Dan Hartung wrote:

It's an older DeLonghi. We have several, but this is the only one that
is going bad like this. I replaced the plug housing with a modular one
from Ace, but the cord itself heats up. Do I need a better plug, or do I
need to open the appliance housing itself (if possible) and replace the
entire cord? Other than the heat, the cord does not seem brittle or
frayed, nor was the cord in a location subjected to movement or abuse.

Along the same lines, one that was taken to work had its plug replaced
by the building maintenance with one claimed to be "heavy duty", but I'm
not sure what is meant by that -- and it's a grounded plug, while the
cord is just plain polarized (meaning the ground plug is useless).
Replace with a proper two-wire plug?

Where along the cord does it heat up. I ask because a bad
connection at the plug end will cause the cord to heat at
that end. If the cord heats along the entire length, then
the cord is too small and should be replace (or the
appliance has changed as is using a lot more current). If
the cord heats at the plug end, the plug may not be bad, the
outlet it is plugged into maybe worn and need replacement.
There is no reason to remove a grounded plug as long as it
is properly wired to the two strand cord (i.e., the ground
should not have any wire attached to it).