Gimbal not levelling out

B4orce · May 23, 2014

@ The English Guy - I think that's a great idea. We should get something done. Like I mentioned earlier, I wrote to DJI and they replied by telling me I needed to contact a different office. So, I wrote to the new office and as of yet have no reply. But it gets better folks...... today I got a mail from DJI asking me to rate their customer service - I couldn't believe it - I fell off my chair laughing.

@ Adam - Do you think this is something you can help us out with......??

Cheers.

OrthoCruiser · May 23, 2014

Same issue but after a crash in my situation. See the following post:

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=15635

They're going to have to address the issue. Too many people with the problem to be left unresolved.

AnselmoRascon · May 24, 2014

Hi guys this maybe help you.
I have my gimbal very loose! when I turn to the left or right my gimbal takes for ever to level the camera, was like no gimbal installed.
I did what somebody say, turn of the FPV in the aplication and now is working like a charm!

I'm not sure if is going to work for all, but you can give a chat and try this.
Goog luck to all.
Anselmo

B4orce · May 24, 2014

@ Anselmo - Thanks for the tip, but unfortunately I have already tried this a couple of times. I turned the FPV mode to "on" to see if the gimbal would level out and hold steady when I moved the PV around. This didn't seem to have any effect at all and so I switched the FPV mode back to "off". The issue still persists.

denofr · May 24, 2014

AnselmoRascon said:
Hi guys this maybe help you.
I have my gimbal very loose! when I turn to the left or right my gimbal takes for ever to level the camera, was like no gimbal installed.
I did what somebody say, turn of the FPV in the aplication and now is working like a charm!

I'm not sure if is going to work for all, but you can give a chat and try this.
Goog luck to all.
Anselmo

That is how it's supposed to work. FPV mode is supposed to follow the copter so you see what it's seeing and doing. You turn it off for it to be a video quality gimbal.

boludo · May 24, 2014

B4orce,
I don't have a solution but thought you might want to know that I have a very similar situation. I won't repeat everything you've already said because mine is very similar.
About 10 flights. All smooth as can be landings, always used gimbal clamp when transporting. Noticed yesterday that the gimbal would lean heavy to left and the gimbal was twitchy. Would just do a weird twitch here and there. I flew it for 5 minutes right in front of me watching all movements. Yes disappointing. Hopefully we figure this out.

B4orce · May 24, 2014

boludo said:
B4orce,
I don't have a solution but thought you might want to know that I have a very similar situation. I won't repeat everything you've already said because mine is very similar.
About 10 flights. All smooth as can be landings, always used gimbal clamp when transporting. Noticed yesterday that the gimbal would lean heavy to left and the gimbal was twitchy. Would just do a weird twitch here and there. I flew it for 5 minutes right in front of me watching all movements. Yes disappointing. Hopefully we figure this out.

Hi Boludo - Very frustrating indeed. I have written again to DJI and will of course keep you all posted with any (if any) reply I get from them. In the meantime I have performed some more calibrations keeping the PV level, and as some have suggested, not so level, but nothing is resolving the issue.
I also took a look a that the gimbal itself with a view to figuring out if anything can be done physically. I don't want to go pulling too hard at anything so as not to break it any further - there is still a slim chance that DJI will write back to me and ask me to send them the gimbal.
Over the weekend I think I'll put a wee video together to show exactly what the issue is and what I have figured out about the whole thing. On the whole though, VERY poor service form DJI. I'm not happy at all.
Looking at the classifieds earlier to see if anyone had a gimbal for sale but no luck. There was one interesting response to one of the adds and it mentioned that there is rumour of a class action suit against DJI for knowingly shipping products with faulty parts. How true that is I'm not sure, but would certainly encourage all to jump on that bandwagon and make DJI do something about all of these issues people are having.

AROW · May 24, 2014

I am having the same problem with mine right out of the box. Camera tilts to the left.

B4orce · May 26, 2014

Hi Guys I have an update for y'all - DJI have finally been in touch. They are asking me for photos or a video of what the issue is. So today I will post a link to the video on You Tube, as well as a link to my post here. I have already informed them that there are others with this issue, but will reiterate it again in my mail later today. The text below is a copy of the mail I got back from DJI this morning.

Hi **********,
thanks for your mail.
Can you please send a video or a photo of the behaviour ??
Thanks

Best Regards,
Technical Support
DJI GmbH

malacca · May 26, 2014

B4orce said:
Hi Guys I have an update for y'all - DJI have finally been in touch. They are asking me for photos or a video of what the issue is. So today I will post a link to the video on You Tube, as well as a link to my post here. I have already informed them that there are others with this issue, but will reiterate it again in my mail later today. The text below is a copy of the mail I got back from DJI this morning.

Hi **********,
thanks for your mail.
Can you please send a video or a photo of the behaviour ??
Thanks

Best Regards,
Technical Support
DJI GmbH

Thanks for being so persistent with DJI - looking forward to hearing what happens and getting this resolved for all of us!

B4orce · May 26, 2014

Ok guys so here it is - I have created a wee vid on the issue I'm having and sent the link to DJI as requested - I'll keep y'all posted. In the meantime, if you want to take a look at the video and let me know what you think. If this is the same problem as you're having, I suggest you contact DJI on "Support2 EU (Support EU)" <[email protected]> (for Europe) and reference the video I've created.

