Surge from within the surge protector?

[Sandbo]

Currently I have come up with a strange issue, tried to search on the web but had no luck (not sure if I am too dumb to get the key words correct)

I have a laser printer, a desktop, and an old house.
To protect the computer and printer from surge, I put them into the same surge suppressor and they have been working well.

However, whenever my printer operates, the lights flash a bit, I am worrying if the printer is actually causing surges itself.
In this case, can the surge suppressor protects the PC from the possible surge generated by the printer?
Or I should plug the printer elsewhere?

Many thanks

 

[Meghan54]

Lasers draw quite a bit of power on initial startup. What you're experiencing is nothing new. Move the printer to another socket. Been using laser printers for years myself and I experienced the same behavior until I moved the laser to its own socket (not circuit) away from where the computer is plugged in, even when both were on a line conditioning UPS.

 

[westom]

However, whenever my printer operates, the lights flash a bit, I am worrying if the printer is actually causing surges itself.

Lights 'flash a bit' how? Do they brighten? Or do they dim?

If lights brighten, then voltage is increasing slightly. If lights dim, then voltage is dropping for a short time. Each indicates completely different behavior.

Surges are voltages on the order of 1000 or higher. Lights changing intensity are voltage changes of maybe tens of volts. Read specification numbers for that surge protector. A 120 volt protector may say it ignores all voltages below 330 volts. Does nothing until voltages well exceed that let-through voltage number. So what did you expect a protector to do?

Critical to a useful answer is how lights are dimming. In most cases, that is only a minor wiring problem. In rare cases, that can be the 'canary in a coalmine' that is reporting a major and serious human safety threat.