Raymond_H

Hello,

Hopefully you guys can help me out, here is the situation,

I moved into my apartment building in mid-September and moved all my home-theater set-up with it as well. Everything was working fine, up until I had my DSL connection installed in mid November. Once the DSL was installed and the computer was up and running I have noticed some minimal power surges - computer speakers making sound, flickering on the power surge outlet light, and little shaking on the computer monitor.

That happened maybe once or twice a day, and had no effect on my T.V/D.V.D viewing, only with the computer.

Then, about 2 weeks ago we had new neighbors move in and since last Sunday (Dec 20) the surging has been VERY drastic. The T.V would turn off and on by itself, when that happens the power light on both the DVD and Reciever will flicker and the surge protector would do it as well (Monster HT Surge Protector), the computer surges are drastic as well. What was weird though, is the T.V only turned off while watching normal T.V never during a DVD.

But within the last 2 days it has been turning off while watching DVDs, I have unplugged all the connections from the computer, all the sockets that go into the wall unit and protector, the dsl modem is turned off, basically all the connections. And still while watching a movie the T.V consistently turns off (same for the reciever

What should I do? I told the apartment complex already and they said "we will look into it". I'm pretty sure all of this surging isn't good for my T.V and computer, the T.V is a $3000.00 HDTV and I don't want to lose it this way, are there any steps I can do to insure my self just incase the T.V dies from this.?

Some other info that might be pointless or helpful, other power in the house are fine, the celing lights, ref, microwave are good. The floor lamp that is connected to a seperate outlet is also flickering when a surge occurs.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time
Ray

Chu Gai

This might not be a surge but a case of bad wiring either at the breakers (breaker might even be bad but a less likely scenario) or the outlets. Miswiring is also possible where your wires are somehow crossed with theirs. You can do a little detective work on your own and determine which breakers control what. Maybe you can even ask the new neighbors if they're observing the same thing.

I'd begin by restating my problems to the building management in a letter that you send registered/return receipt requested. Send the same letter to yourself but don't open it. I'm sure somewhere in your rental contract there must be something said about what they're supposed to provide for you. Then I'd look into renters insurance with specific attention directed towards full equipment replacement. Lastly, after determining what breaker controls what, you might want to move your system to a different outlet.