Phantom 3 Camera Error "Hardware Malfunction" (Gimbal Issue)

THH

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Over the past weekend my Phantom 3 Advanced visited the branch of an Oak tree. Upon removing it I found that the drone itself was fine, and flew immediately, maneuvering well and so forth, however the camera screen was black. The controls used to record or take a photo on the DJI app were opaque, and unusable. When I tried re starting the unit and tried re calibrating the camera, I came across a message indicating a "Hardware Malfunction" and one further specifying an issue with the gimbal itself. Upon further research it seemed that a wire may have come loose? Can anyone tell me what the issue may be and most importantly what steps I could take to fix the problem.

Best,

Thomas Hughes
 
Can you post pics of the camera/gimbal? Can you see any obvious damage to the camera/gimbal?
 
Thank you very much for the reply. No I do not see any damage directly to the camera, the lens is fine and the body seems to be in the same condition as it was before the incident. Here below are a few photo's of the craft when it is turned on. As you will see the gimbal is pointed directly down, whereas before upon turning it on, it would circumnavigate about itself before coming to a rest looking directly ahead.

Regards,

Thomas
 

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The only thing I would do if it was mine is to disconnect the gray ribbon cable, then plug it back in in case somehow the "visit" to the oak tree branch loosened it somehow. After unplugging, I'd check it carefully for obvious breaks, looseness, etc. If you try this, make sure the battery's out first. If that doesn't help, I might get brave and try to open the gimbal/camera to make sure the connections inside are ok. If none of that yields an answer, I'd ship it back to DJI for repair. Also, keep in mind I'm not an expert but just telling you what I'D do. In addition, keep in mind that sometimes I'm really smart and other times I can't find my a$$ with both hands.
 
Thank you all for your help. I need to send it in to have it looked at. On the DJI site there are three repair shops listed: Florida, New York and Las Vegas. Then they have their email/phone number under DJI Official Service Center - I assume that means they have their own repair shop too. Has anyone had experience with the repair shops? Is one any better (ie faster turnaround) than the other? Thank you.
 

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