Phantom 3 camera completely dead

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So i was having issues with my gimbal on my Phantom 3 Standard disconnecting while in flight - I could land and then reconnect it and take back off but it would continually disconnect.

So, I decided to replace the camera ribbon cable on it, and see if that was the problem. I installed the new ribbon cable and it was completely dead now, nothing at all happening when I power on drone.

I replaced the ribbon cable again, just in case it was a bad ribbon cable and I still have absolutely nothing.

Any suggestions on how to troubleshoot where the issue is with a completely dead camera?


When I power on the drone nothing moves on the camera at all. The little light on the front of the camera box does flash red every 5-10 seconds or so, but beyond that I have nothing at all.

Are there components I can test with a tool to check for power etc.?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!


Also - I did the basic checks of "Is it plugged in" etc. etc.


Thanks!

Andrew
IMG_2994.jpeg
 
Is it possible that I just bought the gimbal cable (part 85) from a bad seller? I had him send me a 2nd and both are doing the same thing. Would a bad gimbal cable make the camera not move at all?
 
So i was having issues with my gimbal on my Phantom 3 Standard disconnecting while in flight - I could land and then reconnect it and take back off but it would continually disconnect.

So, I decided to replace the camera ribbon cable on it, and see if that was the problem. I installed the new ribbon cable and it was completely dead now, nothing at all happening when I power on drone.

I replaced the ribbon cable again, just in case it was a bad ribbon cable and I still have absolutely nothing.

Any suggestions on how to troubleshoot where the issue is with a completely dead camera?


When I power on the drone nothing moves on the camera at all. The little light on the front of the camera box does flash red every 5-10 seconds or so, but beyond that I have nothing at all.

Are there components I can test with a tool to check for power etc.?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!


Also - I did the basic checks of "Is it plugged in" etc. etc.


Thanks!

AndrewView attachment 106898
We have seen very many people report here that non OEM ribbon cables have not worked for them, and all was fine once they switched to an OEM ribbon cable. Were the replacmeents you bought OEM cables or aftermarket knock offs? Do you still have your original OEM ribbon cable to put back on to see if things look normal again?

Also, what led you to believe that replacing this cable would cure disconnects?
 
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The red light on the gimbal comes on when there is no sd card inserted, and i was reading about one operater who was having control issues with his camera, he formated , reinserted sd card and restarted drone and the camera worked perfectly...worth a try.
 
We have seen very many people report here that non OEM ribbon cables have not worked for them, and all was fine once they switched to an OEM ribbon cable. Were the replacmeents you bought OEM cables or aftermarket knock offs? Do you still have your original OEM ribbon cable to put back on to see if things look normal again?

Also, what led you to believe that replacing this cable would cure disconnects?

Thanks for the reply....

So my original problem was that in mid flight the camera (which was working perfect) would do the wiggly thing and shut off (you know the wiggle in circles when it starts up). I looked around and many people felt it was due to the ribbon cable either being faulty or not connected correctly.

I replaced it with a NON-OEM cable...


Are there any recommendations on where to get a OEM part 85 cable? I could give that a shot but there seems to be very few good places to get one that isn't a million dollars.
 
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I see that you don't have the gimbal shock pins installed YET....you need to slip 4 small nylon ties in the holes and not use the gimbal pins...in a hard landing with the pins the camera assembly it will break loose and RIP out the ribbon cable.....and down time ....as you LOOK for a oem ribbon cable....I tryed a " el cheapo " too and i had same issue as you are.....THEN i replaced it with a Dji OEM and i was back in the air again ! "Good Luck" !
 
I see that you don't have the gimbal shock pins installed YET....you need to slip 4 small nylon ties in the holes and not use the gimbal pins...in a hard landing with the pins the camera assembly it will break loose and RIP out the ribbon cable.....and down time ....as you LOOK for a oem ribbon cable....I tryed a " el cheapo " too and i had same issue as you are.....THEN i replaced it with a Dji OEM and i was back in the air again ! "Good Luck" !

Thank you! I didn't put the pins in while testing since I didn't want to rip the pegs off when it didn't work. I just bought the real thing from Amazon for $60 from DJI.... Man that's a pricey cable when the knock offs are$8. Hopefully this works!
 
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I've read it here that IF you plug the new ribbon cable in one time..... then un plug it.... and one more time and plug it back in......That the copper foil is so thin......it might even cut its self in the by the second time its inserted...OK on the missing pins........Good Luck Amwilber.
 
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I've read it here that IF you plug the new ribbon cable in one time..... then un plug it.... and one more time and plug it back in......That the copper foil is so thing...it might even cut its self in the by the second time its inserted...OK on the missing pins........Good Luck Amwilber.

Sorry you are saying that removing it will ruin it or will make it work? Some misspellings in there I couldn't understand. Thanks a lot!!
 
my spell checker went out to celebrate New Year so.....I found a few words misspelled and that i corrected Thank you.
 
Ok update....put a brand new DJI Authentic part 85 (gimbal cable) and still have the exact same problem. Absolutely nothing with the camera functioning when I turn on the drone. If I go into the DJI app it also has the camera settings all grayed out as if it isn't even recognizing a camera is there. I still do see lights lighting up on the camera, but no movement. Any troubleshooting steps beyond this? Anyone know a good repair place to send it to?
 

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