's some safety feature in that power bar that is causing issues, because most of the cheap ones I've taken apart were literally just two big metal strips soldered to the incoming wires that just run the length of the bar and have little stamped or cut out spots for the prongs to interface when you plug something in.

[u/esobofh]

indeed.. this should work just fine.

[u/Tesser_Wolf]

This still should work lol

[u/Wild-Thing]

The stuff people will do for fake Internet points...

[u/Circle_Trigonist → u/Wild-Thing]

"I've never seen this before therefore it can't be real."

[u/BilliamClimptonIII → u/Wild-Thing]

Thank you. There's no way this is real. If it is, someone went out of their way to bend the contacts in a way they'd straddle both outlets

[u/SquashSquigglyShrimp → u/BilliamClimptonIII]

As described in some other comments, this is not only real, but a valid use case and supported design for some outlets to allow flexibility (think of an awkwardly sized DC adapter that can now take only 2 spots instead of blocking 3.

It is electrically identical to plugging in the "normal" way.

[u/Nightfallen__ → u/BilliamClimptonIII]

Not bent, just the way the strip was designed

[u/Frequent_Opportunist]

The device would still technically function and draw electricity.

[u/franoetico]

definitely not because of how it’s plugged

[u/JonathanSCE]

Here is a Japaneses outlet that is specifically designed to be plugged into the half space. They even call it an 8.5 outlet power strip. Thought it is non-polarized. https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B082XXN1F6

[u/turbulentFireStarter]

I would absolutely still turn on.

[u/Particular_Client833]

It is very likely a surge protector. It SHOULD work because the live and neutral are just wired differently, like if you turned the cable. So there is some form of protection that stops it from working.

[u/iuse2bgood]

If it fits it fits

[u/EJintheCloud]

They look like they're surprised you poked their eyes out

[u/flapjackboy → u/EJintheCloud]

US electrical sockets always look perpetually shocked.

[u/RBeck]

The only way this doesn't "work" is if those are Tamper Resistant outlets, where the hot has a door that doesn't open until the neutral opens it, but if that's the case he forced it anyway.

[u/Evening_Scale_5755]

Im going out on a limb and saying this post is karma farm. This would have still worked so we must imagine it didn't even try to turn it on.

[u/Viking2151]

It should work lol, Deffenitly not right though.

[u/Malo1301]

American power outlets are stupid, why can you even do that

[u/Non-Euclidian-Turtle]

Yeah this will still work for most power strips. The outlets are all connected inside with bus bars. Makes no difference which slot as long as polarity is correct.

[u/Moist-Dentist8253]

Technically this should work perfectly fine. It's connected to live and neutral, so it's a proper woring circuit as all the outlets are daisy chained.

[u/WolframLeon]

Would still work dude.

[u/NaCl_Sailor]

being German it is literally insane to me that this is even possible.

[u/busternut420 → u/NaCl_Sailor]

So stop being German then, tf?

[u/futureformerteacher → u/busternut420]

Would you prefer he be Austrian, pretending to be German?

[u/bob69joe → u/NaCl_Sailor]

This is designed to work like this. It should function as expected but isn’t working for OP for some reason.

[u/Lion_Knight → u/NaCl_Sailor]

Not only is it possible It should be functional if you notice everyone is confused as to why it doesn't work.

[u/Maleficent_Memory831 → u/NaCl_Sailor]

Why not possible, technically? The only snag here are new appliances that still only have 2 power pins with no ground, which isn't legal in some countries.

Most of the power adapters I have only have 2 pins, both unpolarized, no ground pin. Certified for US and Canada. The reasoning is that none of the hot power gets to the outside plastic case, it's electrically isolated from the mains, and the wires coming out are greatly reduced in voltage. However you can't really rely upon which low voltage wire is actually a common ground should multiple power adapters indirectly connect to each other (ie, power adapter to a board plus a power adapter to a JTAG debugger). Humans won't get shocked but you could blow out some sensitive parts if the board circuits don't have protection.

[u/mvw2]

That should turn on just fine.

[u/SkRtMkGurt]

Maybe if you plugged the power strip in it would work...

[u/revalucion]

Actually, that should work if the plug is not polarized with a bigger prong for the neutral then the hot wire. Underneath that plastic is just a copper or aluminum buss bar that extends the same circuit to all of the outlets.

Still going to lose a few minutes of sleep over it...

[u/someoldguyon_reddit]

Really no reason it shouldn't.

[u/Konrow]

If real, it should work, no? Unless there's some safety feature they included when they realized how dumb their design was

[u/SirOakin]

Burning_down_the_house.mp3

[u/WhoSc3w3dDaP00ch]

Not sure if it's worse, but I had someone plug his power strip into itself, and then get annoyed at IT that this didn't work...

[u/IntegrityMustReign]

As much as I wish I could afford a good rig and start gaming again, I want to say as a licensed electrician, this sub's collective knowledge of theory and electrical devices is impressive.

You guys care about your PCs and it shows.

[u/skrukketiss69]

confused European noises

[u/Jaded_Phone5587]

r/hardwaregore

[u/Minimum-Attitude389]

Task failed successfully.

[u/Heyniceguy13]

That’s it. You are grounded

[u/mrrobc97]

In theory that should work. You're hitting your hot and neutral.

[u/unclefunkstar]

Firstly, what an idiot.

