[TerryD1197]

I woke up this morning and it was cold so I went to turn on our oil/radiator heater plugged in the Family room and it wouldn't turn on. I noticed that the T.V. and Sat. box were off too, also the aquarium on the next wall. They worked perfectly fine the night before. I used my handy outlet tester and it says the Hot/Ground is reversed. How can it just do that out of the blue? And How can I fix the problem?

[stanfortyman]

This is an indication of an open neutral condition on the circuit. This can happen for several reasons, but heavy draw loads, like a space heater, can tax iffy connections. Connections like back-stabs in the back of receptacles are such connections.

[stanfortyman]

Remember, the problem could be in any receptacle or splice on the circuit. It is not necessarily on the one the heater is plugged into.