A suicide cord is a cord with a plug on each end, used to backfeed house wiring from a portable generator through a receptacle. It leaves the exposed prongs of the unplugged end live, can energise the utility transformer and the line crews working on it, and overloads branch circuit wiring. The legal answer is a transfer switch or a listed interlock kit with a proper inlet.
Customer ran a suicide cord into the dryer outlet during the storm, we're installing an interlock and inlet Monday.
Also heard as
- widow maker
- double male cord
- backfeed cord
Related terms
Cheater
Anything that beats a built-in limit: pipe over a wrench handle, a three-to-two plug adapter or a tandem breaker.
Hack
Electrician or amateur who does sloppy, unsafe or out-of-code work, or the work itself.
Hot
Ungrounded, voltage-carrying conductor of a circuit, and as an adjective anything that is live.