We have an older home built in the 30's with 60 amp service on 200 amp box (installed by professional, licensed electrician who said it was to code. (he lied) No ground. He ran a new 10 AWG romex line from the breaker box, double pole 30 amp, to the outlet which is in a blue plastic receptacle box. What was the black wire appears to have caught on fire, melting the outlet and the receptacle box. It is now corroded. I have replaced the three wire cord to the dryer and am getting ready to replace the outlet itself. The power is of course turned off. What caused this to happen? Should I tear out some drywall and put a metal box in? Why didn't the breakers trip?

I've tried to hire licensed electricians (7 different companies) to upgrade the entire home, but none want the work. All have said it would be too hard to drill through the joists in the cellar or to ignore the county's code. So I have to do this myself.

I guess there is no recession in your part of the country to have electrical contractors refuse work, or even the opportunity to bid on a job.

I suspect the outlet had a loose connection to cause heat that is doing the damage. A plastic box has nothing to do with this issue.

Replace the outlet, cut off any burnt wire and re-connect the wires properly.

Could have been a loose blade of the plug or outlet that is causing the heat. Replace the cord also.

A loose connection only creates a situation that acts as a load, the circuit breaker does not know that it should not be there, breakers only trip due to a short circuit or an overload of current, neither is caused by a loose connection.

Thank you so much. I've replaced the cord, ordered the heating element and will complete the outlet today. I also checked the smoke alarm in the laundry room to ensure it's in working order. Next weekend we should have a working dryer.

Oh and as for the recession - a decade ago our county ran 2-3% unemployed. A person could literally leave one job, go next door and get another all in the same day. It was also easier to hire contractors that were licensed. This year the state is around 10-11% currently and our county - 15%. Maybe everyone's just too depressed to even want the work.