(Another) Gimbal Overload error!

[mpa]

My experience with the dreaded "Gimbal Overload" error!

I've had a total of 9 hours flight, over 72 flights and 118km on the odometer. after around 40 flights i noticed i was getting the annoying Gimbal Overload error, mostly occurring on startup and almost without fail it occurs every time. to date i have babied my drone, never crashed it, never dropped it and had always used the gimbal cover during flight.

Like most of you i jump online and tried to find a fix, to my surprise it seemed to be a very common issue not only with the mavic but with the phantom class too. Given the shear amount of post about the subject from different people there appears to be no definitive fix. some suggest to calibrate the craft upside down, some fixed the issue with a simple calibration, having tried all of this I was not able to shake the error.

being very annoyed at this point i read closer into the error. (see screen shot)
the text reads "Gimbal Motor Overloaded, check Whecher gimbal clamp is removed"
noticing the spelling error i remember reading on the DJI forum that another user noticed a spelling error with another error, turn out that was a typo (as admitted by DJI) only brought up when the app is running but craft is off - it was a simple bug.

so in conclusion i think this is a app or firmware bug (and would probably apply to some of you out there) so time to stop stressing, my craft fly's fine, i have flown 4 hours with the message and has not shown signs of any defect. so i'm just gonna ignore it.. for now. .

If your getting this error and not having any obvious signs of fault just ignore it, rather than having to deal with DJI and and risking more faults on its return. Hopefully iv made people sleep easier at night!

 

[Bunny Too]

My experience with the dreaded "Gimbal Overload" error!

I've had a total of 9 hours flight, over 72 flights and 118km on the odometer. after around 40 flights i noticed i was getting the annoying Gimbal Overload error, mostly occurring on startup and almost without fail it occurs every time. to date i have babied my drone, never crashed it, never dropped it and had always used the gimbal cover during flight.

Like most of you i jump online and tried to find a fix, to my surprise it seemed to be a very common issue not only with the mavic but with the phantom class too. Given the shear amount of post about the subject from different people there appears to be no definitive fix. some suggest to calibrate the craft upside down, some fixed the issue with a simple calibration, having tried all of this I was not able to shake the error.

being very annoyed at this point i read closer into the error. (see screen shot)
the text reads "Gimbal Motor Overloaded, check Whecher gimbal clamp is removed"
noticing the spelling error i remember reading on the DJI forum that another user noticed a spelling error with another error, turn out that was a typo (as admitted by DJI) only brought up when the app is running but craft is off - it was a simple bug.

so in conclusion i think this is a app or firmware bug (and would probably apply to some of you out there) so time to stop stressing, my craft fly's fine, i have flown 4 hours with the message and has not shown signs of any defect. so i'm just gonna ignore it.. for now. .

If your getting this error and not having any obvious signs of fault just ignore it, rather than having to deal with DJI and and risking more faults on its return. Hopefully iv made people sleep easier at night!

You make a valid point, I am interested to see if your theory plays out.
Regards,
-d.

 

[james_mav]

My experience with the dreaded "Gimbal Overload" error!

I've had a total of 9 hours flight, over 72 flights and 118km on the odometer. after around 40 flights i noticed i was getting the annoying Gimbal Overload error, mostly occurring on startup and almost without fail it occurs every time. to date i have babied my drone, never crashed it, never dropped it and had always used the gimbal cover during flight.

Like most of you i jump online and tried to find a fix, to my surprise it seemed to be a very common issue not only with the mavic but with the phantom class too. Given the shear amount of post about the subject from different people there appears to be no definitive fix. some suggest to calibrate the craft upside down, some fixed the issue with a simple calibration, having tried all of this I was not able to shake the error.

being very annoyed at this point i read closer into the error. (see screen shot)
the text reads "Gimbal Motor Overloaded, check Whecher gimbal clamp is removed"
noticing the spelling error i remember reading on the DJI forum that another user noticed a spelling error with another error, turn out that was a typo (as admitted by DJI) only brought up when the app is running but craft is off - it was a simple bug.

so in conclusion i think this is a app or firmware bug (and would probably apply to some of you out there) so time to stop stressing, my craft fly's fine, i have flown 4 hours with the message and has not shown signs of any defect. so i'm just gonna ignore it.. for now. .

If your getting this error and not having any obvious signs of fault just ignore it, rather than having to deal with DJI and and risking more faults on its return. Hopefully iv made people sleep easier at night!

You say you're flying with the gimble cover on. Could the cover be the problem?

 

[Former Member]

Flying with the gimbal cover on might be your problem. Your gimbal board might be getting really hot due to lack of airflow and causing the error.

Most gimbal overload messages on startup are caused by failure to remove the gimbal lock.

