Need gimbal parts for my new P3 :(

kaybee1 · May 3, 2015

Disaster has already struck. I was filming a birds next in a tree and someone behind me startled me and into the tree went my P3. Broke a blade and the camera gimbal. The 4K camera looks ok but I need some gimbal parts. Whats my course of action here? I see complete camera gimbal setups for $700... that's crazy. I see aftermarket 3 axis gimbals for around $100 but they're not going to take my DJI camera.

Any suggestions? I cannot find individual parts for this gimbal. I need the arm that hangs down and the motors. No control unit at the top and no camera at the bottom. Surely these pieces have to be available.

I've attached some pictures for everyone to gasp at.

Bummin' with a broken P3

~Scott

bbfpv · May 3, 2015

You're not going to be able to find parts yet unless you find someone else who crashed and you can trade parts. Sorry about the crash, but it's going to be a few weeks for spare parts.

dalebb · May 3, 2015

kaybee1 said:
Disaster has already struck. I was filming a birds next in a tree and someone behind me startled me and into the tree went my P3. Broke a blade and the camera gimbal. The 4K camera looks ok but I need some gimbal parts. Whats my course of action here? I see complete camera gimbal setups for $700... that's crazy. I see aftermarket 3 axis gimbals for around $100 but they're not going to take my DJI camera.

Any suggestions? I cannot find individual parts for this gimbal. I need the arm that hangs down and the motors. No control unit at the top and no camera at the bottom. Surely these pieces have to be available.

I've attached some pictures for everyone to gasp at.

Bummin' with a broken P3

~Scott

Welcome to the forum. How high were you? And kick that persons ***.

mohan · May 3, 2015

so sorry to see this.. this is going to be a costly repair... I am currently testing a gimbal guard to prevent this happening

Fplvert · May 3, 2015

Welcome to the forum, and sorry about your crash!

As new as these are, it might be awhile for parts.

You might try Hunch or Burlbark (members on here). They have helped many with this same problem on P2V+.

Good luck.

fastsmiles · May 3, 2015

Sorry to hear about your crash. UAV Bits will have a gimbal guard for the P3 out soon. Sadly it was not out in time to help you.

leekiya · May 3, 2015

Hope you can get it fixed. Out of curiosity are spare parts like this available for the vision, i thought no spare parts were available for that and if it broke in anyway it was a complete new camera and gimbal job. Hope this is not the case tho.

edonovanl · May 3, 2015

I would consider buying another P3P and go from there - about ~$300 + more expensive than replacement parts but gets you in the air quickly....

mohan · May 3, 2015

leekiya said:
Hope you can get it fixed. Out of curiosity are spare parts like this available for the vision, i thought no spare parts were available for that and if it broke in anyway it was a complete new camera and gimbal job. Hope this is not the case tho.

It is as DJI are not keen on selling the ribbon cable. There is plenty of broken pv2+ cameras on the bay so you should be able to cobble together the parts... the camera gimbal is probably the single most expensive part on the P3...

mohan · May 3, 2015

to the op ... can you buy an advanced and swap the fixtures?

leekiya · May 3, 2015

Sadly i thought that was the case.

robsquad · May 3, 2015

surely its the same as v+ ?
http://atkdrones.com/products/phantom-2-vision-gimbal-yaw-arm

eseckinger · May 3, 2015

https://www.facebook.com/ha.ni.39?fref=ts

Hani can probably fix u up.

mightybhwk · May 3, 2015

I know this isnt the same but do you know anyone with a 3d printer?
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:762613

Just trying to think of options

kaybee1 · May 7, 2015

Thanks guys for all the great info. I found ATKDrones (cant think of the guys name I spoke with) and send the gimbal and cam out to him. He's torn it down and verified every part is different than the V2P... some just ever-so-slightly. He also commented on how terrible the metal quality is on the gimbal and is in the process of making up high quality solid aluminum replacement parts. He suspects around the first week of June final prototypes should be complete and I should be back in business. What a great outfit up there. My rebuilt gimbal will be stronger than factory when they're done.

In the meantime, I bought a new P3-pro. I'm going to replace the shell on the broken P3 when it becomes available (it cracked too) and put the cam from the new one on the old one and sell it. I figure it'll be six weeks until I'm back in the air so for a few hundred bucks (re-sale loss), I can be back in the air now.

The only advise I can give is stay the f--- away from trees. the drone is incredibly stable, just don't get cocky and everything will be 100%.

also, pay attention to what blades go on what motors. that can get you too.

Happy flying!

bbfpv · May 7, 2015

kaybee1 said:
In the meantime, I bought a new P3-pro. I'm going to replace the shell on the broken P3 when it becomes available (it cracked too) and put the cam from the new one on the old one and sell it. I figure it'll be six weeks until I'm back in the air so for a few hundred bucks (re-sale loss), I can be back in the air now.

That's how I'd justify it to myself too

(seriously)

Apparition · May 7, 2015

mohan said:
It is as DJI are not keen on selling the ribbon cable. There is plenty of broken pv2+ cameras on the bay so you should be able to cobble together the parts... the camera gimbal is probably the single most expensive part on the P3...

Ribbon cables are easy to buy. Amazon has 2 packs.

kaybee1 · May 7, 2015

Apparition said:
Ribbon cables are easy to buy. Amazon has 2 packs.

They're not the same from P2V+ to P3.

Nothing is. every single part with regards to the gimbal / camera / cabling is unique. Even the shell is different. Blades seem to be the same though.

bbfpv · May 7, 2015

kaybee1 said:
Blades seem to be the same though.

Nope.

bbfpv · May 7, 2015

kaybee1 said:
They're not the same from P2V+ to P3.

Nothing is. every single part with regards to the gimbal / camera / cabling is unique. Even the shell is different. Blades seem to be the same though.