Air 2S gimbal issues after repair

[Joshlund26]

Hi all, first time posting so hopefully the video I tried to attach works.

I bought a damaged Mavic Air 2s a few months ago as I like tinkering with drones and it was way too cheap to pass up.
Long story short, the guy I bought it from used superglue on all of the gimbal motors to keep it from moving. I'm assuming he was either having issues with it and didn't know what he was doing or he was on some hardcore drugs (the SD card that came with the drone had footage from what looked like a rave).

Either way, I figured I could fix it and still come in way cheaper than a new Air 2s.

After removing all of the glue (full disassembly of gimbal), the gimbal would run through the initialization movement seemingly fine but would then give me a "gimbal stuck" error and would go limp.
I after many attempts to clean it more and run it through calibrations, I figured the motors were more than likely toasted from being locked in place by the glue.

I bought a new camera enclosure with the pressed in P axis motor as well as the gimbal arm (includes the other two motors). I didn't replace the "Y" arm since replacements are not available and it didn't look damaged.
The gimbal seems to initialize fine now, I get no error notifications and the gimbal attempts to work... With the exception that it now points down and off the the side, far more that can be compensated for with manual calibration offsets.

I've ordered a new ribbon (flex) cable since it was cheap and I figured the old one may have been damaged.

Has anyone had a similar issue?
Is it the ribbon cable? Are the replacement parts I got potentially faulty? I've also heard of people using a Python based utility to rectify calibration issues after parts replacements. Should that be my first step?

Any replies are very much appreciated, I'm dying to fly this thing!

Thanks!

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Did you try auto calibration?
I assume so but......
In your situation I would be inclined to try the procedure outlined in

Just make sure you use the correct port number and model number.
It is NOT guaranteed to work.
If you run into problem getting the commands to work have a read of Gimbal calibration after repair, I am stuck, Mavic Mini but may apply to other models.
It's a bit disjointed but it may be of some use.

If your camera works and records I suspect the cables are ok, aside from being 'off' the gimbal appears to function correctly.

 

[Don Testme]

Ive had many gimbal issues over the years. I've had a problem like yours too. I used to try just replacing the camera and gimbal, but I almost always had alignment problems with just replacing those parts. So, I (about 60% of the time) ended up having to buy an entire camera/gimbal/gimbal board module. Good Luck.

 

[Joshlund26]

Did you try auto calibration?
I assume so but......
In your situation I would be inclined to try the procedure outlined in

Just make sure you use the correct port number and model number.
It is NOT guaranteed to work.
If you run into problem getting the commands to work have a read of Gimbal calibration after repair, I am stuck, Mavic Mini but may apply to other models.
It's a bit disjointed but it may be of some use.

If your camera works and records I suspect the cables are ok, aside from being 'off' the gimbal appears to function correctly.

Thanks for the reply!
I have tried calibration (both the in-app and the DJI Assistant 2 calibration methods).
I just tried the Python method (on two separate windows machines) but I'm getting the same error that the poster in the second link you sent me was getting.
I'll keep researching as much as I can but as of now, I'm stuck.
If you have any other suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Which error are you stuck at?
I had trouble finding the port but solved that by initially starting the assistant 2 and then connecting the drone, then quiting the assistant 2. The Assistant 2 capture seems to lock the port and its number can be found.
I then had the problem that the python program did not like the port or something but I seem to have solved that by putting " --port " in front of my port so
py comm_og_service_tool.py com22 WM160 GimbalCalib JointCoarse
became
py comm_og_service_tool.py --port com22 WM160 GimbalCalib JointCoarse.

The latter caused the gimbal to do it thing but I got no response (from the damaged drone ) when I tried
py comm_og_service_tool.py --port com22 WM160 GimbalCalib LinearHall.

When I tried this an a WORKING Mavic Mini the
py comm_og_service_tool.py --port com22 WM160 GimbalCalib LinearHall command "produces a slow movement of the gimbal"

The error message "Unrecognised response to calibratio............." still appeared but if you look at the the video around 9:18 Droning On comments on this.

the -vv bit just prints program dialogue to the screen

 

[Joshlund26]

Which error are you stuck at?
I had trouble finding the port but solved that by initially starting the assistant 2 and then connecting the drone, then quiting the assistant 2. The Assistant 2 capture seems to lock the port and its number can be found.
I then had the problem that the python program did not like the port or something but I seem to have solved that by putting " --port " in front of my port so
py comm_og_service_tool.py com22 WM160 GimbalCalib JointCoarse
became
py comm_og_service_tool.py --port com22 WM160 GimbalCalib JointCoarse.

The latter caused the gimbal to do it thing but I got no response (from the damaged drone ) when I tried
py comm_og_service_tool.py --port com22 WM160 GimbalCalib LinearHall.

When I tried this an a WORKING Mavic Mini the
py comm_og_service_tool.py --port com22 WM160 GimbalCalib LinearHall command "produces a slow movement of the gimbal"

The error message "Unrecognised response to calibratio............." still appeared but if you look at the the video around 9:18 Droning On comments on this.

the -vv bit just prints program dialogue to the screen

Success! Adding "--port" fixed it!
I'm getting a "gimbal calibration error" message in the DJI app now but everything appears to be functioning. I'll mess around with it a bit more later to try and get rid of the message but otherwise, I can go fly now!

Thanks PhiliusFoggg, you're a legend!

 

[Deleted member 103366]

I am glad it worked.

 

[Klepzig]

Air2S. I have done all of the above, but the LinearHall command does not work, which is the one that I think will solve my offset angle. I was able to get the JointCoarse command to work, but it always resets about 40 degrees to the right.

Is there a chance the calibration of the sensors on the Assistant 2 on PC might help? Is there a physical manipulation that might help? I am now able to move the gimbal up and down using the remote, but not left & right.

 

[sawman]

Air2S. I have done all of the above, but the LinearHall command does not work, which is the one that I think will solve my offset angle. I was able to get the JointCoarse command to work, but it always resets about 40 degrees to the right.

Is there a chance the calibration of the sensors on the Assistant 2 on PC might help? Is there a physical manipulation that might help? I am now able to move the gimbal up and down using the remote, but not left & right.

I'd like to know if you were ever able to get movement during the Linear Hall calibration. I have an Air 2S that does the same (Joint Coarse has movement but not Linear Hall). My gimbal is only about 10 degrees right in yaw with "Overload" warning. Movement is fine on all axis when powered off.