Guess what? I was feeling so bad for dragging the reader(s) through my personal power saga from the mid 1990s, I had the idea to test a couple of outlets picked at random *this evening* just to show you what you can find in a 'newish' (11 year old) place I am currently leasing.
My test equipment? 1) An 1875-watt Conair hair dryer, and 2) My RCA Line Meter. I compared 2 different outlets in the kitchen, picked at random, and tested each one, voltage with no load, followed immediately by a voltage check at "1875 watts".
Good outlet, no load:
View attachment 59881
118v AC indicated
Good outlet, 1875 watt load:
View attachment 59882
116v AC indicated
Suspect outlet, no load:
View attachment 59883
117.5v AC indicated
Suspect outlet, 1875 watt load:
View attachment 59884
113v AC indicated
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So there you have it. Using the same meter & blow dryer, the only variable are the outlets themselves, and they are installed within 10' of each other in the same kitchen.
The good outlet only dropped 2 volts when loaded, whereas the suspect outlet dropped over twice as much!
NOTE1: For what it's worth, no lights dimmed anywhere in the abode during this testing...
NOTE2: As a point of reference, I just looked at one of the D500s, and the sticker says that it pulls a maximum of "1500 watts". NOTE: This must be a steady-state at rated power, because I know they can pull pretty hard during a big transient.
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The above is simply food for thought. If I was the owner of this joint (instead of just leasing) I would spend the ~$3 for a commercial grade outlet, swap out the suspect one, and retest. I do know that the suspect outlet is in heavy rotation, whereas the other one is never used...and it also has a firmer mechanical grip on the plug when it is time to insert or remove.
Cheers --
