Lightening the Cheap Chinese Gimbal

[jamwatn]

Hi
Just wondering if there is an easy way of making the Cheap Chinese gimbal lighter?
I know you can get a light weight version but there must be a cheaper way?
Seems like the weight is in the motor casings and the two metal bits.
As it is I'm not too happy about the gimbal because of how much modification it will need to carry the fc40 camera nicely without using ties etc! There is the alternative of going to a Walkera gimbal but I'm not too keen on making the phantom taller!
Any ideas?
Would be great if there was a plastic bits kit available to replace all the gimbal bits!

 

[IflyinWY]

I'm going to replace my 200 gram cheap Chinese gimbal with the Walkera G-2D which weighs about 120 grams.
http://www.amazon.com/Walkera-Brush...8&qid=1428113394&sr=8-2&keywords=walkera+g-2d

I don't mind the taller landing gear. I needed it for the cheap Chinese gimbal anyway.

 

[lake_flyer]

The white plastic G-2D is as light as you can possibly get. 60$ on Banggood.
Spares are very cheap and easy to get. Took them only 3 days to ship a set of rubber dampers and a spare controller board, out of China.

But lightweight comes with a payoff. It is always a compromise.
It is so light, it has almost no inertia. Damping is all about inertia and gradually bringing a motion to a stop. The heavier metal gimbals have more inertia and flex the damping balls with more efficiency. The standard white rubbers supplied with the gimbal are soft enough for the weight but don't do their job very well. They act more like rubber bands. I got the black ones from the metal G-2D and added a coin to add some weight (inertia).
Whole lot a less shaking going on now.

Be sure to get very flexible cables if you want to FPV from your Gopro. The plastic G-2D has lighter and less powerful motors and they don't like the drag of a stiff cable much.

 

[IflyinWY]

That makes tons of sense. Pun totally intended.

So, I get to save 79 grams by going with the lighter weight gimbal and increase my flight time but my video will suffer as a result.

You mention a coin. How many grams is this doubloon? Oh, and I would like to have some of the better rubbers, no pun intended, any ideas which ones are best?

Thanks

 

[jarance]

Possible but not much.

 

[jarance]

No requirement to increase the standard leg after installation. The camera just cleared the ground.

 

[IflyinWY]

That looks like a pretty cool setup jarance. Our FC40s are very different though.

My FC40 with the gimbal attached has about 1/4 inch, around 6 mm, clearance. That's just not enough for where I fly.

 

[lake_flyer]

That makes tons of sense. Pun totally intended.

So, I get to save 79 grams by going with the lighter weight gimbal and increase my flight time but my video will suffer as a result.

You mention a coin. How many grams is this doubloon? Oh, and I would like to have some of the better rubbers, no pun intended, any ideas which ones are best?

Thanks

There's no silver bullet. It all depends on the temperature where you fly if you would need a lighter or heavier coin.

But in the mean time I found out that a small tie wrap through each of the 4 balls works even better. If you compress the damping balls a bit, the shaking and vibration become much less. You have to try out how tight you want to pull the wraps. It depends on the outside temperature if it needs less or more compression.

I'm thinking about making something that goes through the balls and is adjustable by turning a nut. I have the nylon bolts that fit (break bolts for RC glider wings), but couldn't find the right size nuts, so couldn't try it. But it should work well.
Simply turn them clockwise in warm weather and anti clockwise for colder temps.
I use the black G-2D balls by the way. The white ones that come with the white G-2D are way too soft in warmer weather. The black ones are more universal.

 

[lake_flyer]

Would be great if there was a plastic bits kit available to replace all the gimbal bits!

The parts of both the plastic lightweight and the standard metal Walkera G-2D are completely interchangeable. The motors of the white one are different, but that's all. I was actually thinking about replacing the main gimbal arm by a metal one, hoping to reduce vibration. But simple tie wraps work that good that I'm leaving it as it is.