Help -- Bricked H4-3D?

[Gabriel Alcantara]

Hi,

I've been flying my Phantom 2 for about two months and I've already broken and had to replace a gimbal once and don't want to have to do it a second time... Today after flying back home, I went to fly my Phantom and forgot to calibrate the GPS, when I took off my Phantom started flying backwards (it was windy and had no GPS signal) and I panicked and tried to land it.

Long story short it hit a chair and two of the propellers won't come off now (I'm guessing because it spun against the ground and tightened itself) and my H4-3D won't work. It just shut off when it crashed. Whenever I power the Phantom on, the gimbal stays the same and stays limp, as if it were always off. The camera won't even get the red charging light.

I'm hoping someone can help me either reset the gimbal or find some way to fix this and remove the propellers that are really tight now. I couldn't even check inside to see if the gray cable from the gimbal was disconnected.

Any help would be appreciated, sorry for the long post.

Thanks in advance!

 

[DroneDestination]

You could try getting/making some version of the P3's prop removal tool, or using your P2's original wrench:

 

[Gabriel Alcantara]

You could try getting/making some version of the P3's prop removal tool, or using your P2's original wrench:

Thanks, I was unaware of that. Gimbal is still not working though...

 

[jason]

Thanks, I was unaware of that. Gimbal is still not working though...

A word of wisdom quite flying in the backyard as there are plenty of open fields without lawn furniture around.

Lets start by checking under the tilt motor if that is damaged there'll be power and will need to be sent in for repair. If indeed that ribbon cable under the tilt motor is damaged I advise against trying to repair it yourself. Next check the 8 pin gray cable connected to the rear of the gimbal that it is fully seated and not damaged again if it is no power. I assume you do not have FPV (first person view) because it wasn't mentioned.

GPS cannot be calibrated but the compass can be. Things that need to be calibrated after a crash would be the advanced IMU.and full calibration when parts or modifications inside the shell have been made. It isn't necessary to calibrate the compass every time you take it out to fly even if you charge locations several times in the same day. If doing so give you peace of mind so be it.

 

[Gabriel Alcantara]

A word of wisdom quite flying in the backyard as there are plenty of open fields without lawn furniture around.

Lets start by checking under the tilt motor if that is damaged there'll be power and will need to be sent in for repair. If indeed that ribbon cable under the tilt motor is damaged I advise against trying to repair it yourself. Next check the 8 pin gray cable connected to the rear of the gimbal that it is fully seated and not damaged again if it is no power. I assume you do not have FPV (first person view) because it wasn't mentioned.

GPS cannot be calibrated but the compass can be. Things that need to be calibrated after a crash would be the advanced IMU.and full calibration when parts or modifications inside the shell have been made. It isn't necessary to calibrate the compass every time you take it out to fly even if you charge locations several times in the same day. If doing so give you peace of mind so be it.

I do have FPV, I did indeed check the gray cable and it's looking normal, doesn't seem to have any damage (same goes for anti-interference board) and I opened the Phantom up to check the other end of the cable and everything seemed fine over there.

As for the ribbon cables on the motors, I just looked at them again and I don't see anything wrong with them. There's no visual damage done to the motors and when moving them around with my fingers, nothing feels broken, the motors move just fine.

When I looked back at the video in slow-mo I can see that the Phantom tilted forwards a lot on impact and the camera was able to see a large part of the arms and part of the white rubber dampers (if that makes sense). After that the body turns a bit (just horizontally to the left nothing too bad) and from there is where the gimbal shuts off and you see the camera go limp and the tilt motor lightly bounces up. I don't know if any of this makes sense so I'll attach a video below, maybe it'll help.

 

[jason]

I do have FPV, I did indeed check the gray cable and it's looking normal, doesn't seem to have any damage (same goes for anti-interference board) and I opened the Phantom up to check the other end of the cable and everything seemed fine over there.

As for the ribbon cables on the motors, I just looked at them again and I don't see anything wrong with them. There's no visual damage done to the motors and when moving them around with my fingers, nothing feels broken, the motors move just fine.

When I looked back at the video in slow-mo I can see that the Phantom tilted forwards a lot on impact and the camera was able to see a large part of the arms and part of the white rubber dampers (if that makes sense). After that the body turns a bit (just horizontally to the left nothing too bad) and from there is where the gimbal shuts off and you see the camera go limp and the tilt motor lightly bounces up. I don't know if any of this makes sense so I'll attach a video below, maybe it'll help.

Put a battery in the P2 and turn on to see if the gimbal will go through it's calibration. Also look at the side of the camera mounting plate by the tilt motor to see if the red LED where the ribbon go into that plate is on. If there isn't any motion whatsoever or no red LED then you have break in either the gray 8 pin cable or the ribbon cable that is plugged into the bottom of the tilt motor. If necessary use a magnifying glass. I wouldn't call it bricked but the lack of 12 volts necessary to run it. Make sure that gray cable is fully seated in the gimbal.

 

[Gabriel Alcantara]

Put a battery in the P2 and turn on to see if the gimbal will go through it's calibration. Also look at the side of the camera mounting plate by the tilt motor to see if the red LED where the ribbon go into that plate is on. If there isn't any motion whatsoever or no red LED then you have break in either the gray 8 pin cable or the ribbon cable that is plugged into the bottom of the tilt motor. If necessary use a magnifying glass. I wouldn't call it bricked but the lack of 12 volts necessary to run it. Make sure that gray cable is fully seated in the gimbal.

The gimbal does not do its normal calibration, just sits still and limp.
I think I looked in the right place, I didn't see any lights turn on.

The gray cable was what I had in mind. I don't see anything wrong with it, it doesn't look like it was ever hit, but it might be internal. I'll try to get some replacements for the gray cables and run some tests.

 

[jason]

The gimbal does not do its normal calibration, just sits still and limp.
I think I looked in the right place, I didn't see any lights turn on.

The gray cable was what I had in mind. I don't see anything wrong with it, it doesn't look like it was ever hit, but it might be internal. I'll try to get some replacements for the gray cables and run some tests.

Here's the cable pack you'll need it contains the 8 pin cable for the gimble. Did you make sure it wasa fully seated in the gimbal?
DJI Cable Pack for Phantom 2 Quadcopter (Part 3) CP.PT.000095

 

[Gabriel Alcantara]

I

Here's the cable pack you'll need it contains the 8 pin cable for the gimble. Did you make sure it wasa fully seated in the gimbal?
DJI Cable Pack for Phantom 2 Quadcopter (Part 3) CP.PT.000095

Yes, yesterday I checked it but I'll check again tomorrow morning. I'm 99% they were properly in the gimbal.

 

[Gabriel Alcantara]

Here's the cable pack you'll need it contains the 8 pin cable for the gimble. Did you make sure it wasa fully seated in the gimbal?
DJI Cable Pack for Phantom 2 Quadcopter (Part 3) CP.PT.000095

I'm not in the US so I'm just going to the local drone store here and buy a new set of 8 pin cables. Thanks again for your help!

 

[jason]

I'm not in the US so I'm just going to the local drone store here and buy a new set of 8 pin cables. Thanks again for your help!

It would be helpful if your location were posted in your personal details.

 

[Gabriel Alcantara]

I think I'm going to end up sending it for repair or replacement or send it back to the store where I bought it... I don't think it was the cables.

 

[Gabriel Alcantara]

I was able to send my gimbal back to amazon and was refunded, thanks to those who helped.