On Tue, 19 Nov 2013 21:19:57 -0600, Nightcrawler® wrote:

The insulated white wire that looks burnt is not the wire causing the problem.
It is the bare aluminum wire that goes underneath it that is cooking the
insulation of the wire (burnt looking) above it.

Interesting.

It makes sense that something *else* caused the scorching because if the wire
that is scorched had itself gotten hot, the entire insulation would be burnt.

So,that means, as you noted, something *else* caused the scorching of the
insulated wire.

There seem to be *two* bare aluminum wires that may be culprits:
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5484/1...a8b636fc_o.gif

Looking closer at the pictures, it seems that someone might have "repaired"
a smaller black wire at the same location (by wrapping tape around it?).
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7392/1...1bc0a34e_o.gif

However, another (even closer) picture shows that the upper bare
aluminum wire does not seem to have burned the insulation on the wire
below it:
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5535/1...c7975152_o.gif

Here's a picture showing the *two* aluminum wires:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7325/1...8917aa93_o.gif

BTW, what on earth are the bare aluminum wires anyway?
Are they huge grounds?
Are they un-insulated neutrals?