DonkeyHody wrote:

Swingman wrote:

Simply put, and from your description, most likely just a bad connection in
the first receptacle in the run.


That was my guess too, but I'm unsure about the connection between the
breaker and the hot buss. I thought maybe the connection was good
enough to show up on the meter, but not good enough to carry the amps
needed. However, if the connection there were loose, the load on the
circuit would bleed off the voltage downstream of the loose connection,
and I wouldn't have 120+ volts on the breaker's wire lug, right??

DonkeyHody

Digital meters have very high input impedance and are notorious for
showing "phantom" voltages on circuits that are dead, but adjacent to
live ones. The solenoid "Wiggy" testers are popular since they don't
have this trait.

BTW, not that you've found one loose connection at a failing receptacle,
buy yourself a couple boxes of spec grade receptacles and perhaps
switches as well and spend a weekend replacing the old ones and checking
and tightening all the connections. Time well spent in improving safety.
That bad connection was likely getting pretty warm every time the hair
dryer was in use before it finally failed.

Pete C.