Camera ribbon cable tear near fold, glue coming loose, anyone else seen this?

[Xcel]

I just noticed something alarming, my camera ribbon cable is coming apart. Everything is working fine for the moment but I'm really worrying about the longevity of this cable. This bird has about 31h of flight time and 600km of distance.

This is pretty difficult to get a good picture of. The cable which is glued to the gimbal is slowly coming loose. you can see the glue strands in the pictures. The outer black shell of the ribbon cable is breaking apart due to a tight fold and is almost exposing the metal inside :/

Is this something to worry about?

 

[Bunny Too]

I just noticed something alarming, my camera ribbon cable is coming apart. Everything is working fine for the moment but I'm really worrying about the longevity of this cable. This bird has about 31h of flight time and 600km of distance.

This is pretty difficult to get a good picture of. The cable which is glued to the gimbal is slowly coming loose. you can see the glue strands in the pictures. The outer black shell of the ribbon cable is breaking apart due to a tight fold and is almost exposing the metal inside :/

Is this something to worry about?

View attachment 8822 View attachment 8823 View attachment 8821

I hate to say it but I would be concerned, I would try to get a new warranty replacement as it is a manufacturing defect. Now I have to check mine and another thing to worry about. Thank you for posting.
Regards,
-d.

 

[Xcel]

Yea it doesn't look good. I sent an inquiry to DJI. It's pretty hard to spot with the naked eye, it only looks like a white crack. The photos are taken with a macro lens.
I wonder if @Thunder-drones has seen anything like this.

 

[Robert Mitchell]

IMO it looks like the adhesive which holds the cable to the attach point might be slightly releasing. I doubt the actual cable is damaged in any way. Those cables are pretty rugged.
Since there is no evidence of malfunction, I might try gently pushing it back down with a toothpick, (inside the bend so as not to make the fold tighter) before I'd ship it off and risk getting a refurb.

 

[Xcel]

IMO it looks like the adhesive which holds the cable to the attach point might be slightly releasing. I doubt the actual cable is damaged in any way. Those cables are pretty rugged.
Since there is no evidence of malfunction, I might try gently pushing it back down with a toothpick, (inside the bend so as not to make the fold tighter) before I'd ship it off and risk getting a refurb.

Thanks for the input, it is really hard to tell. It's true sending the drone back is always a gamble. I don't really mind it but I got worried it might get worse with time.
I tried to take another picture with more depth of field, it sure looks like the black casing is cracked right where the ribbon cable bends. I don't know what the cable looks like inside but seems like it's white beneath the black plastic. I'll try again tomorrow when the light is better

 

[Robert Mitchell]

Thanks for the input, it is really hard to tell. It's true sending the drone back is always a gamble. I don't really mind it but I got worried it might get worse with time.
I tried to take another picture with more depth of field, it sure looks like the black casing is cracked right where the ribbon cable bends. I don't know what the cable looks like inside but seems like it's white beneath the black plastic. I'll try again tomorrow when the light is better
View attachment 8830

Still looks to me like your "crack" might be an adhesive strand, or on a thicker part of the jacket, and not the actual ribbon (it looks pretty thick at that point as if a strain relief padding area) at least in the photo with my eyes. But again, absent any video or gimbal malfunctions I'm thinking it is cosmetic. You always have the year warranty to keep an eye on it, which is what I think I'd do. But it's your call of course.
BTW, after looking at mine it's hard to judge as that thing is friggin MICROSCOPIC! I'm not even sure how you found it!

 

[Former Member]

Looks like the cable is starting to frey. Have you had any issues with the gimbal? I would send it in to DJI for an assessment. They might repair it for free or send you a replacement Mav.

Do you have a backup drone? Youve flown the heck out of this one.

 

[Lelantos]

The white part you are seeing is a white printed line on the cable - used for indicating where to place the reinforcement, which is the thicker part. It does not look like there is any damage to me.

Photo taken handheld through stereo microscope using iPhone;

 

[now]

It looks the same at my mavic.