Home audio & video forum: Sony 52" LCDTV strong acrid smell out of the box!

remove that tv out of living areas. i agree with albeach55, i've dropped and broken a few lcd's and it was nothing as vivid as what your describing.if it was shiped from a retailer have them come pick it up. take pictures and if you can video record for your records, just in case they're health implications.
this is the first issue i've ever heard with a sony bravia.
i can tell you that its not "burn in". although some lcd's were able to leave shadow burns, "burn in" is a
non toxic or smelling problems that plagues plasma tv sets. i hope all is well with your wife, good luck.

Thank you all for your advice. I wanted to wait for a resolution before I responded. Here's what happened.

Tuesday we got a call from a TV repair guy to come and do a "safety check" of the set. I thought he was from the tech service who was scheduled for Wednesday but he was not. Probably a bad choice for safety check for smell because this fellow was a VERY heavy smoker and admitted his "sniffer isn't so good". Truthfully, while he was in the room I couldn't smell the set at all, just the cigarette smoke emanating from his clothes. (not kidding)

Anyway, when he was in the process of removing the back of the set he finally got a good whiff of our complaint. No fire or burning inside. Anyway, he spoke to his supervisor telling him he had never smelled a set like this one. Sony called us later while we were gone (naturally) and left a message. The smell is normal. Call them if there's any other problem.

It's now Saturday, 8 days after we first got the set. After nearly a week of being in an isolated bedroom in the basement with no return air duct, with the set on, with a fan blowing directly into the back of the set, with the window open, through two snow storms I might add... the set finally smells acceptable enough to move into a living space.

I purchased the set online from Abe's of Maine. Abe's is upfront about a no return policy so I could not return it, and had to deal with Sony. (this, apparently is the downside of buying online.) I had vowed to dispute the sale on my credit card if I couldn't use the set within a week. A week ended yesterday, however, it was obvious on Thursday that the smell was becoming less intense, and on Friday it was almost reasonable. Last night my sister and son couldn't smell it at all other than a "new" smell. I suppose at this point my wife and I are sensitized because we still smell it.

Tomorrow it goes into the den. Thanks again for your good advice. The upshot is, despite the beautiful picture quality I would hesitate before buying a Sony again unless I could return the set.

A week later its still bad when I turn it on for a while.

Smells like burning electronics.

Im afraid that if I exchange this one then the replacement will be the same

<Has anyone been able to get a clear answer on the reason for the smell?> I never got a straight answer.

<Has the smell finally gone away for anyone of you, and if yes what did you do?>

I swear I can still smell my set a little bit. However, my wife, son-in-law, daughter, son, and sister can not smell the set anymore. So I'm either extremely sensitized or imagining it.

What I did was place the set in a room that did not have ventilation to other rooms. I opened the outside window, and placed the back of the set within two feet of the window, turned the set on, with no signal or antennae attached so the set image was black. (saving the CCFL tube) Then we placed a fan so it was blowing into the back of the set. I left it this way for a week to ten days. After that the smell was still there, but diminished enough that we decided to bring it in so we could actually start to finally use the damned thing. (It smelled like hell so I figure the set is "damned"). :o))

If this is "normal" then Sony's standards for creating acceptable criteria are questionable. In the future I will avoid purchasing Sony. Their once good name no longer exists for my family.

I believe the chemicals unleashed into the air in my home, and everyone elses home is toxic. Perhaps there's a lawyer out there who might be interested in a class action lawsuit to get manufacturers to understand that poisoning customers isn't good for profits. Since that is apparently the only thing that is truly important to Sony.

Good luck!

15 days now and its still bad. Mostly only after it's warmed up for a while. I can tell you that I'm not enjoying ownership of this $3000 TV one bit. And from feedback I've read here, Sony doesnt appear to care. I've visited a couple of showrooms full of TV since. And with 40 or 50 TVs going I don't smell them at all. I think I'm going to take this back to the store. It must be part of a defective batch of Sony TVs.

Thanks for the suggestion. However I already swapped it this afternoon without doing that. My original one also reeked the moment the bag was removed but this one didnt seem quite as bad. It does have that characteristic smell though. My wife says its not as bad too. But maybe were just desensitized to that particular smell after living with it for a couple weeks. I have to say that the store (Video Only in Federal Way, WA) has been awesome by being so understanding and not arguing about my concern. At this point I realize that this is just an issue with all these Sony TVs (albeit not quite as bad on this latest one). Ill open windows for a few weeks if necessary. I hope the store sends the old one back to Sony like they said they were going to do. Sony needs feedback so they can fix this.

