Camera Problems Before (and after) Gimbal Flex Cable Replac

[markpovraznik]

Phantom 4

A couple weeks ago started to notice "snow" looking static interfence when shooting video. It was blackish snow and then changed to red tinted snow making video worthless in real time display, This was over about 3 days and camera function completely deteriorated within about 10 days. I saw this "snow" in real time display, post-flight playback on Ipad and after downloading to my PC. NO CRASHES OR DROPS. NONE. Interestingly the display was crystal clear for FPV if I put the camera in "still" mode. I even took some pictures but then discovered that when I "played back" ther still photos they had the same corruption.

I searched these blogs and discovered it could be my Gimbal Flex Cable which I then purchaseed and installed using a couple YouTube videos as guidance. I wasa very careful, took my time, and buttoned iit ack up with no extra parts remaining (lol) and no damage that I could see to the new cable during installation. One thing I noted was the guy on YopuTube said to push the cable ends into the connectors until the white line disappeared. I used DJI OEM Part 36. None of my white lines ever disappeared. They were very close and butted up to the connectyor as best as I could do but were still visible. I reinstalled a couple connections on the old cable and they did disappear, but the new cable, while close, never had a white line disappear however connections appeared to be solid.

Upon starting the drone back up I noticed that the camera was hanging limp, camera lens pointing straight down. When I energized the system everything fired up except the camera. I had no gimbal problems before the repair and now the camera is completely dead. Black screen, no gimbal movement even when attempting callibration and re-centering, nothing.

And on top of the that a new error mesage I have never seen before:

Camera Sensor Error, followed by Contact DJI, hardware problems.

I am now going to disassemble and check everything and put it back together and hopefully it will them work but does anyone have any advice? I have all the proper tools and have done electrical work on my Phantom 1, but never on my Phantom 4.

Please advise. Thank you. Aloha

 

[Former Member]

They were very close and butted up to the connectyor as best as I could do but were still visible. I reinstalled a couple connections on the old cable and they did disappear, but the new cable, while close, never had a white line disappear however connections appeared to be solid.

Did you make sure that the connector locks were in the up position before sliding in the ribbon?

 

[markpovraznik]

Yes. I opened them to pull out the old one inserted new one, locked it back down. I know for certain because after insertion I locked them down and then, because the line had not disappeared, applied steady tension to make sure that they were actually locked in In researching this on the internet I did find comments saying that sometimes the cables are like that; that the white line doesn't always disappear because the are cut too long when manufactured but just to make certain that they are pushed in as far as possible before locking down.

 

[Former Member]

Where did you buy the ribbon cable from? Could be part of the problem.

 

[markpovraznik]

It is DJI Phantom 4 Part 36 - Flexible Gimbal Flat Cable - OEM in a sealed DJI packaging from Rotorlogic (U.S. Dealer) Amazon's Choice

 

[Former Member]

I had no gimbal problems before the repair and now the camera is completely dead.

The problem must be somewhere in your ribbon cable connections, possibly to the gimbal PCB. If it was only misconnected to 1 motor connection, your gimbal would be erratic, but would still move. Limp=no power.

 

[markpovraznik]

Thank you. I am opening it back up right now. Hopefully that is the problem.