Gimble not moving or responding

[danny_2020]

I don't think that anyone has looked at this thread for a while, but I think that the reason that the gimbal will just hang limp, and not work is because of old age. I've had this drone for three years and like Chrislaf said, it just appears out of the blue, and if you gently wiggle it, it comes back to life, but not for long. These are all of the problems that I had with my drone before I got it repaired. But I truly just believe that it's old age, unfortunately.

Happy flies! ?

 

[Chrislaf]

I don't think that anyone has looked at this thread for a while, but I think that the reason that the gimbal will just hang limp, and not work is because of old age. I've had this drone for three years and like Chrislaf said, it just appears out of the blue, and if you gently wiggle it, it comes back to life, but not for long. These are all of the problems that I had with my drone before I got it repaired. But I truly just believe that it's old age, unfortunately.

Happy flies! ?

For me, it was likely component failure. I tried replacing the gimbal ribbon cable 3 times - one was an original DJI and I still had the problem. I decided to purchase a used gimbal from China instead of throwing money at various gimbal parts hoping to find the failed part. I’m still waiting for the used gimbal. Hopefully it will work fine and my camera will be working again ??

Chris

 

[KachemakDiver]

For me, it was likely component failure. I tried replacing the gimbal ribbon cable 3 times - one was an original DJI and I still had the problem. I decided to purchase a used gimbal from China instead of throwing money at various gimbal parts hoping to find the failed part. I’m still waiting for the used gimbal. Hopefully it will work fine and my camera will be working again ??

Chris

Hoping you get it the replacement soon, I’m anxiously waiting to see how it works?

 

[Chrislaf]

Hoping you get it the replacement soon, I’m anxiously waiting to see how it works?

Yah, me too. I keep checking the tracking - it’s been in the CA hub since Dec 5th.

 

[KachemakDiver]

Yah, me too. I keep checking the tracking - it’s been in the CA hub since Dec 5th.

That figures . I’ve got a couple packages in the postal system bouncing around blindly also. No updates on where exactly they are at...

 

[danny_2020]

Well, hopefully you get it repaired soon, either from DJI, or yourself.
If you do happen to fix it yourself, then I would be interested in knowing what you did, as DJI might have repaired my drone differently.

Anyway, happy flying!!! ?

 

[Chrislaf]

Well, hopefully you get it repaired soon, either from DJI, or yourself.
If you do happen to fix it yourself, then I would be interested in knowing what you did, as DJI might have repaired my drone differently.

Anyway, happy flying!!! ?

I have a complete camera/gimbal assembly on its way from China. This will replace my camera and gimbal. I am hoping once I connect it and calibrate it will work just like my original camera and gimbal.

Chris

 

[JeffHerr]

I have a complete camera/gimbal assembly on its way from China. This will replace my camera and gimbal. I am hoping once I connect it and calibrate it will work just like my original camera and gimbal.

Chris

Chris, I've only started tinkering with P3S units trying to repair gimbals with issues. Each I buy on ebay seems to have something different wrong. I'm in the process of trying to discard bad parts and reassemble fully working gimbals. So far, no great success, but also, little time...
If you'd be willing to sell me your "dead" gimbal (board, arms, motors and camera), send me a PM or email me at [email protected] and we'll work something out.

 

[Chrislaf]

Chris, I've only started tinkering with P3S units trying to repair gimbals with issues. Each I buy on ebay seems to have something different wrong. I'm in the process of trying to discard bad parts and reassemble fully working gimbals. So far, no great success, but also, little time...
If you'd be willing to sell me your "dead" gimbal (board, arms, motors and camera), send me a PM or email me at [email protected] and we'll work something out.

Hi Jeff,
I’m going to wait until I get the one I ordered on EBay and hopefully it will work. I plan on keeping my original camera/gimbal assembly for parts for the time being in case I need to scavenge it for parts in the future. When the time comes when I decide to part with my P3S either because I crashed it or something else has failed and it will be too cost prohibitive to fix, I will consider your offer.

Chris

 

[danny_2020]

I have a complete camera/gimbal assembly on its way from China. This will replace my camera and gimbal. I am hoping once I connect it and calibrate it will work just like my original camera and gimbal.

Chris

Nice!
Hopefully it works out for you!
Let us know if it works for your drone

 

[Chrislaf]

Got my camera/gimbal assembly from China today and I have installed it, re-linked it to my controller and calibrated it. It took 23 days and arrived sooner than I had expected with no extra charges. Cosmetically it was not in as good condition as my gimbal was (I knew this when I bought it) but it seems to be working fine. I will try to get out tomorrow to test it out but so far I am pleased to have my camera/gimbal working again on my P3S as it is my go to drone especially for flying in the cold wintery weather that is now upon us.

Take care and Happy Holidays!

Chris

 

[danny_2020]

Congratulations on the success! I too am enjoying having my camera back, do you know what started the problem?? I am still unsure what exactly happened with my drone...

Anyway, happy new year, and happy flying!

 

[Chrislaf]

Congratulations on the success! I too am enjoying having my camera back, do you know what started the problem?? I am still unsure what exactly happened with my drone...

Anyway, happy new year, and happy flying!

Thanks,
As far as what started the problem or was actually the problem, I'm not sure. Initially, I thought it was the flex cable but after replacing it 3 times without any luck including using a brand new OEM one from @KachemakDiver, I think the problem was either on the camera PCB or the main gimbal PCB.

I am happy the one I got off eBay from China works - so far! I was a bit skeptical and had a bit of problems at first getting it working as well as my original one. I had to re-link my controller, re-calibrate the gimbal, and re-update firmware (I was previously up-to-date), and then I had some problem with the horizon being way off but was able to adjust the yaw in DJI GO - something I never had to do with my original camera/gimbal. I think I still have some minor adjustments to make but all seems good so far.

I also had other problems too - the camera was disconnecting after a few minutes in the air, I was then not able to change camera modes (photo/video), and the video froze. I couldn't get anything going again until I landed and shut everything down and restarted. This continued happening and I was getting ready to send it back until I noticed that the SD card was trying to re-initialize itself in flight even though I had not initiated it. I landed and changed the SD card and bingo - all the problems went away, the camera was now working perfectly. Hard to believe that a wonky SD card can cause all these problems.

Anyway, I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will continue to work. My P3S is a workhorse especially in the winter. On Christmas and today, we got dumped with snow so I was out today with my P3S in snow squalls flying some 360 panos and it performed like a champ.

Here's one from today with the replacement camera/gimbal. No editing, straight from the camera other than the stitching in PTGui (used Auto settings in Dronelink).

View attachment TinyPlanet Panorama 6.jpg

Happy Holidays and all the best in 2021!

Chris