Jittery Pitch Gimbal Motor

Existentialist · Sep 17, 2021

Hi Everyone. Owned and flown many models of the Phantom up through the 4. Sold them all over time. Started building customs using OpenHD and Ardupilot. I kind of missed having a simple pack-along camera quad though that would output HDMI to my FlySight headset so I purchased another used P3A and the HDMI module, yet to be installed.

Updated everything and it flies great. First thing I noticed though is the pitch motor on the gimbal is jittery. Checked and did all the "usual" things but am leaning toward the motor or a position sensor being iffy. Thinking of replacing the pitch motor to see if that's the issue.

The existing motor makes a slightly louder raspy sound when it jitters. Everything is clean, damage-free and tight that I can see. Just looking for opinions. Thanks.

jiminyfixit · Sep 18, 2021

Existentialist said:
Hi Everyone. Owned and flown many models of the Phantom up through the 4. Sold them all over time. Started building customs using OpenHD and Ardupilot. I kind of missed having a simple pack-along camera quad though that would output HDMI to my FlySight headset so I purchased another used P3A and the HDMI module, yet to be installed.

Updated everything and it flies great. First thing I noticed though is the pitch motor on the gimbal is jittery. Checked and did all the "usual" things but am leaning toward the motor or a position sensor being iffy. Thinking of replacing the pitch motor to see if that's the issue.

The existing motor makes a slightly louder raspy sound when it jitters. Everything is clean, damage-free and tight that I can see. Just looking for opinions. Thanks.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

I would bet the copper wires on the motor lugs have excessive coating melt. This is one of the most common issues with gimbal motors. I have had some with bubbles in the coating from overheating.

Existentialist · Sep 18, 2021

The thing is though the motor works fine. It's just that it twitches slightly regardless of the position it's in. I talked to a tech yesterday who's worked on Phantoms a lot and his first thought is ribbon cable. He said most of the gimbal issues he's seen are contributed to an intermittent cable. He suggests the controller/ESC board second and the motor third. He said he's found cracked solder joints occasionally on the board as well. The board and gimbal on this P3A are in pristine condition visually.

Could be the motor, or not. Guess I'll just start replacing parts until it's fixed. Ordered a good 3-layer cable last night so I'll start there, new board next and motor third. Hate to keep spending money on the thing but overall it's still a worthwhile investment if I can cure the jitters.