I am very new to quadcopters. In fact, I haven't flown one yet. However, I am learning a lot about repairs.
My company got a Vision 2+ for "fun." When all of the legality of drone commercialization is figured out, we have some plans for it, but for now it's just a hobby that people happen to engage in at the office. The problem is, no one is currently flying it because my boss crashed it the first time he tried to take it out. Apparently directions are not that important (this is why I have yet to fly it). Now, I get to spearhead trying to fix it before we have to dump a lot of money into it after getting in the air with a functional gimbal for all of 45 seconds. Most of my trouble is with the gimbal. When it crashed, it ripped the black camera ribbon cable and damaged one of the gimbal motors (the one that rotates the camera itself), but did not damage the gimbal arms. From lots of reading here and elsewhere, these parts are apparently not sold individually through DJI.
I have managed to find the ribbon cable and successfully replace it, but the motor is a whole other story. The motor is intact, but the part of the shaft holding the magnets is slightly bent (picture below). It still works, but I think the gimbal is getting very confused because of the misalignment. Currently, it freaks out when turned on and moves uncontrollably. Since the motor is not available anywhere, I am looking for someone who has a broken gimbal or good motor that they would be willing to part with if I cannot fix this one myself. I don't know how much we would be willing to pay (we can work that out), but I'm pretty sure that cash is better than a broken gimbal any day.
Alternatively, for anyone interested, I have thought of a couple of methods of repair.
I am thinking of trying to use a small socket, a couple of washers, and probably some kind of soft cushion along with a vice to realign the shaft. I would like to disassemble the motor for repair, but I'm not entirely sure that that is possible (I don't see any clips to slip the shaft out). My work around is to put a washer and a small socket over the drive shaft and against the bracket that attaches to the gimbal (the part with the windings), and then put a washer against the shiny round metal piece with the stationary magnet. I will also try to use some sort of cushioning material to keep the motor parts from getting scratched and prevent metal on metal contact as much as possible. This will leave me with a small assembly that can be put into a vice without any part of the motor coming into direct contact with the jaws and preventing pressure points that would create indentations in the metal. When the jaws are closed and compressed, the magnet housing should be forced into realigning with the bracket, straightening the shaft. This, however, would require a vice with jaws in perfect parallel with each other.
I have also thought of systematically measuring the alignment of the shaft using calipers until I find the most eccentric points on the piece with the stationary magnet. From there, I can attempt to clamp one side of the motor until it is back into alignment.
Now, both of these may do more harm than good, but at this point it doesn't matter since the gimbal won't work anyway. We'll see what happens.
My company got a Vision 2+ for "fun." When all of the legality of drone commercialization is figured out, we have some plans for it, but for now it's just a hobby that people happen to engage in at the office. The problem is, no one is currently flying it because my boss crashed it the first time he tried to take it out. Apparently directions are not that important (this is why I have yet to fly it). Now, I get to spearhead trying to fix it before we have to dump a lot of money into it after getting in the air with a functional gimbal for all of 45 seconds. Most of my trouble is with the gimbal. When it crashed, it ripped the black camera ribbon cable and damaged one of the gimbal motors (the one that rotates the camera itself), but did not damage the gimbal arms. From lots of reading here and elsewhere, these parts are apparently not sold individually through DJI.
I have managed to find the ribbon cable and successfully replace it, but the motor is a whole other story. The motor is intact, but the part of the shaft holding the magnets is slightly bent (picture below). It still works, but I think the gimbal is getting very confused because of the misalignment. Currently, it freaks out when turned on and moves uncontrollably. Since the motor is not available anywhere, I am looking for someone who has a broken gimbal or good motor that they would be willing to part with if I cannot fix this one myself. I don't know how much we would be willing to pay (we can work that out), but I'm pretty sure that cash is better than a broken gimbal any day.
Alternatively, for anyone interested, I have thought of a couple of methods of repair.
I am thinking of trying to use a small socket, a couple of washers, and probably some kind of soft cushion along with a vice to realign the shaft. I would like to disassemble the motor for repair, but I'm not entirely sure that that is possible (I don't see any clips to slip the shaft out). My work around is to put a washer and a small socket over the drive shaft and against the bracket that attaches to the gimbal (the part with the windings), and then put a washer against the shiny round metal piece with the stationary magnet. I will also try to use some sort of cushioning material to keep the motor parts from getting scratched and prevent metal on metal contact as much as possible. This will leave me with a small assembly that can be put into a vice without any part of the motor coming into direct contact with the jaws and preventing pressure points that would create indentations in the metal. When the jaws are closed and compressed, the magnet housing should be forced into realigning with the bracket, straightening the shaft. This, however, would require a vice with jaws in perfect parallel with each other.
I have also thought of systematically measuring the alignment of the shaft using calipers until I find the most eccentric points on the piece with the stationary magnet. From there, I can attempt to clamp one side of the motor until it is back into alignment.
Now, both of these may do more harm than good, but at this point it doesn't matter since the gimbal won't work anyway. We'll see what happens.