 

[mpa]

You say you're flying with the gimble cover on. Could the cover be the problem?

i doubt the gimbal cover is causing the issue, unless the gimbal bracket or rubber mounts are defective it shouldn't foul against the gimbal cover. for good measure, i started up the drone a few times before without the cover. no fix to the error!

 

[mpa]

Flying with the gimbal cover on might be your problem. Your gimbal board might be getting really hot due to lack of airflow and causing the error.

Most gimbal overload messages on startup are caused by failure to remove the gimbal lock.

I think i have researched enough on this topic to write a thesis. In summary DJI confirmed the drone was designed for the use of the gimbal cover on with no ill effects in one of there forums. i used a temperature gauge to measure the temp difference for my own curiosity. the most i saw was about 5 degree increase. modern day electronics are designed to operate in the 80degress C range and above (mil spec goes up to 110degress c), the most i got was about 40degrees c on the mavic.

i dont think the temp difference would cause this issue. particularly on cold startup.
besides if the Gimbal cover was not designed for flight i think DJI would have put a big red sticker with ""Remove before flight" on it.

 

[Former Member]

Can I ask at what locations on the drone you took the temps when you measured it? The internal cooling fan was designed to function with airflow coming in through the grill. Flying with the cover on puts undue stress on the cooling fan by blocking it's inflow.

 

[mpa]

Can I ask at what locations on the drone you took the temps when you measured it? The internal cooling fan was designed to function with airflow coming in through the grill. Flying with the cover on puts undue stress on the cooling fan by blocking it's inflow.

totally agree with you that airflow is restricted with the cover on, that why i got curious. but there appears to be not much of a difference in temps. The measurements were taken on the exposed heat sink, and although its not representative of the gimbal temps itself, the primary function of the fan is to cool the high current draw hardware such as the processors and ESCs. and if these are not majorly affected i didn't think the temp difference was a cause for concern.

As i mentioned most electronics are designed to run above 80 degrees c. and the mavic gets nowhere near it and i would doubt the Gimbal electronics are getting that hot. My RC touring car ESC run to 80 degrees each race. i doubt DJI would have underrated there equipment worse than a RC car for any reason particularly when it could cause accidents/injury if it were to go wrong.


anyway happy to take on your opinions!

 

[Former Member]

The gimbal Electronics sit above and forward of the fan so they are not getting the same cooling as the speed control board. DJI gimbal control boards have a history of frying if you don't keep a fan blowing on them for an extended period of time. This happened on the Phantoms

 

[SoapyGolem]

That gimbal cover makes your pics/ video look like crap, I always take mine off

 

[looopson]

That is good to know. The other day I updated my firmware and FORGOT to remove the gimbal lock and cover and I freaked out. Today on the change of to my third battery, after changing my battery, this error message popped up VERY briefly and disappeared and said "Ready to Fly". It kind of scared me having known I forgot to remove the cover the other day, I thought maybe I caused some motor damage. I turned the drone off for about 30 seconds, turned it back on, and the message didn't come up again... I'm hoping as you said, this is just a glitch.

 

[John Pflughoft]

My experience with the dreaded "Gimbal Overload" error!

I've had a total of 9 hours flight, over 72 flights and 118km on the odometer. after around 40 flights i noticed i was getting the annoying Gimbal Overload error, mostly occurring on startup and almost without fail it occurs every time. to date i have babied my drone, never crashed it, never dropped it and had always used the gimbal cover during flight.

Like most of you i jump online and tried to find a fix, to my surprise it seemed to be a very common issue not only with the mavic but with the phantom class too. Given the shear amount of post about the subject from different people there appears to be no definitive fix. some suggest to calibrate the craft upside down, some fixed the issue with a simple calibration, having tried all of this I was not able to shake the error.

being very annoyed at this point i read closer into the error. (see screen shot)
the text reads "Gimbal Motor Overloaded, check Whecher gimbal clamp is removed"
noticing the spelling error i remember reading on the DJI forum that another user noticed a spelling error with another error, turn out that was a typo (as admitted by DJI) only brought up when the app is running but craft is off - it was a simple bug.

so in conclusion i think this is a app or firmware bug (and would probably apply to some of you out there) so time to stop stressing, my craft fly's fine, i have flown 4 hours with the message and has not shown signs of any defect. so i'm just gonna ignore it.. for now. .

If your getting this error and not having any obvious signs of fault just ignore it, rather than having to deal with DJI and and risking more faults on its return. Hopefully iv made people sleep easier at night!

So after you received the error...you could still move the camera up and down? I could not and I just sent it in for repair and like you have never crashed, dropped or mishandled it in the case. Last flight was at Amboy, Ca...normal take off, flight and landing...brought it home ...it sat for a couple of days...today I opened the case, took it out, started it up and received the gimbal error message, tried everything under the sun that was online, then called DJI and they told me to send it in....