Quote:
Originally Posted by jerome951
I did have a problem a couple years ago with a similar periodic burning smell and tripping breaker. Found one of the wires had pulled out of the back of the receptacle, was laying on the bare ground wire, and had burnt it ~1/2 way through.
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Seems like it's not just a local issue - I would check ALL of the receptacles in the house. At a minimum get one of those yellow outlet testers and go around and check all of the outlets. BTW I hate these "push-in" types of connections on the back of receptacles for this very reason and rewire the leads to the side screws any time I have one out. I don't like the small contact area with the wire where the push-in grips - usually you can give it a good yank and pull the wire out. Much more contact area under the screws.
Also, not all receptacles are created equal. I wired my basement with pro-grade ones that are much better constructed and provide more robust grip on plugs. Cheapo sockets start to lose their grip after just a few insertions. The pro-grade doesn't cost that much more.