here's the problem, or a big part of it, aluminum wiring. The house was built back in the early 70's when aluminum was thought to be a better alternative to the more expensive copper wire. yeah it was cheaper, but it's got it's problems. heating and cooling caused the connections to over time come loose and short out. what else can add to that is ants or other electricity liking bugs making nests in the socket.
the overall cure is to rewire the entire house with copper. WAY too expensive.
there are several options to pig tail aluminum to copper. some ok, some good, some not so good.
so....... after some research i've ordered 50
Alumiconn connectors. they recommend using 3 per outlet (Hot, Neutral, Ground) but i don't see the point of using the one for the ground wire. i'm only concerned about load carrying conductors of which the ground isn't one of them under normal conditions (sans ground fault).
so anyway, i will be posting later this weekend or early next week showing installation of the Alumiconn pig tail system.