Problem with Yamaha U1 Silent system

Openwood · Post by **Openwood** » 29 Feb 2008, 20:43

We bought a Yamaha U1 (silent version) for our school music room last year. The silent system has worked a treat until now, but today the middle two octaves wouldn't work in silent mode. We bought the piano from someone whose last name sounds a bit like 'Tenor Balls' last year so it should still be under warranty. Presumably I am within my rights to expect them to make it work again?

mdw · Post by **mdw** » 29 Feb 2008, 22:50

Yep and I recon even if the electric bit is outside the guarantee ( which may only be a year) turn on the pressure until they sort it. And if they dont, rip it out and you still have a working acoustic piano. I personaly would want at least a 5 year guarantee on the electrics as it adds such a lot to the price of the piano.

Post by **Barrie Heaton** » 29 Feb 2008, 23:30

Silent system is only one-year warranty as you are a school they may extend it

A system reset may sort out your problems

Barrie,

sussexpianos · Post by **sussexpianos** » 01 Mar 2008, 11:28

You will need a Yamaha techie trained for silent systems, but there are not many around. Could be a case of replacing the main unit. Electronics are only 1 year. Yamaha stock many parts in the UK.

Openwood · Post by **Openwood** » 01 Mar 2008, 13:15

Trouble is I'm in the freaking Channel Islands - when it comes to service this usually means I might as well be on the surface of Mars. Well, it'll be interesting to see what they come up with.

sussexpianos · Post by **sussexpianos** » 01 Mar 2008, 13:22

Will be a nice holiday for some lucky technician

Post by **Barrie Heaton** » 01 Mar 2008, 14:55

sussexpianos wrote:You will need a Yamaha techie trained for silent systems, but there are not many around. Could be a case of replacing the main unit. Electronics are only 1 year. Yamaha stock many parts in the UK.

Yamaha UK suck on training the US and the rest of the EU you want to go to Yamaha school Japan no problemo You ask in the UK can you go to Japan Hmm O well Hmm arr we don't send tuners from the UK and if I pay !!! Hmm O well Hmm arr we will get back to you.... 5 years later still waiting. 15 years ago they use to come round the shops and train and in the US they have the little red house schools.

The guys are very helpful at MK and will talk you though most problems on dis and silent over the phone

Barrie,

Openwood · Post by **Openwood** » 01 Mar 2008, 15:38

The guys are very helpful at MK

Sorry to be a twonk, but what is MK?

Post by **Gill the Piano** » 01 Mar 2008, 17:21

Milton Keynes, I'm afraid...

Openwood · Post by **Openwood** » 01 Mar 2008, 17:57

Ah right, concrete cows etc.

mdw · Post by **mdw** » 02 Mar 2008, 14:45

[quote="Barrie Heaton
The guys are very helpful at MK and will talk you though most problems on dis and silent over the phone

Barrie,[/quote]
You first port of call is the dealer as they are the ones you have the contract with. Even if its out of guarantee check in to what your rights are. He was happy to sell the piano to you and take the profit from you so im sure he will be just as happy to sort it out at his cost.

Openwood · Post by **Openwood** » 02 Mar 2008, 16:03

We only got it in September last year so it should be well within warranty. Sorry, can't spell garuntee.

PianoGuy · Post by **PianoGuy** » 02 Mar 2008, 23:41

In that case you'd expect them to sort it FOC.

Unlike Barrie though who appears to be rather more optimistic than me about warranties and schools, I reckon you may well find that there is an exclusion of warranty or reduced period for "institutional or commercial" use so you may well be on your own.

Pick up that phone and call 'em while it's less than 6 months old.

mdw · Post by **mdw** » 03 Mar 2008, 08:23

Unless its been damaged ie something poured in to it they should repair it FOC. If they turn round and say "not covered, its in a school" then they shouldnt have sold it to you in the first place if they knew its final destination when they took the order.

Grenache · Post by **Grenache** » 03 Mar 2008, 08:27

If you've tried system reset already, from your description of the fault it sounds like some circuitry in the piano itself is at fault. I remember looking at the circuit of an electronic organ many years ago, and there were 6 identitcal sections of circuit board interfacing to the actual keyswitches, one for each octave. So on that basis, if only one section of the keyboard is not functioing, I'm wondering if that section is scanned by one group of components where something's wrong.

