what would cause one white outlet wire to look black?

Question

today there was a noticeable burn smell so we turned off power to those appliances and checked the wires. one white wire is now black at the outlet connection point.
its an old house and nothing like this has happened before that we know of.

Answer 1

The wire to the outlet was not making a good connection. This caused resistance and this resistance made the wire heat up causing the burn smell and the black wire. Call in an electrican and have the outlet changed. You might want him to check other outlets while he is there.

Also make sure you are not overloading any circuits.