Very Weird Power Problem I Don't Quite Understand

[no1statistician]

I had this problem for about a month and I finally fixed it I think. My computer's monitor was turning off randomly whether on a 5% load or a 100% load. I've tried many troubleshooting options and it turns out that my fan (not a computer fan, but a large box fan to cool myself) being in the same surge protector or outlet in my house being turn on caused the monitor to go off (I turn the fan on and the monitor in 10 secs or less turns off). I haven't had a problem yet after moving the fan to a different outlet in the house. What is the reason this happens?

 

[thx1138v2]

Probably the fan's motor was poorly designed and was creating sufficient voltage drop for the monitor's power to go out of spec and shut off. Or it was creating too much electrical noise on the line. You probably shouldn't have anything digital connected to the same socket as that fan.