electric sockets

hi, your appliance is drawing too much amperage.

or could be dirty or corroded connections. mark k

You were not very information on types. Bad connections, and bad crimps will do it all the time.

greg

Excessive current.

loose terminals in the socket / plug or appliance.

i've been having a lot of difficulties lately with the connection between my electric lawnmower plug and the socket on the end of the reasonable quality extension cord, resulting in arcing within the socket, resulting in worse contact, resulting in worse contact, etc. coupled with some melting of the socket until i finally get around to chopping it off and putting a decent socket on the end of the extension. happened with two cords. it seems to be the fault of the socket, since the plug end of the cord doesn't have any problems and the mower plug is fine with the new socket. (these are the usual hardware store orange outdoor extension cords with the molded in plugs and sockets.) evidently the sockets at least on the batch i got just don't make good contact with the plug. i should do an autopsy.

:What causes heating of electric sockets as well as melting of plugs on :the live connection

The real answer is "excessive volt drop at the plug/socket interface". This could be due to excessive current being drawn or high resistance at the connection interface points.