Not sure how to upload a vid here so here is the You Tube link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9GTQ4LAjo0

Good luck to you all and let me know how you get on.

PhilAnderson · May 26, 2014

B4orce said:
Ok guys so here it is - I have created a wee vid on the issue I'm having and sent the link to DJI as requested - I'll keep y'all posted. In the meantime, if you want to take a look at the video and let me know what you think. If this is the same problem as you're having, I suggest you contact DJI on "Support2 EU (Support EU)" <[email protected]> (for Europe) and reference the video I've created.

Not sure how to upload a vid here so here is the You Tube link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9GTQ4LAjo0

Good luck to you all and let me know how you get on.

Well done video! They can't say that isn't useful evidence, it's quite clear. Hopefully they will fix you up in a hurry!

Guinness · May 26, 2014

I have the exact same problem. No literally my camera/gimbal is in the exact same location/orientation as you and exhibits the SAME EXACT BEHAVIOR. I am returning it to Amazon for an exchange. These days, I only ever buy things from Amazon because of their stellar return policy. So I'd just like to give a kudos to them for taking all of the stress of the $1,400 30th birthday present I bought myself.

If anyone else reads this and hasn't purchased their drone yet, please take this advice. You don't necessarily have to purchase from Amazon, but you're going to want to buy from a vendor that will gladly exchange in the event of issues like this.

drmgcm69 · May 26, 2014

Yep have had the exact same problem from the day i got mine, it always has an offset to about 3 - 4 degrees off level.

This was the original post that was started 20th Apr 2014

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=12971

I personally have been onto all the DJI centers via email, only the EU one replied to say that they have no fix for the issue.

D

YeeaaBoii · May 26, 2014

Has anyone thought about putting some extremely thin washers as spacers on one side of the gimbal mount? They'd go underneath the rubber balls that the gimbal and camera hang from. It'd be just enough to counter the 3 to 4 degrees of tilt most are experiencing.

drmgcm69 · May 27, 2014

YeeaaBoii said:
Has anyone thought about putting some extremely thin washers as spacers on one side of the gimbal mount? They'd go underneath the rubber balls that the gimbal and camera hang from. It'd be just enough to counter the 3 to 4 degrees of tilt most are experiencing.

Okay go on explain your logic here, the gimbal mount is level, so how does washers on one side help?

D

leonevesphoto · May 27, 2014

I'm having a similar problem.
Shortly after beginning to fly my Phantom 2 Vision+ I had a low level crash and lost a propeller but the gimbal and camera were completely untouched and show no scuffs or abrasions. I did notice the main gimbal arm was off axis slightly and I began to wonder if it was the result of the crash or if I'd received it that way. The footage shows that the camera is sitting crooked when you can see the horizon in the shot and rotating the Phantom fast in one direction pans the camera show one of the legs (the opposite direction does not show the other leg)

Everything looks okay if there's no horizon in the shot and I was able to force the main arm into alignment (the angle was slight) but the camera never quite sits on axis and I can't get a straight horizon. The gimbal would be capable of holding the horizon if somehow tuned or calibrated. I find no friction on any of the servos and the wires all seem intact and in place.

Does anyone have any ideas what this could be??

IrishSights · May 27, 2014

This might not help but I'll throw my experience out here anyway. I had the same problem only on a P2 Zenmuse. Even after IMU recalibration. I eventually discovered that the level surface the P2 was sitting on when IMU was done was actually not level at all. I used a small spirit level across the legs in both directions and got it sitting exactly level. Then did a IMU recalibration. Following this I had a level horizon.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 8

B4orce · May 27, 2014

Hi Guys - let me first respond before I give you the latest update.....

@ IrishSights - I too have used a spirit level to ensure the surface the PV was on for the advanced calibration was indeed completely level. As you can see..... no change for me.

@ YeeaaBoii - Placing thin washers under one side of the gimbal is not an option for at least two reasons. 1 - The angle my camera is sitting at is more than 3-4 degrees, and 2 - Tilting the gimbal with washers won't resolve the issue of the gimbal not reaching it's limit on one side, and wanting to go past it's limit on the other side.

@ drmgcm69 - Giving up with DJI is not going to happen. I hope you didn't just accept their explanation that they don't have a fix for this....? I was a little unfortunate in that I bought mine online from the DJI site, and so I have no dealer as such to go back to. I don't care if DJI say they don't have a fix for this issue. There is a fix....... send me out a new gimbal...!!! I'm not going to accept anything less. I work too hard for my money and expect to get what I pay for when I do spend it.

Now, let me update you on the reply from DJI..... I got a reply from them this morning and the text is below.

Hi again,
thanks for the video.
Please place the Phantom on an even and levelled surface and perform an advanced IMU calibration.
If this won´t work, there´s something wrong with the Gimbal and it needs a calibration.
Otherwise please return it to your dealer to get it repaired here in our service.
Thanks

Can anyone guess my reply.....? lol...... Needless to say DJI have been informed AGAIN of my efforts to resolve this issue and the fact that I bought directly from them. So as the saga continues I'll keep y'all updated.

I see my video has a few hits now - thanks for taking a look at it, and please do reference it when you contact DJI. They need to know that so many of us are having this issue.