Air 3s Gimbal Overload warning and now Gimbal Stuck

[1gratefulflyingdawg]

Hello
Your help is needed in resolving this issue and I appreciate anyone’s guidance.

My first drone and Air3s which I’ve flown several times probably only a couple hours flight time. It has not crashed or had a hard landing. I have been very careful handling it. I flew it yesterday morning, there were no issues when I put it away. For me putting it away is setting it on a table in a room where no one goes. I remove the battery and turn a fan on the drone to cool it down.

I came back in the evening to fly again and I got a gimbal overload as I was getting it ready to fly. I did not fly, did a shut down and restart of drone and controller. Tried a gimbal calibration and it would not complete past 60% I left it over night and this morning I have appeared to only make it work as now it says gimbal stuck and gimbal reset only makes it to 40%. On start up the gimbal does not appear to go through it system check.

Here is what I have done.
With drone off I can fully move the gimbal in all directions. There does not seem to be any resistance or restrictions. There movement is smooth.

I have connected to the fly app on my iPhone and there are no software updates available

I have carefully blown out the gimbal area not with canned air.

I have recalibrated the IMU

Attempts to calibrate gimbal don’t get past 40%.

The camera will giggle a little every once in a while. I have been very carefully with the 3s as it is my first drone. Because this my troubleshooting skills apparently aren’t what they need to be. I think I have done everything I have found online. Would appreciate any suggestions before I contact DJI Support.

Again thanks for your time.

 

[Cafguy]

With a finger very carefully move the gimbal do you feel any grit? The air 3 is picky about that error and you will see it again BUT really the only thing that could be "Wrong" with the Drone is the gimbal has debris or you need to update or refresh the Firmware.

 

[1gratefulflyingdawg]

@Cafguy moving the gimbal when it is not under power I do not feel any grit, but I will recheck that.
I need to look up how to do firmware update.
Thanks for the help.

 

[Cafguy]

Do your updating thru the assistant software

 

[1gratefulflyingdawg]

Do your updating thru the assistant software

I cannot load Assistant 2 on my Mac mini. I get the first half loaded, then there was a 2nd part the Mac didn’t like, said it wasn’t compatible.

 

[Cafguy]

It is a pain It IS supposed to work on both systems but when I use my MAC I have limited success and end up using the PC....some others say no problems, I would honestly find a PC to use.

 

[1gratefulflyingdawg]

Well this is a bummer guess I will have to send it in. Should be covered under warranty.

Can anyone confirm I start a repair work order online then when they get my drone they will call me to discuss the repair options?

I am fully away this could be delayed by customs in getting back to me but I can’t use it the way it is and I don’t want to void the warranty by dicking around with it.

 

[DroneWhisperer]

Have you tried calibrating it?

 

[DroneWhisperer]

if Yes, How many Percent the gimbal stops calibrating?

 

[1gratefulflyingdawg]

if Yes, How many Percent the gimbal stops calibrating?

The first few times it was 60% but now it is 40% before it errors out.

 

[DroneWhisperer]

have you tried to, Move the gimbal in all Axis?

 

[1gratefulflyingdawg]

have you tried to, Move the gimbal in all Axis?

Yes very careful when it is not powered on. Everything moves smoothly and I don’t feel any binding, roughness or anything that would lead me to think there is a foreign object in it. It appears to have a full range of movement. When powered on about every minute or so it shakes the camera a little. Appreciate your help.

 

[Cafguy]

"where" did you calibrate your IMU?? Outside, inside...ALSO take out your SD card and retry......yes really.ALSO the RUBBER DAMPERS make sure its all in place and correct....

 

[1gratefulflyingdawg]

"where" did you calibrate your IMU?? Outside, inside...ALSO take out your SD card and retry......yes really.ALSO the RUBBER DAMPERS make sure its all in place and correct....

Calibrated IMU indoors. Never has had a SD card in it. Is there an image somewhere of the rubber dampers so I know what to look for?

 

[DroneWhisperer]

Sir to make sure? you calibrated it with the arms Opened rigght? coz when you calibrated it arms Closed it cannot rotate freely

 

[Cafguy]

The Dampers hold the gimbal to the Drone They are made of rubber and interestingly enough "unseat" rather easily.
examine carefully and make certain they are seated properly. what you are experiencing sure sounds like one or more of them may have come unseated..

 

[GadgetGuy]

Well this is a bummer guess I will have to send it in. Should be covered under warranty.

Can anyone confirm I start a repair work order online then when they get my drone they will call me to discuss the repair options?

I am fully away this could be delayed by customs in getting back to me but I can’t use it the way it is and I don’t want to void the warranty by dicking around with it.

I would call DJI first, and ask what they advise, especially regarding their current limited ability to get Air 3S refurbs into the U.S.. Then decide what you want to do, rather than opening up an online warranty claim and sending the drone in, only to have them tell you what you can find out over the phone now first. Some have been told not to send them in until "parts" become available, which might be never.

 

[1gratefulflyingdawg]

Sir to make sure? you calibrated it with the arms Opened rigght? coz when you calibrated it arms Closed it cannot rotate freely

For the IMU it was calibrated with the arms closed the gimbal with the arms open. Both were done indoors.

 

[PakNheat380]

I filed a repair request with DJI for my Air 2S over two months ago for the same “gimble overload” problem. They responded saying it was covered however because of custom issues the shipping label would be delayed until they had replacement inventory. I checked the repair status and get the same message. They don’t want to hold unlimited numbers of drones for repair/replacement.

 

[Mrktn]

Have you swapped out the standard filter with either an ND or wide angle lens before or has it had a standard lens protector on it since new?