Dehumidifier plug warm to touch

[Roukiu7]

Hi. I have a kenmore 1988 dehumidifier that still works great, no problems what so ever except for the other day i noticed when its left on for an extended period of time the plug gets warm, not hot. I read warm is normal, but others say its not normal and that there could be a loose connection, upon checking the pins on the plug theres no evidence of corrosion or stains or anything.. Is it normal for the plug to get warm?

 

[Lucien Nunes]

A plug will get warm if its own connections are bad and have developed high resistance, or if the contacts in the outlet are loose, damaged or corroded. The higher the power of the appliance and the higher the resistance of the contacts, the hotter it will get. Weakened contact pressure in the receptacle is probably the main cause of overheating plugs, which happens most often with cheap receptacles and ones that are often used with high power appliances. You can sometimes feel that the contacts are not really gripping the plug prongs securely.

The dehumidifier uses around 8 amps so if the prongs are clean and the receptacle is tight and sound, it really shouldn't get very warm. If the plug runs cool in another outlet, then the one you are using might be due for replacement or its connections to the house wiring might need tightening.

 

[Marvo]

I'd run it for a few minutes then unplug it and check the temperature of both live and neutral plug pins. If they're only luke warm ie they're still comfortable to touch and they're both about the same temperature I wouldn't worry too much.

If it's making you skittish then replace both the appliance plug and the wall socket together. You often get a problem where a bad socket can cause damage to the plug pins of appliance plugs or vice versa where a bad or worn plug causes internal damage to the socket outlets it's been plugged into. Just replacing a bad plug or just replacing a burned socket often means it will fail again prematurely. Replace plugs and their associated sockets together to break the cycle of damage.