110 volt outlet 160 degrees. Is that safe?

CFD244 said
House built in the 70's or 80's? Maybe aluminum wiring? The connections are known to work their way loose due to the difference in material between the receptical terminal and the wire.

Maybe the receptical is just getting sloppy where the appliance plugs in (resistance).

1980 I think. All copper that I've found so far. My childhood home had aluminum wiring which didn't sit well with dad.

Righty Tighty said
Is the outlet always hot, or only hot when you're using the toaster oven? Is the circuit GFI-protected? There's too much resistance somewhere, you need to find out where before something bad happens. An EXTREMELY high number of house fires start from faulty electrical systems.

If it were me, I'd make sure the circuit is GFI-protected and that the appliance isn't overrated for the outlet. Some easy tests you could do would be to use the toaster oven on a different outlet, and different appliances on the "trouble" outlet, see what happens.

Do you mean the toaster oven cord, or the actual wire inside the wall that feeds the outlet?

This outlet has the gfi buttons on it. I tried the toaster on another outlet and it only got to 90 degrees at the plug. The toaster cord was 120 before, I only just got into the outlet itself. I can see some discoloration where the toaster was plugged in, the bottom. All that other crap I thought was burnt insulation at first but is actual crap from roaches. Ugh
110 outlet.jpg

ProjectBazza said
One thing that hasn't been brought-up yet is this: Make sure the outlet isn't "back stabbed". I'm not an electrician, but I've worked with, and know, enough of them to have heard numerous horror stories about "back stabbed" outlets that have overheated and/or started fires.

I'm on my 3rd house, and in every one of them, one of the first things I've done is replace all of the outlets, and check all of the switches.

Looks back stabbed to me. These don't look like they can be screwed onto the side like what I'm used to either.

67Dart273 said
^^^I was just going to mention this. I have NO understanding as to why these damn things are SOLD

If it is only the plug/ outlet area getting hot it could be as simple as a worn / corroded/ or poor QUALITY outlet or plug

What is your "feel" for how tight the plug fits the outlet?

The plug feel was loose when it was hot, but now it feels normal that it's not hotter than eff.

This toaster sucks air into the side and exhausts out the back, just measured it and it's 184 degrees. That was blowing directly onto the outlet. Oops. Hot wires bad.

Tried the same outlet but with an extension cord and toaster farther away, barely gets warm now. I'm thinking it was that blow torch air.