Sure it would. He could draw 20 amps at 220 volts from 2 different legs of
110v 20a. The electrons could care less, and the rating of the wires is in amps. (Volts too for that matter but ordinary household romex is good to 600v IIRC.)Trouble would come in if he needed more than the 15 or 20 amps the wire could carry.
Of course this is just theoretical as the code does not permit this.
About 40 years ago at work we did this as a temporary test of a few pieces of equipment. We had some small
220V blowers we needed to test, on a short term basis. So we wired a setup as you described and used it. It worked quite well for what we were doing. I don't think we had more than a dozen units to test, and when we were through we took it apart.Bill Gill
Typically, a house has two power wires coming in. To get 110 volt, you wire from one power wire to neutral. To get 220, you wire from one power wire to the other power wire.
In theory, if you use two sockets which are on the two different power wires. Adn if the plugs are in right (black wire in the cord is connected to the black wire in the wall, to the power wire) then it will work.
The practical reality is that it's a bit of a crapshoot if you can find the right sockets, and put the plugs in right. And if the sockets are wired correctly.
Still, in theory,if the sun and moon and stars line up, it will work.
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