Scorched electrical outlet

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Moderator Post (s) for this thread: > Wall outlet? by DanO on 11/19/2007

In the bedroom of the flat we rent, we have one electrical outlet (ungrounded). Because we have more than a couple of electrical devices in the room, we replaced the faceplace of the outlet with a 4-outlet wall tap.

Lately the sockets in the wall tap have been working intermittently, so we have to jiggle the cords in order for them to work. Then last night it started making an annoying buzzing sound, as if it were maybe arcing inside.

Upon removing the wall tap I now see that all four outlets on it have brown scorch marks and the plastic is slightly melted. Looking at the back it shows the same brown mark and melting on the plugs which attach to the wall outlet.

My question is: do I have a malfunctioning (defective) wall tap, or is there something wrong with the outlet that caused this? I have replaced the tap with a new one of a different brand, but I really want to get to the bottom of this because the outlet is immediately beside our newborn's crib.

I don't think we are plugging too many devices into the outlet, because the circuit is attached to a breaker, and if we draw too much current it trips. So as long as it's not tripping it seems like we're drawing a safe amount of current.

Thanks for any suggestions you may have,

Zac Mutrux
Alameda, CA