Male to male cables

[Adam Funk]

Doh! Well, that's what the 13 A fuse is for....

With a 3 kW/house limit....

[Martin Bonner]

Oh no. A suitable length of nail will take *much* more than 3kW.

[The Other Mike]

Last time I fitted one was early 80's on a Kenlowe Hotstart (240v 3kW engine preheater) that was IMHO essential equipment in Northern Scandinavia if you didn't have a heated garage or a fuel burning heater (like Eberspacher and Webasto). The connector when unplugged was stowed into a moulded holder fixed to the bumper. They were readily available from Farnell which was useful when the connector popped out and dragged on the road surface for 50 miles :)

One also made it onto a lawnmower in the mid 80's that wasn't double insulated and Flymo used the two pole type on their slightly more upmarket strimmers for a number of years so there was just a short lead from the appliance and long lead that could be coiled and stored separately .

[Adam Funk]

I guess once you start down the slippery slope...

[CB]

I think you have at least one of the legitimate uses right there, what this bodge is for is anyone's guess.

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[Johny B Good]

I think Bill Wright's guess, if we _must_ 'guess', is about the best one so far. As to its short cable length, that would better facilitate in keeping its clandestine use hidden from officialdom.

Incidently, I use the male two pin connector on the end of a 5 or 6 foot lead attached to my Black & Decker hand drill along with a 30 foot mains cable terminated with a female 3 pin version of that connector[1] to facilitate ease of stowage and provide a connector more suited for 'dangling in mid air' than the more usual 13A extension socket and plug 'bodge' so often seen in use by other 'DIY' 'artistes'.

[1] I used to have the corresponding 3 pin male connector fitted on the end of my Akai GX630DB tape deck captive mains cable, cut down to a more manageable 50 or 60 cms but I soon replaced it with the more ubiquitous IEC 10A in line mains connector oft used by PC monitors where they could be plugged into the 'auxillary' mains socket of standard AT (and some of the better designed ATX) PSUs used by desktop PCs.

There was (and still is) a ready supply of such IEC 10A 'extension cables for such retrofit upgrades to eliminate the annoyance of longish captive mains cables with the lump of a 3 pin mains plug to act as a 'flail'.

They're not suitable for exterior use on account of their complete lack of any moisture proofing but they do offer a pragmatic solution to "The Trailing Lead (and 13A plug) Problem" on earthed mains powered kit such as Hi-Fi equipment and other lowish power demand kit for use indoors. They're perfectly safe as long as they're not misused as "Jesus Cords".