Quote:
If the wire is aluminum you need to apply a de-oxidizing compound to the wire were you make it up at the breaker and at the recepticle. If it is copper you don't.

Ah, that's a good bit of knowledge.

A little more information... right now, we're in a rental (we'll be house-hunting before the year is out). I'm not excited about paying for renovations to someone else's apartment -- hence the post asking for the best course of action. Our need to do laundry, and the land-lady's sense of timeliness, are not in accord, or I'd just have her call an electrician. When we move out, I plan on returning everything to its original state.

I've replaced the receptacle (cost $5). The wiring is the multi-strand aluminum stuff. I did not trim the ends to fit, since, as was suggested, the back end of the receptacles were identical -- there was no need, and it seems like a foolish thing to do, anyway. What happens if the de-oxidizing compound isn't applied (or, in other words, do I really need to pull the dryer back out, and open the receptacle up again)? The wire was still nice and shiny...

I haven't replaced the breaker, but will do that as soon as I can make it to the hardware store again -- probably tonight, but "lost cat" issues have put electrical issues on the back burner for now.