Easiest DIY way to get rid of voltage spike from appliances (hair dryer etc)?

[wwenze]

So I swapped from a desktop to a laptop... and many other changes occurred, but the rest of the setup is basically the same - Same monitor, same speakers, I guess the monitor cable changed from DP to HDMI. The entire setup runs off a single wall plug and one power strip that is daisy chained to another power strip due to length issues.

And now my screen blacks out whenever the dryer is switched on.

And I used to have line-filters with one IEC inlet and one wall-socket outlet but those have gone MIA

And with a need to order from element14 or RS soon I thought might as well get something.

Qn1: I see surge protector products, they mean they use MOV, how useful are they against daily hairdryer stuff? I'm under the impression that MOV are "consumables" and they don't work well against small spikes anyway. However a manufacturer brochure said MOV is for other appliances switching on/off, and line filter is for noise.

Qn2: A good line filter is CLC, but to save on labor and also keep things simple and safe, if I DIY I may just go for a single C, heck I may just find some unused ATX PSU and plug it in. How useful is just a single C against a hair dryer in the other room?

 

[Speedskater]

It is best to deal with the problem at it's source.
What is needed is a resistor/capacitor snubber circuit. But there is no simple way to add a snubber circuit.
It often requires a skilled electrician to install the snubber to the appliance's internal circuit.

 

[Looneybomber]

Is it a voltage spike or dip? I would assume you’re getting a dip if it happens right when a huge current draw is initiated. Perhaps an UPS would fix your computer screen issues.

 

[DonH56]

A laptop should have a battery that makes it insensitive to power dips caused by things like the dryer. If you unplug the laptop, does the screen still go black when the dryer switches on? That should help determine if it is a wall power issue or some sort of noise coupling. Is the dryer on the same circuit as the laptop (check at the service, or switch off the breaker for the room with the dryer and see if the PC outlet goes dead too)? As @Speedskater said, dealing with it at the source may be the only permanent fix, but if you can run the PC and monitor from a different circuit it might help. You could also try a different HDMI cable in case it is not well shielded, or get a DP-HDMI plug (adapter) and see if the previous DP cable has the same problem.

HTH - Don

 

[Chromatischism]

Yeah, battery power is the only thing that's going to help. The laptop battery will make it immune to dips, as well as a fast-switching UPS.

 

[AnalogSteph]

This sort of thing is not entirely unheard of; I suspect the HDMI equivalent of a Pin 1 Problem. A number of Denon/Marantz AVRs used to be notorious for this. You can try a different HDMI cable (their quality does vary, and high resolutions like 4K60 can be quite fussy as it's pushing a single link cnnection - DP is generally a more robust choice for high resolutions), but other than that my first course of action would be giving the laptop a nice earth connection.

 

[Speedskater]

my first course of action would be giving the laptop a nice earth connection.

What might 'a nice earth connection' mean?