Gimbal/ camera shake issue. What can I try as DJI doesn't work on them anymore?

[artemk]

Having issues with the original Air. On startup camera moves up, down, then starts oscillating sideways. Gimbal calibration does not help. If I stop the camera with my finger in a minute I get a 'gimbal motor overloaded' message.

So, the question is - what could this be? Would a new gimbal fix it? Is it worth fixing?

Video: New video · Friday, Mar 14

Thanks!

 

[Cafguy]

first thing is find a LEVEL surface and recalibrate. if that didnt do it re-load any firmware and re-try the calibration. if that doesnt work then its time to open it up. check for loose or damaged cables first.

 

[Starz]

May have something to do with the scar on the top right front of the shell. Did all this start when that damage occurred?

 

[artemk]

first thing is find a LEVEL surface and recalibrate. if that didnt do it re-load any firmware and re-try the calibration. if that doesnt work then its time to open it up. check for loose or damaged cables first.

Thanks, will try.
I did recalibrate it before, but will do again.
RE: Firmware. Do I understand it right that since it has the newest - I need to either reload it or roll back a step, as long as a firmware is loaded?

May have something to do with the scar on the top right front of the shell. Did all this start when that damage occurred?

That's the strange thing - I don't recall anything specific before the drone started acting weird

 

[Starz]

I don't recall anything specific

What caused the damage that is visible?
Calibrating the gimbal will not solve this issue.

 

[artemk]

What caused the damage that is visible?

Had a few crashes, but nothing what I would consider major, never needed to replace any parts.
Pretty sure it started doing this intermittently, to where off/on would fix it, but got worse and now it's doing it every time.

 

[Starz]

Had a few crashes, but nothing what I would consider major

There’s your answer. With the minute tolerances built into that camera, it takes very little to throw it off. You could try some high pressure air to clean possible debris in the motors of the gimbal itself.

 

[Capt KO]

Try not to not throw money at the problem. Boards can get expensive but often a loose or damaged ribbon replacement does the trick. YouTube can be very helpful if opening up required. Good luck and stay in touch

 

[artemk]

There’s your answer. With the minute tolerances built into that camera, it takes very little to throw it off. You could try some high pressure air to clean possible debris in the motors of the gimbal itself.

Will sure try to use compressed air to clean it.

Try not to not throw money at the problem. Boards can get expensive but often a loose or damaged ribbon replacement does the trick. YouTube can be very helpful if opening up required. Good luck and stay in touch

Understand.
Did open it up, ribbon cables look fine, but might try to reconnect them. Had someone offer me a new camera/ gimbal at a reasonable price, but camera needs to be paired to the drone, so not sure if that's the way to go.

 

[artemk]

Did my best to blow compressed air at all the seams of the gimbal. Same issue.
Both cables seem fine (at least on the drone side), still reconnected both. Same issue.

How crazy would it be to try to take apart the gimbal to try to clean it further?

 

[Starz]

Taking apart the gimbal will be tricky at best. Possibly some YouTube videos could be found. You would need the proper tools in hand and parts may be a challenge.
Determining what parts are bod could also be a challenge without the proper test equipment.
From your video, is it possible the material in the front sensors is beach sand?

 

[artemk]

Taking apart the gimbal will be tricky at best. Possibly some YouTube videos could be found. You would need the proper tools in hand and parts may be a challenge.
Determining what parts are bod could also be a challenge without the proper test equipment.
From your video, is it possible the material in the front sensors is beach sand?

I did fly it on the beach few years back (finest sand in FL, @Capt KO can confirm, a bit south of him at Redington Shores). To my defense I never landed it in sand. The drone worked fine after that, understand, of course, that those grains might have moved around.

 

[artemk]

So, did get a new gimbal. Installed it and ran python calibration scripts. Camera/ gimbal behave normally, but DJI Go forces me to go through activation and refuses to activate with an error message "The device being connected is not the one being activated". This is due to the new camera module, right?

As sending it to DJI is not really an option, any advise on what to do? Is it possible to swap my old camera into the new gimbal? Don't see much info/ guides online on disassembling the gimball.

Again, appreciate the advice.

 

[Starz]

I don’t have a Mavic Air to look at so, not sure. Pictures of the piece you removed to replace?
The first thing I would try is a firmware refresh. Not an update, just a refresh.

 

[artemk]

The first thing I would try is a firmware refresh. Not an update, just a refresh.

Did that - no go, still forcing me to do activation in the app.
While connected to the Assistant I did the calibration - it worked fine for all 3 cameras, so the drone sees the new gimbal/ camera w/o issues.

I don’t have a Mavic Air to look at so, not sure. Pictures of the piece you removed to replace?

Attaching pics. While looking for a replacement never saw the camera module offered separately, so not sure if people actually take them apart...

 

[a2tomm]

DJI is not the only company working on drones ,give these folks a try

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[JoelP]

Maybe this is the excuse you have been subconsciously seeking to buy your next drone with lots more cool features like longer flying time, more robust connectivity, LIDAR collision avoidance and more.

 

[artemk]

So, for S&G I tried something I read elsewhere - created a new DJI account, installed DJI Go on a new Android device (used iPad previously). Still got an error message during Air registration/ activation - Activation failed, Server error (-2)

After that I did what I should've done first - installed the original gimbal/ camera and ran the calibration through Python. The gimbal shake is gone (at least for now) and drone works fine.

Now I need the rain to stop to get outside on a longer flight.