Electrical plug question?

[grantgoold]

Has anyone ever heard of a two male to one female standard AC plug. Looking for something that could plug into two seperate AC sockets from two distinct power sources and provide one female end for connection. This would eliminate to the need to switch plugs should power be lost by one source. Is there some kind of circut problem with this idea?

Any ideas or concerns?

Grant

[zubzub]

the most obvious problem is that if one of the male ends was not plugged in it would have dangerous unprotected live ends, 2nd danger is that if there was current in both outlets the males were plugged into you could get power surge (220V) or other feedback loops/problems.  I know nothing about RV codes but I'm guessing this is a big no no.  Sure is in residential housing.

[HighTechRedneck]

I've heard of people using adapters to plug into two separate 15A circuits to supply one 30A plug.  But as pointed out it is a potentially dangerous tool.  In addition to the possible disasters zubzub referenced, there is also the short circuit that would occur if the two 15A outlets were on opposite legs and joined to one hot leg in the adapter.  In that event you would be tieing together opposite polarities with a 220-250 volt potential between them.  The fireworks could be pretty spectacular.

A long thread on it over at RV.net:
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/22878936

[eddieboy]

I would think that you could set this up like a generator auto transfer relay.  Have the relay being powered(energized) by one of the sources.  If that source goes dead, the relay would switch you over to the other source.  You would, of course, want to transfer all 3 wires so as not to make any loops from one to the other.  Your female outlet would be attached to the commons of the relay.  I'm sure there is a thread on here somewhere with the proper setup aof a transfer relay. 
Ed (not a certified electrician, but certifiable, so check codes on RV and transfer relays)

[Dave5Cs]

Grant;

You could have the receptacles on separate Manual switches but would leave to memory to make sure one was always in the off position and probably wouldn't be within acceptable codes. If they ever connected would energize both circuits and possibly do damage to any components connected in that circuit. That could be a whole lot more expensive.

Dave

[Lin]

If I am understanding the question correctly, Ed's answer makes sense.  This seems to be the very reason that transfer switches were created.  30 amp transfer switch are available for under $60.  50 amp are a bit more.

[grantgoold]

Got it, thanks for the input. I can always count on this group to ensure my wild a&* ideas are just too dangerous.

That one is now officially dead!

Thanks again,

Grant