Sticky gimbal arm?

[Sean72]

Made a thread earlier today about a remote issue that seems to have been fixed (light is now green not red).

Phantom 3 pro took a fall today about 12-15 feet onto concrete and smashed the UV lens cover pretty badly (shattered the lens cover and made a nice flat dent on one edge) but I was able to unscrew it and fit a new filter in its place.

What concerns me now is that the gimbal guard is much more difficult to attach and I'm wondering if something is bent to an unsafe degree. When I power up the phantom it's making a faint 'grinding' sound almost like an old school HDD access sound. It seems to lessen when I pivot the gimbal 'L-arm' straight ahead and gets louder when the L-arm is turned of center.

Is that L-arm even supposed to move? It seems to have a pin inserted that would allow for pivoting off center but since the phantom rotates the whole body to pan the camera around I don't know why it would? I can move it off center but it's very still not like the rest of the moving parts on the camera which seem to fall freely without any assistance. All of the cables seem to be attached and intact, at least the ones I can see between the gimbal and the camera and the aircraft.. I haven't opened the shell to look inside.

Any advice or insight I don't want to attempt any serious flights until I get everything back in proper order. I've ordered new props and new gimbal shock absorbers and pins to replace the ones that broke in the crash.

Thank you,

 

[CactusJackSlade]

It sounds like something is bent.... maybe a motor shaft or the "L arm" (yaw arm).

ALL the axis should feel absolutely free when not under power. If there is and drag on any of the gimbal motors it probably will not work properly, it does not take much to get the gimbal out of whack

 

[CactusJackSlade]

And yes, the "L-arm" (yaw arm) is supposed to be free and easy. That connects to the yaw motor

 

[Sean72]

I may have just corrected it, time will tell if the solution is permanent. The yaw arm (thank you) is fixed to the hinge by a small (1.5mm?) hex screw which appears to hold the yaw arm to the hinge using pressure. My yaw arm was pushed all the way to the top of the hinge so it was actually rubbing up against the piece that houses the SD card slot. I loosened the hex screw and slid the stock gimbal guard into place which pulled the yaw arm down toward the bottom of the hinge and used a jeweler screwdriver to get it the rest of the way. Then I tightened the hex screw down and everything seems to be free flowing again.

The drone took more damage that I'd thought. I found a few more things out of place. One of my prop guard brackets broke which probably saved my shell or motor from taking a direct hit, and on the same arm of the drone one of the light covers had popped loose (I snapped it back into place) and the top of the shell has popped loose from the bottom right where the vents are. It looks like it can be snapped back in place but one of the snap latches from the top shell is overlapping the bottom so it's stuck at the moment.

I hope I can snap it back in without taking the whole shell apart. The only apparent issue is one of the landing gear legs was stressed enough to slightly bubble the plastic at the center, but it still sits perfectly straight so I don't think it needs to be replaced.

Thanks for your help!