Anti-Drop Pins - remove to spare gimbal in crash??

[johnbrowning]

I saw on here someplace a recommendation to remove the anti-drop pins from the gimbal dampers, the thinking being that in the event of a crash, the anti-drop pins keep the gimbal rigid, director more force of the crash to the sensitive parts of the gimbal, more likely resulting in a catastrophic gimbal break. This seems to make sense - if the gimbal dislodges from the top bracket in a crash, it may save it.

Any thoughts on this???

Obviously, the "anti-drop" pins are there to prevent the camera from coming off during flight, but is that a realistic worry?

John

 

[yawnalot29]

I would keep them on and double down and add 2 more zip tie to the other two hole.

So here's my thinking....

so your quad suddenly slow down because you push your throttle all the way up, then moving to right and sudden left. These things flies at close to 40MPH. So imagine you are in your car, something sits on the passenger seat. You are going 35 MPH, and then suddenly slam on your break.

Your car is the quad. something on passenger seat is the gimbal assembly.


if you were in a situation where enough force is applied to cause the gimbal/camera assembly to break free of the pin, what makes you think the gimbal/camera assembly would survive the impact to whatever surface after it has broken free of the P2V+?

IF enough force is apply to cause the pin to break off, at the minimum, it has absorbed some force by the mounting frame that would otherwise be apply directly on the camera / gimbal if it wasn't there. And the gimbal assembly would then impact with ground / other surface with remaining force.

Remove the pin, the gimbal assembly would have to absorb the entire impact force after flying off the quad with nothing in the way of "slowing it down".


Think about it. If not, test it out

A replacement gimble / camera assembly cost about $900 on eBay.

 

[Tails_Up]

I agree with the writer above. There's a YouTube video where a fellow has one or more of the absorbers come free and it results in uncontrolled crash due to the change in weight distribution and the swinging of the gimbal.

In a crash, the shock to the gimbal can break it, even if it never gets a direct hit, from the 'whiplash' motion. If you clip a tree limb or for whatever reason have a fall, the gimbal separating from the Phantom is about as likely to save it as you being thrown from a car during an accident. Could it gimbal land on a soft surface and survive? Possibly. If it stayed attached, could it survive? Possibly. I have a Phantom Vision 2 that doesn't have the pins, in a crash it will come off. But it's a much more robust camera with no gimbal.

Personally, I'd rather risk breaking the gimbal in a crash than to take a chance of it coming loose in flight or separating during a crash.

 

[yawnalot29]

Here's one of my flight record on Flytrex



if I make a sudden stop (pull right stick in opposite direction) at 33mph, I would imagine the "whiplash" effect would separate the gimble assembly from the quad with the gimble continue in its original travel vector and the quad moving the other way.

I wouldn't mind seeing if someone can proof this out. This is just a thought experiment after all.

 

[D_Tshudy]

Rather than just removing the pins, maybe replacing the pins with rubber bands would reduce the deceleration of the gimbal in a crash.

 

[Mako79]

Remove them only if you have a contingency method to prevent the gimbal+camera falling from the sky.
It's very possible.

I did a rubber band mod but it hasn't been proven. There has been suggestions to add spring loaded bolt, essentially acting like a big shock absorber.

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=19169&p=176251#p176251

 

[yawnalot29]

Remove them only if you have a contingency method to prevent the gimbal+camera falling from the sky.
It's very possible.

I did a rubber band mod but it hasn't been proven. There has been suggestions to add spring loaded bolt, essentially acting like a big shock absorber.

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=19169&p=176251#p176251

I think the spring loaded bolt is a good idea. I am not big fan of rubber band or bungi core as I was thinking what would happen to the recoil. But I think a screw, washer, nut, 2 springs... that might do the trick.


Screw - washer - spring - washer 00000000 washer - spring - washer -- nuts

 

[lee.mowry.12]

I managed to pry the 4 flaps back on the drop pin using a small flat head screwdriver. The plastic is surprisingly flexible. Once 3 or 4 flaps are bent out slightly I will bend them back. Seems like they should be reusable at least a couple of times.

 

[RedBaron]

Personally I would remove the anti-drop pins and just use zip ties in all 4 dampeners. I would rather take a chance on bending something vs the inevitable - BROKEN black ribbon!! How will you fix that, $679 replacement. If you bend something, at least you may be able to straighten it out. Gluing a ribbon cable together hasn't been done yet.

 

[RedBaron]

I managed to pry the 4 flaps back on the drop pin using a small flat head screwdriver. The plastic is surprisingly flexible. Once 3 or 4 flaps are bent out slightly I will bend them back. Seems like they should be reusable at least a couple of times.

Hum, you are attempting to reuse a two-cent piece of plastic to protect a $$$ gimbal and camera. I would either stock up on the pins and dampers or use zip ties instead. Also you should check the dampers periodically because they wear out pretty fast and start to split easily. Have you checked them lately also?? Just my "Two Cents".

 

[ToThePoint]

I had replaced it with 2 little zip tie's and had a severe crash into a shrubbery.
2 silicone dampers released and the zip tie acted as shock absorbers as the camera and gimbal haven't been mutilated.
The camera and gimbal didn't take any direct hit but the based plate was deformed as a result of the camera/gimbal momentum.