mike wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
Vacillator wrote:
Hi,

When I use a portable roaster / oven, the outlet that I
plug the cord into gets pretty warm, as well as the wire at the last
few inches. The cord has only 2 prongs, not 3. I think the roaster
is circa 1970. Is this OK? Anything to worry about? Of course the
manual that comes with it says nothing about volts/ amps/ etc, just
says plug it in and cook. This roaster is pretty big and has lots of
heating element material to heat up.


Are the prongs clean and shiny? Oxide on the prongs or the contacts
in the outlet cause a voltage drop & heating. It wll be conducted up
the wire for a few inches. Kitchen outles can get a lot of cooking
grease and crap in them, as well. If the outlet is old, it should be
replaced on general principals and with a quality 20A outlet.

Does that help?
I replaced a 15A bathroom socket with 20A some decades ago.
I contemplated another changeout and did some research.
It seemes that when you plug a 15A plug into a 20A socket,
the actual contact area is LESS than with a 15A socket.
Just look into the T-shaped hole; it seems obvious.

What am I missing?

the pressure on the 20amps receptacles is much higher too- they really
bite into the plug which assures a good connection. this is good.