Latest FW 1.11 gimbal stability issues, please help

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So first time posting, new member...had P3P about 4 months now, have been loving it. Kept pestering me for update, so I went from 1.10.9...now I get this herky jerky camera movement and pulsing vibration every two tt three seconds...gimbal will not stabilize correctly for any length of time. Can calibrate IMU and it sometimes seems to fix it, but 30 seconds to 3 minutes or so in, the problem starts up again.

Is it possible that something could have worked it's way loose that I'm not detecting and is just a coincidence that it started happening after FW update? i'm not a big believer in coincidences. Here is a link to a snippet of video I took for a shoot yesterday, the leg out to the beach seems pretty decent, but the way back in is horrible. Any suggestions? Thanks! Oh, and the horizon went screwy on me also, never had that issue before. https://tinyurl.com/ycshn6va
 
Sorry to say this and please don't shout, but are you sure you're calibrating the IMU, as this isn't something you go do again and again? It's a really important setup which, once undertaken, should not be required for some time, if indeed, at all. I last did my last (of two) calibration more than a year ago?
I've looked at your vid and I don't think that has anything to do with the gimbal as, with the exception of the horizon tilt that a Cali should sort, it seems to be fine. It looks more like a video issue, so I'd recheck your video settings?
 
So first time posting, new member...had P3P about 4 months now, have been loving it. Kept pestering me for update, so I went from 1.10.9...now I get this herky jerky camera movement and pulsing vibration every two tt three seconds...gimbal will not stabilize correctly for any length of time. Can calibrate IMU and it sometimes seems to fix it, but 30 seconds to 3 minutes or so in, the problem starts up again.

Is it possible that something could have worked it's way loose that I'm not detecting and is just a coincidence that it started happening after FW update? i'm not a big believer in coincidences. Here is a link to a snippet of video I took for a shoot yesterday, the leg out to the beach seems pretty decent, but the way back in is horrible. Any suggestions? Thanks! Oh, and the horizon went screwy on me also, never had that issue before. https://tinyurl.com/ycshn6va
If you can, will you please post two pictures of your complete camera/gimbal? One picture of the front and one of the back including where it mounts to the AC.
 
IMG_20170727_123756.jpg IMG_20170727_123813.jpg
 
Very clear photos Thanks.

So it looks like it has had a crash or at least has had the shell opened since it is not fully in place. I can see a clip showing and the stickers don't look factory installed. This may explain why you can see only one prop in your video when you are returning from the beach.

Also, what is going on with the front left (facing the drone) vibration dampener? It looks crooked as if it is not correctly in place.

Lastly, I don't know enough about those Polar Pro ND filter to know if they need a counter weight. Does anyone know for sure? In your video it looks like you were returning quickly so perhaps the gimbal could not overcome the weight of the filter in the wind I see in the trees below. Have you seen any gimbal overload errors?

EDIT: I almost forgot. Did you remove the small piece of shipping foam from the back of the gimbal between the gimbal and the VPS module? New owners have frequently left it in and it causes jerky video. One guy here on the forum left it in for a FULL YEAR and thought the jerky video was normal. Poor guy.
 
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It looks like that front damper might be torn also...
I had to replace one on my P3S after I backed into a tree...
I have to adjust the gimbal roll pretty often on my P3P to keep the horizon level (depending on wind speed and direction IE cross wind)...
I leave the grid pattern on my screen just for that purpose (and to make it more obvious to me when the horizon isn't quite level)...
Lastly... I stopped doing Firmware updates just for this reason (I don't believe in changing/fixing something if it ain't broken) :) ;) ESPECIALLY on DJI products, after seeing/reading about so many issues in the 7 months I've been flying...
I LOST my P3S in water after I did a firmware update (my fault for going out over water before confirming all was 100% good over land)...
 