I have the same problem like all of you, except I just got my Sony now in August 29, 09. I bought this TV last week of August, it was delivered to me on the 29th,today is Sept.9, I still today cant be in the room this tv is in and on for more than short time with windows open, this thing still smell awfull. I called Sony suport and they gave me a # to call for service if this smell does not go away. But in reading these posts I like some one else in this forum sees the same problem. I can still return this tv, but what if I get another tv and have the same problem with new tv, the smell, also I dont like any tecks messing with my new tv.I been keeping this tv powered on for appr. 5 to 6 hours per day every day with windows open in the whole house. The smell sems to be getting a litlle better/less but I cant belive that sony just keeps doing this, I would think that if their tvs emitt toxic odors they shoud be the ones dealing with the smell problem from their tvs, not their costumers. I,m gone run this for anothr week or so and see if the smell goes away, if not its gone have to go back to BB. I have lots of sony products in my house, and had sony tvs also in the past with no problems, but I cant belive that Sony doesent admitt that there is a problem with their lcd tvs and fix it. This will probably be my last Sony TV Sony, I have a 40" Samsung and there were no fumes coming from the Samsung tv when it was new, and it did not burn my lungs from toxic fumes like the Sony tv did. Someone mentione Class Action suit, if there is one count me in.

I bought this television on Saturday, November 28, 2009. I opened the box Sunday, November 29, 2009 just before midnight and placed the set in my bedroom. I did not sleep in there that night because I was still organizing things in the room. By Monday evening (less than 24 hours later) and after being around the set on and off throughout the day I started to feel very nauseous. I noticed something smelled weird, but I thought I was getting sick or something - I mean it is "flu season" and even though I have never had the flu before, I had what I thought were similar symptoms (vomiting, major nausea, etc.) I have been resting in the room where the TV is and not feeling any better. Yesterday (Wed., 12-2-09) I decided to sit in the living room for a few hours. Around 1:30 am this morning I got up to go to bed and as soon as I walked into my room the smell was overwhelming! I thought to myself this is crazy and unplugged everything from the TV and moved it into our office. Within a few minutes the horrible smell was gone! Today, I am still feeling nauseous and when I pass by our office where I placed the TV (on the floor unplugged), I can smell a very strong plastic like smell. Kind of smells like burning plastic or paint. I have since shut the door. As soon as I feel well enough, my plan is to return the TV to Best Buy and purchase a non-Sony television. I have always purchased Sony products before, but never this type of TV. After reading the posts in this forum, I doubt I will be buying SONY again.

Riverside, CA

I had a Sony 46" that had this acidy smell, and I returned it, because like you say its not healthy to inhale that chemical for a long time. I replaced the Sony 46" by a 46" Samsung, and the Sumsung did NOT have any acidy or any other smell. Samsung is still in the same room, and I watch it daily and there is no smell. Its hard to know hich brand of TV is going to have this smell, if you bought a Samsung TV thas has that acidy smell take it back. I did not replace my Sony 46" tv with the same TV because I might get one from the same batch, and have the same smell. That's why I bought Samsung. If you have a TV that has this acidy smell, this smell is not going away, so take it back, try another brand.

I just wanted to weigh-in. We have had this TV for way too long to return it (~two years). But suddenly it has started omitting a horrid glue-like oder from the back that rises to the top of the room, takes days to air out and gives me a terrible headache. I can't understand how this only suddenly started happening, and I would encourage anyone able to press this issue with their retailer or manufacturer to do so, because I'm thinking that it will only get worse over time.

Perhaps the people producing these set-to-self-destruct products think it's normal to buy a huge television and be force to replace it two years later, but I like to get the most out of my more expensive electronics. Also who can afford to keep replacing your phones, televisions, cameras and whatnots ever single year? That should be reserved for the few items that you use professionally - Apple.

However, that said. I can't see how I can keep it. It's likely that I'll not replace it with the same size tv, if at all. Why should I if it's manufactured to turn into a chemical weapon after the warrantee runs out?

What I would like to know is if anyone knows how to test what gas is being omitted by the plastic parts. Anyone?

JM