Story about spring loaded terminals: I helped a friend diagnose a
flickering lights problem at his house. It seems that one circuit,
heavily loaded was fed through a receptacle using these spring loaded
contacts (in one set and out the other). It was the first device on the
branch circuit and was easy to diagnose. Although nothing was plugged
into it, the device was hot (thermally)!


I just had a circuit go dead in my house the other night, tracked it
down to the very same problem. I decided that while I'd already messed
up all the clocks finding the right breaker, I'd use that opportunity to
shut things down and replace the last few of the original upstairs
receptacles I hadn't gotten to yet and in that process I found one more
blackened corroded wire that had been arcing and was a failure or fire
waiting to happen.

The contact area is simply too small, it heats up and then the spring
loses tension and it starts to arc and heat up more. These things are a
safety nightmare, I will never understand why the NEC is so nitpicky
about some things yet lets major issues like these slide right by. Spend
a few bucks more for decent receptacles, it's cheap insurance and peace
of mind, not to mention plugs won't start falling out in a few years.