If you haven't already tried it, power off completely (from the mains), disconnect the connectors for the pedals and keyboard, reconnect them, power on, do a system reset and try again. If the fault persists, then it's a hard fault, and you'll need Yamaha to look at it.

Openwood · Post by **Openwood** » 03 Mar 2008, 10:11

Thank you for your replies. I've tried switching off and resetting but without success. I will try the dealer again today. It's such a pity because the silent system is a real godsend in a school music room, I just wish the children could be fitted with it too.

Post by **Barrie Heaton** » 03 Mar 2008, 20:51

Openwood wrote:Thank you for your replies. I've tried switching off and resetting but without success. I will try the dealer again today. It's such a pity because the silent system is a real godsend in a school music room, I just wish the children could be fitted with it too.

That's not a system reset you have to hold down set keys and turn on the power and them press a sequence of keys in the bass to reset the system.

Have you had any building work near the room where the pianos is. the new system uses as plastic film which gets darker and the key goes down it brakes the beam. Now I had a client that had dust quite a lot of dust on her plastic tangents and on the sensing strip once cleaned all was fine with the world

Barrie,

Openwood · Post by **Openwood** » 04 Mar 2008, 12:06

quite a lot of dust on her plastic tangents

God, I love this forum.

I did do the whole key-pressing sequence thing after I'd switched the power off and back on, but to no avail

The dealer (on the mainland UK) is trying to find someone who can look at the electrics (in the Channel Islands) - hmm, we'll see how that one pans out...

athomik · Post by **athomik** » 04 Mar 2008, 15:03

Yamaha in the UK guarantees electronic products, including the electronic parts of Silent Series and Disklavier pianos for 2 years, so this piano should be covered. For Warranty repairs, the customer has to contact the original dealer.

Openwood · Post by **Openwood** » 05 Mar 2008, 00:17

Thank you for all your replies. I'll let you know how I get on.

Openwood · Post by **Openwood** » 25 Mar 2008, 22:35

Update:

Last week the suppliers sent an engineer to work out why the middle section of the U1 wasn't working in silent mode. He reported that a new key sensor unit is required. Fortunately the piano is still under warranty (arrived in September of last year). The suppliers tell me that Yamaha UK don't have any in stock and therefore one has been ordered (from Japan?).

I was wondering - might the absence of the unit 'in stock' imply:

a) the sensor units are usually so efficient that it's considered unnecessary to keep warehouse full of the things.
b) they break down so often that they positively dance off those shelves?

Admittedly the U1 is in a school music room but access to it is strictly controlled, so it doesn't get seven shades of Sh*t knocked out of it every day like other school pianos.

Do other people have experience of similar problems with the sensor unit? It seems a pretty fundamental thing to go wrong so early so I guess it would have been flagged up by know if it was a regular occurence.

Post by **Barrie Heaton** » 25 Mar 2008, 23:24

Openwood wrote:Update:

a) the sensor units are usually so efficient that it's considered unnecessary to keep warehouse full of the things.
b) they break down so often that they positively dance off those shelves?

I would say A because all common replacement parts I have ever been involved with ordering come from Germany not UK or Japan

Barrie,

athomik · Post by **athomik** » 26 Mar 2008, 12:47

Barrie Heaton wrote:
Openwood wrote:Update:

a) the sensor units are usually so efficient that it's considered unnecessary to keep warehouse full of the things.
b) they break down so often that they positively dance off those shelves?

I would say A because all common replacement parts I have ever been involved with ordering come from Germany not UK or Japan

Barrie,

A). Large assemblies for Silent pianos and Disklaviers tend to be quite expensive. Considering the number of different systems which came out over the years and the slow turnover in parts and the fact that for some past models the part was never required (i.e. they are pretty reliable), means that it is impractical to keep every possible part in stock. Usually, 1 item of each of the more commonly used parts for the more recent models is held in stock, either in the UK or Germany. If that route fails, the part has to be ordered from Japan, which can take up to 6 weeks, if Japan have the part in stock. Sometimes, with the latest models, where a new system has been introduced, it may be a case of waiting until parts production has caught up with the instrument production line to be able to produce surplus parts for spares. The only exception to this can occur (very rarely) when a production problem is identified, in which case an adequate stock of the affected part is held in the UK.