I’m convinced this is a myth or only happens when people don’t actually push it in far enough. For me, it’s always been a pain in the ass to remove them. Which is why I hate it.
Definitely not a myth. They are notoriously failure prone. Repeated expansion and contraction and just age can cause the contacts to loosen, which increases resistance, which increases heat generated at the point of connection, which increases the amount of expansion and contraction, etc.
A lot of people don’t even realize they have a problem until they plug in something high wattage like a space heater or hair dryer and the outlet gets nice and hot.
I’ve pulled out receptacles where the wire popped right out and stayed in the box. It could have been installation error by the previous homeowner or poor quality receptacles. All I know is that’s what my electrician friend who was helping me told me.
I’ve seen them be loose every time I’ve encountered them. And some of them were my own doing before I discovered they work loose, and just suck in general (and are disliked by electricians).
Never use the backstabbing holes on electrical receptacles.
They come loose over time, faster if they’re not fastened properly or if the house is prone to settling.
I’m convinced this is a myth or only happens when people don’t actually push it in far enough. For me, it’s always been a pain in the ass to remove them. Which is why I hate it.
Definitely not a myth. They are notoriously failure prone. Repeated expansion and contraction and just age can cause the contacts to loosen, which increases resistance, which increases heat generated at the point of connection, which increases the amount of expansion and contraction, etc.
A lot of people don’t even realize they have a problem until they plug in something high wattage like a space heater or hair dryer and the outlet gets nice and hot.
I’ve pulled out receptacles where the wire popped right out and stayed in the box. It could have been installation error by the previous homeowner or poor quality receptacles. All I know is that’s what my electrician friend who was helping me told me.
I’ve seen them be loose every time I’ve encountered them. And some of them were my own doing before I discovered they work loose, and just suck in general (and are disliked by electricians).
Never seen a loose one either, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. I bet some manufacturer had a bad batch.