Secondly, whoever designed that strip is an even bigger idiot.

[u/CammyPooo]

It should work

[u/Resorization]

WHO DESIGNED THIS EXTENSION?

[u/jtnoble]

Tbf I've had a Nintendo switch dock plugged in like this for two years and it's been fine. This should normally work unless there's some extra weird protections going on.

[u/Special_Bender]

I wonder why didn't it catch fire?

[u/storm4chaser → u/Special_Bender]

It should work though, and no fancy smoke... hot is hot and neutral is neutral

[u/hiperjoshua]

this should still work though

[u/DigitalDruid01110110]

It should work. They are made this way on purpose “It’s a feature, not a bug”.

[u/Semanticss]

You might need to flip it around, but that straddling should actually work fine.

[u/Steel_Bolt → u/Semanticss]

May not fit flipped depending on the plug. A lot of plugs are polarized for safety.

[u/trickman01 → u/Steel_Bolt]

If they are polarized than the neutral prong would be wider and only fit in the neutral side either way.

[u/Alternative-World-33]

Test it with a multimeter and see if you get 120v

Edit: I just tested one like that and got 120v. It should work.

[u/scotte416]

I'm actually surprised it didn't work, you're hitting a neutral and a positive it's a pretty simple circuit lol

[u/BastetFurry]

Couldn't have happened with Schuko. 😁

[u/Rulanik]

Not that it's safe but that would work. One prong is positive, one is negative.

This feels like a poorly designed power strip though, they shouldn't be spaced perfectly for that to be able to happen by accident imo...

[u/TheEndlessBacklog]

Wow, what a post.

[u/The-Hank-Scorpio]

THe fact this is possible is a massive design flaw.

[u/kritter4life]

No this should work just fine. Hot rail neutral rail. Doesn’t matter which two holes. You could split the wires and put at opposite ends and it would still work. As long as one is big hole little hole.

[u/SquashSquigglyShrimp → u/[deleted]]

Why do you think that? This is no more dangerous than plugging it in normally and is actually a valid way of using it if it was designed this way. They're all hooked up to the same bus

[u/StandardNerd92]

I'm glad I live in the UK, where we have non-terrifying plugs

[u/Remarkable_Plum3527]

UK SOCKET BROS KEEP ON WINNING WHOOOOOO

[u/Odyessus56]

Only in America…

[u/iothomas]

I mean it could theoretically work if one is phase and the other is neutral...if both are the same the voltage difference would be zero (although the conductor are live)

[u/trickman01 → u/iothomas]

Every outlet should be wired hot on the short pin and neutral on the long pin. It's not theoretical, it's just the way it works.

[u/iothomas → u/trickman01]

I don't know what is a short and long pin, I am European we don't have these sockets/plugs here. All plug pins are equally long here

[u/trickman01 → u/iothomas]

Maybe I should have said wide and narrow.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets#NEMA_1-15_ungrounded_(Type_A)

[u/Calaveras-Metal]

That plug is a stud.

[u/hungflungpoo]

[u/SmoogzZ]

Learned something new from this thread, thanks nerds.

/s

[u/wstsidhome]

Wow…I haven’t seen that before. That’s almost impressive, if it wouldn’t have been so scary (to me, seeing what was done in the dark). At least the prongs are still technically in a hot and neutral in a neutral

[u/AryaaQuinn]

Maybe it doesn't working properly 

[u/dimechimes]

Probably cause it gots no prongs

[u/SerenEllee]

This one works fine for mee

[u/thebigshoe247]

My Chinesium Superdanny powerbar I got from Amazon allows it to work...

[u/lafsrt09]

Look for a reset push button on it. Some of them have that

[u/TheMundar]

None of my computers have ever had a 2 prong cable, my powerstrip supplies power to two prongged cables plugged in like that.

idk wtf is going on but it makes no sense to me

[u/aevyian]

First thing I saw was two little faces, each with one eye getting poked out and they are saying “Oooouch!” with their tiny mouths :(

[u/MeragonGER]

r/dingore

[u/Opposite-Donut-9239]

bro that would work bro, if it does not, run as fast as possible

[u/Narrow_Crow_8310]

This def will still work no prob

[u/Rei364]

Gotta loop them strips yo

[u/[deleted]]

good lord

[u/Omega_art]

I hate that they build outlets like this. I even have one with sd slots that have the same spacing as a standard outlet. That should be banned.

[u/Inevitable_Spite5510]

r/electroboom material

[u/Consistent-Media-861]

Bern there, done that!

[u/TwinSong]

I'm not sure this is even possible with UK plugs.

[u/pandaSmore]

It's connected to a hot and neutral and electronic power supplies typically don't have a polarized prong.

[u/Litego]

Well, I don't really see a problem here. It'll work just fine and it's not any less safe than doing it the proper way. You lose an outlet, so I don't see why you would do this.

[u/cleanshotVR]

Me too. That should work. If not, either your multiple socket really does stupid stuff or you have other issues with you electrical.

[u/Negitive545]

It's AC, so shouldn't this still work?

It's a bad idea, yes, but to my admittedly limited knowledge of our electrical system, that should still function?

[u/EggComplete777]

I am surprise too. And want to know why. LOL

[u/garklavs]

[u/MadJoeMak]

Maybe it won't turn on because you didn't actually try turning it on