Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards New Yamaha P-515 Odor

Hi there. We recently got a new P-515. Even before opening the box, we noticed a strong chemical smell emanating from it. When we opened the box, we didn't notice a major difference in smell so we chalked it up to the packaging. But later on, once the piano was set up in its own space, we started to notice the same odor filling the room, which became much stronger when the piano was on.

We've been airing out the space with fans and open windows, and have checked to make sure there's no stray plastic, styrofoam packaging, or loose electronics that could be contributing. The piano itself appears to be completely intact and in otherwise good working order. The strong smell within the room is gradually going away but still occurs when in use. Unfortunately its hard to tolerate because it gives people headaches, dizziness, and other symptoms while playing.

Fortunately the seller has offered to send a replacement. However, we are worried that this is a standard off-gassing issue with this model, though we have never seen any reviews that mention this during unboxing. Has anyone else experienced anything similar with the P515s or other Yamaha digital pianos?

Please pardon me if this has been posted about before; I've searched around the forums but have not seen anything on this topic related to this specific model of piano. Happy to post this in the P515 owner thread if that would be more appropriate. Thanks!

No smells here.
And, as far as I can remember, this hasn’t been posted before

Probably some disinfection measure gone over board.

My 2019 P-515 smelled like wood, because the keyboard is built from wood and there are some wooden parts in the casing.

My new P-515 smelled like a new digital piano. Which is to say, I noticed no smell.

I've also not heard of this, person of 1 post here.

I guess you might say that Yamaha pianos stink, eh?

It could be:
- an extreme case of “new car smell” gone wrong .... the smell of new is supposed to be a happy reminder that slowly fades over time, but this .....? nice to know your dealer is willing to replace .... where in the world has this happened and from where was your DP delivered, local or long distance shipment? .... meanwhile, as long as small animals are not dropping over or winged creatures falling from sky ....;

- a grumpy old man effect that affected a factory worker before clocking out on a Friday;

- if you spend enough time around here you may observe the various senses that come into play between people and their DP .... looks, sounds & feel the obvious ones .... ive read here some people claim the piano they picked “talked to me” which of course has led me to wonder if there are people who can perceive the taste of a DPs character and you know what they say about taste ....er, might be just an extreme case of new car smell 😉;

- this is at least one Seinfeld moment .... if anyone offers you a tomato sauce rinse to fix this, you may want to take up your dealer’s offer.

Seriously, if this odor has not gotten better by now, it may be best to consider your dealer’s offer and hope that does not involve a lengthy delay.

It has been a few weeks now! It shipped ground, clear across the country (in the US). We have taken up the offer to have it replaced, but since these pianos are quite popular (we waited months for this one to be in stock), a replacement won't be available for several weeks.

You mention "new car smell"--One thing that occurred to us is that due to the backorder, perhaps we received a piano that was quite "fresh" off the line (as opposed to sitting in stores for a while). We wondered whether we'd be better off trying to continue mitigating the smell with the piano we have (the just wait it out approach), or risk potentially starting over from the beginning with another newly made piano--assuming the strong smell is just from the fact that it was recently manufactured.

Then again--in that case I'd expect to hear about this issue from at least a few other folks who received a 515 from a very recent batch, and I haven't. So, it seems more likely that we just got unlucky with this one.

All in all, we have otherwise been very happy with the 515 (hence trying for a replacement rather than a return). Its everything we're looking for in a digital piano (surprise smell aside).

I'm encouraged by the other commenters who let me know their P-515s smelled like wood (would love that!). I'll try to remember to post an update when the new 515 arrives. Fingers crossed its the happy smell this time!

Does it smell like rotten eggs?

I work daily fixing complex electronics. One of the worst odours generated by electronics is the electrolytic capacitors when they overheat and boil. The odour is really bad. Could be in your case a faulty capacitor, which gets worse with temperature and power on time

Hello,


This was the first thing that crossed my mind after reading the original post. In particular because @redleather mentions that the smell increases during power-on time and use. Which I see as a bad indication.

Cheers and happy replacing,

HZ

I think replacement is right choice. A new piano should have no smell at all.

Maybe a slight wood smell if the keys are wooden. But even then, very slight ... and that's not a bad odor at all.

Back in the day .... (cue the sappy history moment music) 🎻 .... in tech school, several professors each spent time demonstrating some of the reasons why techs should be ever-observant & aware at least by sight, sound and smell, of how electronics might behave during some degree of failure - accidental, intentional or some combination - so as to take appropriate action. Electricity Fundamentals 101 teacher demonstrated the phenom of connecting a large DC Cap to AC/wall current ..... it took a while to finally erupt but the memory of the subsequent odor still resonates .... perhaps only in my mind or universe .... but enough to wonder about OPs observance with respect to their 515 when powered .... a beyond-visible-observance VOR feature .... an unusual red leather day, that 😇

No, and the smell is hard to describe; we've never encountered anything that compares. A kind of sweet chemical, slightly toasted smell.

This was our impression as well. If anything we expected to smell wood, or a mild, brief "new electronics" smell, or nothing at all.