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Sorry to say this and please don't shout, but are you sure you're calibrating the IMU, as this isn't something you go do again and again? It's a really important setup which, once undertaken, should not be required for some time, if indeed, at all. I last did my last (of two) calibration more than a year ago?
I've looked at your vid and I don't think that has anything to do with the gimbal as, with the exception of the horizon tilt that a Cali should sort, it seems to be fine. It looks more like a video issue, so I'd recheck your video settings?
IMU Cal's a couple of times since this issue, seemed to sort it out but I was wrong, or at least figured out I was wrong after a couple of attempts...def know what the IMU Cal is
My settings are all the same as they have been. I haven't been doing this long, but I have about 400 hours since I bought the bird in March, practicing and doing occasional real estate shoots for my wife and others. And these issues just cropped up after I took the update.
 
Very clear photos Thanks.

So it looks like it has had a crash or at least has had the shell opened since it is not fully in place. I can see a clip showing and the stickers don't look factory installed. This may explain why you can see only one prop in your video when you are returning from the beach.

Also, what is going on with the front left (facing the drone) vibration dampener? It looks crooked as if it is not correctly in place.

Lastly, I don't know enough about those Polar Pro ND filter to know if they need a counter weight. Does anyone know for sure? In your video it looks like you were returning quickly so perhaps the gimbal could not overcome the weight of the filter in the wind I see in the trees below. Have you seen any gimbal overload errors?

EDIT: I almost forgot. Did you remove the small piece of shipping foam from the back of the gimbal between the gimbal and the VPS module? New owners have frequently left it in and it causes jerky video. One guy here on the forum left it in for a FULL YEAR and thought the jerky video was normal. Poor guy.
Yep, it crashed beginning of June I think, misjudged a telephone line attached to house during a real estate shoot Fell about 15 feet on asphalt, wrecked some props, scratched it up, popped the case seam open like you see, but I snapped it back in place, I thought, hadn't noticed it again until you mentioned it. I'm concerned about the dampener too, but out, lost spares that came with AC ( in the middle of a move)...ordered some more yesterday. That's only thing that makes me think it may be a mechanical issue, because I just took video last week. Haven't uploaded yet, so can't link, but I took this since I crashed the bird.
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Other things I didn't mention though is video cutting out, app closing constantly on my Pixel XL, and unable to use the auto flight modes 75% of the time, especially the POI mode keeps failing, which I use a lot. That clip really didn't show the herky jerky camera very well though, that bothers me more than anything. All since I took the update. And yep, I removed the packing, my wife saw it when she was checking it out, I actually did fly with it in place at first.

So I don't know fellas, thanks for the replies... I'm gonna try to pull the gimbal off, make sure the cables are secure, setscrews are tight and replace those dampeners...maybe just a coincidence/timing thing. I'll let you know when I find out what it is though.

Oh, as for the single prop showing, I have had the left pointing camera (5ish degrees) since even before the crash, I just learned to deal with it after I read on line about it, and no suggested fixes corrected the issue.
 
As Oso said, that heavy PolarPro filter needs to be counter-weighted, as it's clearly causing the gimbal system to fight that weight all the time; that could definitely cause operational issues. Personally, I'd get rid of it, as I'm sure the gimbal wasn't operationally designed to have any additional weight added to it, and replace it with a gel filter that weighs, well, practically nothing.
 
I'm a novice at the details of these birds, but the second video I posted was after I crashed and repaired my AC, AND with the polar pro filter. I have never had a gimbal error with any configuration...heck I don't get ginbal errors now, and there is obviously something going on.
 
IMG_20170728_151637.jpg Apparently, sometimes I should believe in coincidence. After much frustration and closer inspection it occurred to me to look closer at the gimbal arm...Apparently over time, probably since the crash, my gimbal arm worked it's way up the shaft so that it was rubbing bottom of the plate(see the picture). Friction and auto-stabilization= bad. Loosened and adjusted the control arm so no rubbing. Went out to take some video and now cooking with gas, LOL. Link to test video:
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Thanks for all the replies. I did change out that front damper as well, it was torn, good catch.

I am still experiencing app closes, and POI inconsistent operation (works, doesn't work, 5-8 second delayed start) that wasn't an issue prior to FW update.
 

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