Bought a broken Phantom 4

[Chris@OKF]

Purchased the drone off eBay for $400. Seller states the camera was damaged and that the shell needed to be replaced. When the drone is powered on I get a picture but the gimbal will not move.
I’ve tried to do the recalibration (DJI assistant 2)but the bottom sensors will not pick up the screen. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Capt KO]

Hate to ask, why pay so much for a damaged P4? A working P4 not much more. Have you already replaced the shell? Gimble not moving will be trial and error; bad ribbon, emc board, etc. Good you have a picture but sensors and calibration probably won’t work until gimble and other functions repaired. YouTube is your friend.

Sorry you didn’t find this forum before you bought, many better deals right here, on working drones.

 

[OdysseyShane_Phantom]

Possibly a gimbal motor or cable. There are a few good videos on YouTube. if you're good at (or willing to try) small electronics, the individual motors can be found pretty cheap. Good luck! I fixed a broken P4 last winter, and it was satisfying.

 

[Starz]

If your repairs don’t work out, I have some that don‘t need repair for a similar cost. They are fun to work on, but sometimes tricky.

 

[Chris@OKF]

Thanks for the reply’s everyone. I thought the drone, controller, 3 batteries, charger, 4 sets of blades and hard case was a good deal for 400. Sorry I didn’t mention that.
I was able to achieve complete recalibration before disassemble.
I have a replacement ribbon and yaw motor to try out. I’ve been reading and watching YT and the yaw seems to be the one that fails the most so I thought I’d start there. Maybe the ribbon is ok since I have picture?

 

[Falkon]

Simple check: Disconnect the cable from the yaw motor. (Cover under four screws at the back, top connector). Fix the yaw motor with chewing gum
If the problem was in the motor, then everything will work. You can take photos and videos in light wind, but the stabilization will suffer.

 

[Droneted]

I have a YouTube video that will help with the yaw issue. It is under droneted. If you can’t find it let me know. I will help you as much as I can

 

[Chris@OKF]

My Movie 1.mov

drive.google.com

This is what’s happening at startup. How do I determine which gimbal motor is bad? Or could it be the board?

 

[Droneted]

Could be the pitch motor. That's the only one that does not move. After start up and while it is still running, does the yaw and roll keep working while the pitch just lays there? Can you move the pitch up and down with no resistance?

 

[Chris@OKF]

Could be the pitch motor. That's the only one that does not move. After start up and while it is still running, does the yaw and roll keep working while the pitch just lays there? Can you move the pitch up and down with no resistance?

 

[Chris@OKF]

I’ll try it again when I get home tonight and post up what works

 

[Chris@OKF]

After it’s powered on, I have no control of the gimbal. I tried auto calibration with no movement. I have zero control from the gimbal dial. Also the cooling fan doesn’t come on at all.

 

[Droneted]

I want to be sure I totally understand what is going on. The motors are powered on and locked in place or they all go limp? No cooling fan is not good. I don't think this can be fixed easily by someone with no experience as there may be more than one issue. Where are you located? I repair a lot of these but I am in Florida

 

[Chris@OKF]

I’m in Frederick MD, drone is powered on, slight horizontal movement that’s it. Camera remains in the down position, fan remains off.

 

[OdysseyShane_Phantom]

I have a YouTube video that will help with the yaw issue. It is under droneted. If you can’t find it let me know. I will help you as much as I can

I used your video when I replaced a yaw motor on a Phantom 4. Thanks!