Do you guys think a line conditioner will help me?

[Shooters]

Sorry, lots of info here, but I'm hoping that the specifics might help some of you narrow down the problem.

I just moved into a new apartment (well new to me but actually about 30 years old) and my monitors exhibit a rapid shaking at 60Hz; I know this because the problem goes away when I set the refresh to 60Hz. I'm absolutely positive that the problem isn't with my hardware. The monitors and computer are in the exact same orientation as my previous apartment where I didn't have a problem. At first I thought that the interference was coming from another appliance, so I turned off and unplugged every electrical device in my apartment (including the refrigerator, air conditioner, and my computer), but the problem persisted. So, then I thought that I may have been getting EMI from the power lines located about 15 feet behind my balcony (probably about 50 to 60 feet from my monitors with some walls in between), but the electric company insisted that the magnetic fields from these lines only extend out about 2 to 5 feet. Also, the apartment maintenance man assured me that the main power lines within the building don't run through the walls that my monitors are close to. I've also tried a CyberPower battery backup and a cheap $15 AC filter from Radio Shack. And, I've tried just about every outlet and location in my apartment and the problem doesn't go away although the intensity doesn't seem to change either.

So, now I'm thinking that I just have dirty power coming through the AC lines. I found an electronics store nearby where I can buy a line conditioner for about $100. Do any of you have experience with these and do you think that it may solve my problem, or does it just help with brownouts, overvolts, surges, and such?

Oh, and the monitors were most certainly not damaged during the move since I packed them in their original boxes and styrofoam and was extremely careful.

Also, if any of you have any suggestions that I haven't tried, I'd really appreciate it.

 

[IamElectro]

A line conditioner might not fix the problem these are used for maintaing a constant voltage.
You may want to check into an isolation filter these are used more for what you are describing.
The problem is the building may have several different grounds causing a loop.

A isolation filter will run around $75 you probably find one cheaper online.

 

[GeekDrew]

The school I work for... We were replacing a lot of computers this year. We knew that one lab had several faulty monitors in them, so we tagged them as faulty, and got rid of them. When we placed all new PCs and monitors in the same lab, the monitors in the same positions as the old ones did the same thing! After quite a bit of testing... we still don't know what the heck the problem was. We're pretty sure that it was the florescent lights that were nearby, that are on the same circuit. We temporarily cut the line, to isolate the lab from the lights... and the problem went away. Rejoined, and the problem was back. I believe I had engineering just switch the outlet to a different circuit, that happened to be nearby.

Drew

 

[Shooters]

Thanks guys; I appreciate the help.

IamElectro, I'll look into the isolation filter idea although I'll probably try the line conditioner first since EMI/RFI noise filtering is listed as a feature on the manufacturer's website.

GeekDrew, I've heard of florescent lights causing problems like this, but there are no florescent lights in my apartment.

 

[FoBoT]

the high quality UPS's should take care of the type of problem, but not the cheap ones (CyberPower probably doesn't add the proper circuitry, get a high end APC unit)