Yamaha P115 Turns On By Itself

[Tim Goh]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum and hope there's someone here who might be able to help.

The problem is with a Yamaha P115 that turns on by itself after it has been turned off. This doesn't appear happen after any fixed time. It just seems to randomly turn itself on.

Does anyone here have experience with a similar problem or could anyone perhaps give me some pointers as to how to troubleshoot this and figure out a solution.

Thanks in advance,

Tim

 

[delaware dave]

I've heard of some k/b's that turn themselves off but not on. Have you called Yamaha directly?

 

[Tim Goh]

I've heard of some k/b's that turn themselves off but not on. Have you called Yamaha directly?

Yeah, based on the google searches I've done, it's as you say - problems with keyboards turning themselves off but not turning themselves on.

Plan to call Yamaha on Monday.

Thanks.

 

[Gary D]

Does anyone here have experience with a similar problem or could anyone perhaps give me some pointers as to how to troubleshoot this and figure out a solution.

Tim

Hello,,, I used to repair PC displays and monitors,, and somtimes we would have monitors that would turn on and off by themselves do to a fatigued power micro switch that were momentary contact types. Not sure what type of power switch is on your Yamaha, but the momentary contact micro switchs somtimes get flakey after while as opposed to the rocker type switchs.

 

[Tim Goh]

Hello,,, I used to repair PC displays and monitors,, and somtimes we would have monitors that would turn on and off by themselves do to a fatigued power micro switch that were momentary contact types. Not sure what type of power switch is on your Yamaha, but the momentary contact micro switchs somtimes get flakey after while as opposed to the rocker type switchs.

Thanks Gary! It does seem like that could be the problem. The P115 has a momentary contact power switch - press once to turn on and press and hold for a couple of seconds to turn off. Do you see this happening with fairly new devices? Or is this typically the result of wear and tear? The reason I ask is because this P115 is fairly new. Thanks!

 

[Rayblewit]

problems with keyboards turning themselves off.

This is not a problem. This is a built in function as a power saver. If you walk away from your keyboard and forget to turn it off, the machine will turn itself off on your behalf after 10 minutes or so.
Good feature!
Gotta love music -ray

 

[Tim Goh]

This is not a problem. This is a built in function as a power saver. If you walk away from your keyboard and forget to turn it off, the machine will turn itself off on your behalf after 10 minutes or so.
Good feature!
Gotta love music -ray

Thanks Ray. Yes there's is a auto-power off feature that is enabled by default (and can be disabled) and will turn the piano off after 30min of not being used.

The google search results for problems with the piano turning itself off is where the piano turns itself off while in use. That's certainly a problem.

 

[Gary D]

Or is this typically the result of wear and tear? The reason I ask is because this P115 is fairly new. Thanks!

It was mostly a result of wear and tear and age, unless somtimes somthing was spilled into the switch to cause them to get sticky... the soft start power circuits can be tricky in themselves even if the switch is ok, somthing as simple as a cold solder joint can cause eratic behavior. But in your case somthing is physically telling the power supply to power on, I highly doubt theres a auto on feature unless it can make coffee also one other thing, does the unit automaticly power on when external power is first applied such as plugging it in.? (110v AC in ? )

 

[happyrat1]

The problem could be as simple as noisy power lines.

Voltage spikes on the local power grid could be activating the circuit.

It might be worthwhile to run it thru a decent quality surge suppressor to eliminate those spikes.

Gary

PS..

Either that or your studio is HAUNTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[happyrat1]

Or for that matter just plug the Yamaha into a $10 switchable, surge suppressed power bar and switch it off at the mains.

Cheapest and easiest solution

Gary

 

[Gary D]

Or for that matter just plug the Yamaha into a $10 switchable, surge suppressed power bar and switch it off at the mains.
Cheapest and easiest solution

Gary

I was thinking that route also, if it stil turns on then yeah i would be gussing theres the "Ghost in the machine " issue hehe

 

[Tim Goh]

It was mostly a result of wear and tear and age, unless somtimes somthing was spilled into the switch to cause them to get sticky... the soft start power circuits can be tricky in themselves even if the switch is ok, somthing as simple as a cold solder joint can cause eratic behavior. But in your case somthing is physically telling the power supply to power on, I highly doubt theres a auto on feature unless it can make coffee also one other thing, does the unit automaticly power on when external power is first applied such as plugging it in.? (110v AC in ? )

I'll need to check the manual for the coffee feature .. but more seriously .. no, there's no auto on feature. When external power is applied, it remains off and will only turn on when the power button is physically pressed. So, that bit is working as expected.

