Unresponsive Phantom 4 Gimbal

[PowellSkier]

After a successful test flight with a new controller, I was flying my drone to make sure everything was working until my battery got low and I landed it on my lawn in the grass. I then retrieved the drone and put it away for the night. The next time I tried to fly it, the gimbal would start to go through its warm up routine but stop midway through and go limp. No gimbal motor function at all on all three axis. After switching it off I proceeded to perform the following to try and get it working again:

- Inspected ribbon cable and gimbal assembly for damage. They are in pristine condition.
- All gimbal motors rotate freely.
- Camera image transmission is normal.
- All firmware updates are current.
- Gimbal Calibration in the Go4 app resulted in the calibration dialog freezing and the calibration not finishing, even after 15 minutes. At first, it looked like the gimbal was moving a little bit, but now the gimbal never moves, except during start-up where it stops halfway through the normal gimbal start-up motions.
- Update: whenever I try to do a Gimbal calibration it immediately goes to a dialog box that says "Tips: Gimbal calibration is complete. Do not move the aircraft." and hangs there. Only after restarting the P4, the controller and the app, will this message go away.

- The Go4 app shows gimbal status as normal with no errors.
- Reset drone to default settings in Assistant 2 program. No change in gimbal function.
- Unable to downgrade firmware since that option is not available in Assistant 2.

Has anyone else encountered these problems with the Phantom 4 gimbal?
What else can I try to fix this?

 

[John Locke]

I had a similar symptom with my Mavic, but it would give a "gimbal obstruction" dialog in the Go4 app. I had to ship it to DJI to be fixed under warranty.

I your under warranty, get it shipped to DJI asap to be fixed. If it's out of warranty, I suggest you contact Mike Holt in California. He did a great job repairing my P3P, he has lots of part. PM me if you want his Ph#.

Is your screen name referring to Lake Powell?

 

[PowellSkier]

I had a similar symptom with my Mavic, but it would give a "gimbal obstruction" dialog in the Go4 app. I had to ship it to DJI to be fixed under warranty.

I your under warranty, get it shipped to DJI asap to be fixed. If it's out of warranty, I suggest you contact Mike Holt in California. He did a great job repairing my P3P, he has lots of part. PM me if you want his Ph#.

Is your screen name referring to Lake Powell?

Yes, my screen name is referring to Lake Powell, my favorite place to vacation and the best recreational lake in the world! (Except for the darn Zebra\Quagga mussel that has now infested the lake!)

I am sending the gimbal and drone into DJI for repair. It is outside of the warranty period, but they just replaced a bad controller free of charge, so I am crossing my fingers.
My problem now is my backup drone is now doing almost the same thing! What is happening with my gimbals!?!

Is Mike Holt's number (530) 277-5366? Does he have an e-mail address or does he prefer phone only? I'm thinking of sending the second bad gimbal to ATK drones in Salt Lake. I have heard some good things about them plus I could deliver it personally since that is where I am from. (Well, I live in Southern Utah now, but close enough.)

 

[John Locke]

Yes, my screen name is referring to Lake Powell, my favorite place to vacation and the best recreational lake in the world!
My problem now is my backup drone is now doing almost the same thing! What is happening with my gimbals!?!

Is Mike Holt's number (530) 277-5366?

Yes, I couldn't agree with you more. I've spend many weeks on Lake Powell on our houseboat, great family memories. Powell is the crown jewel of the US for water and scenery, IMO. I think I have explored all 1900 miles of shoreline, well most of the good stuff anyway. Escalante is my favorite destination.

Yes, that's Mike's number. He prefers phone calls.