Burned outlets

[grich]

one of the stranger problems I came across was, an inside cat that was peeing into a wall receptacle behind a sofa. Aside from the smell, it shorted killed power in two rooms.

Yuck...been there also. Was thankful the box was plastic...the yoke and screws were a corroded mess. And stanky.

 

[Little Bill]

I had same problem but was a dog. Lady didn't tell me until I showed her the corroded receptacle!

 

[Little Bill]

I can post pic tonight if I remember. The terminations were neat and spot on. But even the screw terminal for the ungrounded conductor seemed to have heat damage it was darker than the other.

The screw terminal for the hot would naturally get hot too since its directly connected to the receptacle prongs. The heat would start from the arcing caused by a loose connection between the blades of the plug and prong of the receptacle. Given enough time, the heat will transfer to the screw, and then can transfer to the insulation on the wire. I've had to cut off some of the wire to get to good conductor from these type problems.