 

[Tim Goh]

I was thinking that route also, if it stil turns on then yeah i would be gussing theres the "Ghost in the machine " issue hehe

Haha .. actually, there's a cheaper solution that has done the trick - physically unplug the power cable from the back of the piano after turning it off. No ghosts or "phantom power"

Along these (unstable power) lines, do you think the power adapter might be a problem? Or can we rule that out?

The thing is that this has happened in two totally separate, distant locations. So, unless both locations have unstable mains power, that's probably unlikely.

Thanks for helping with this!

 

[Gary D]

The thing is that this has happened in two totally separate, distant locations. So, unless both locations have unstable mains power, that's probably unlikely.

Thanks for helping with this!

Hmm ok sounds like you have a external DC power supply wich normaly would have a certain amount of line voltage filtering, even with a 110 volt input to the keyboard there would be a internal switching power supply with filter capacitors on the primary side or a internal DC transformer. somehow or another somthing is telling the control IC to turn on the unit. IE: the power switch for the soft start grounding out to send the signal to the control IC, but then again you think a bad switch would cause the unit to shut off intermittenly also? unless the pulse is that quick for just power on but not off.. this might require some bench time for trouble shooting. Unless Yamaha has a solution or if it becomes problematic with it randomly shutting off I would be thinking it would be the power switch, otherwise Happyrats solution with a external switchable power strip might be the cheapest solution...hope this helps

 

[Tim Goh]

Hmm ok sounds like you have a external DC power supply wich normaly would have a certain amount of line voltage filtering, even with a 110 volt input to the keyboard there would be a internal switching power supply with filter capacitors on the primary side or a internal DC transformer. somehow or another somthing is telling the control IC to turn on the unit. IE: the power switch for the soft start grounding out to send the signal to the control IC, but then again you think a bad switch would cause the unit to shut off intermittenly also? unless the pulse is that quick for just power on but not off.. this might require some bench time for trouble shooting. Unless Yamaha has a solution or if it becomes problematic with it randomly shutting off I would be thinking it would be the power switch, otherwise Happyrats solution with a external switchable power strip might be the cheapest solution...hope this helps

Yep, it is an external DC power supply. Actually, the piano is in Singapore (220V/240V, 50 Hz), so the power supply is an international model (PA-150B) that can take in 100-240V, 50/60Hz, 05A and outputs 12V, 1.5A.

To your point, yes, I thought that if this is a switch problem, then it could also intermittently shut off. But that doesn't happen. Have also tried disabling the "auto power off" feature, thinking that maybe this has something to do with the timer. However, that didn't fix the problem.

Anyway, will be calling Yamaha later. Will update this thread if anything interesting comes out of that.

Thanks!

 

[Tim Goh]

The Yamaha technician had a look at the piano today. The suspicion was that it was a faulty switch or power board. But those tested fine and the technician was not able to determine the problem. He says it's OK to leave the piano on.

 

[Fred Coulter]

I was going to suggest ghosts or other supernatural occurrences. But since it happens in more than one location, that's far less likely.

Go with the technician.

 

[happyrat1]

Like I said, power spikes on the grid can cause this sort of behaviour. Asian countries and rural areas in North America are notorious for noisy power lines.

A surge protector is likely the only thing that even has a chance of stopping this behaviour.

At any rate it's not really a critical point of failure so I don't even understand the concern.

Put it on a switchable power bar and forget about it.

Gary

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I like the idea of unplugging it after turning it off. That's what I do with my keyboards, except if I turn them off to take a break and I'm definitely planning to resume later. In my area of the country we get a lot of thunderstorms, and you do not want to leave a keyboard plugged in during a lightning storm!

 

[happyrat1]

All of my keyboards are plugged thru a heavy duty power bar from Belkin with a surge suppressor.

https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-10-Outlet-Protector-15-Foot-F9D1000-15/dp/B000BVC0WO/

My typical ritual is to switch on the power bar first, activating the monitors and subwoofer, then turning on the keyboards one at a time, then finally turning on the mixer which actually sends the signal to the speakers, avoiding the turnon thump.

Turnoff ritual is the reverse.

If I were really to perform this according to recommended procedure, I'd turn on the monitors last, but they have inconveniently located power switches.

At any rate, a switchable power bar will reduce strain and stress on the power cord and outlet if you are constantly yanking it in and out while solving the problem once and for all.

Gary