Greetings, this is my first real contribution to this forum. Hopefully it's helpful to others as I could find little info for my particular problem. I'm new to the MA2 but not new to drones. I've been flying them on and off for a while and have gotten reasonable good at it. So when I received the MA2 I thought it's pretty much like my previous DJI drones. I started taking it everywhere and using it just about every day. I'd typically launch from my landing pad unless it's a last minute thought, i'd say 70% of the time. the other 30% I'd search for a clean patch of pavement just to stay clear of dust in the drone (although it's never been an issue in the past). I'd typically use a ND8 or 16 filter for daylight shots and go without a filter when the light level is not so bright (habits from previous drones with and without camera settings controls). Here is where my problems began with the MA2. If you've ever changed a filter on the MA2, you know the mount is different. it's a short twist to remove and install filters inside 4 guides holes of the camera housing. The first time I removed the factory ring to install a filter is when I discovered the ring actually has no protective glass, it just more or less is a beauty ring to make the camera look complete (so I thought). Because I usually fly with a filter, i didn't think much of the ring, threw it in my bag. Whenever I needed a filter I'd put one on but when I didn't, i wouldn't bother to install the empty ring...
This evening I decided to video the local TV towers just before dusk. I did my usual (removed my daylight ND filter and because I was in a hurry to beat the sun going down, I took off without my landing pad). Well, I noticed right away the gimbal was intermittently responsive then I got the error code 40003 gimbal motor overload and the 40002 gimbal stuck error code but then the message quickly went away. A little concerned i went forward with my flight but quickly noticed the gimbal not being smooth and would ether get stuck or jumpy... I landed the drone, turned it off and checked for free movement of the gimbal. it seemed ok so I powered it up and flew my mission without problems until I was making my final loop and it gave a stuck gimbal message again. I landed and this time tried calibrating the gimbal. it failed and I started to see visions of being without the drone for the remainder of our short summers. I got on line and started searching this code pertaining to the MA2. I found very little about these codes but the more I read the more I was sure I had not done any of the things others had done to get these messages (so I thought)...
My wife starts telling me, maybe you hit something or some how got things out of alignment. Then she says maybe you flew through a dust cloud or something. Well, She was kind of right but I think more of a flaw in the camera design. Apparently those holes in the camera head that a filters attaches to go all the way through to the vertical gimbal mechanism so flying (in my case taking off without a landing pad) without the beauty ring installed allowed enough dust, dirt or sand to get inside the housing and prevent the gimbal from free vertical movement.I don't see any other openings in the gimbal that could allow anything into the camera head but i just dont understand why the holes go all the way through the gimbal hardware. I tried blowing it out but that didn't work but with a can of compressed air seemed to do the trick. Its now works again 100% again, calibrates and I'm back to smooth movements without issues. The amount of dust that came out was so small it was undetectable but it apparently does not take much to completely disable the gimbal.
The moral to this story; NEVER LEAVE THE CAMERA HEAD OF A MA2 WITHOUT A FILTER OR THE BEAUTY RING INSTALLED !!!
I'm serious, there has been only a few times I've not used a landing pad and I usually make sure the area is clean of rocks or loose particles. it's never been to a beach and really has been treated the same as my other drones that have not had this kind of issue...
This evening I decided to video the local TV towers just before dusk. I did my usual (removed my daylight ND filter and because I was in a hurry to beat the sun going down, I took off without my landing pad). Well, I noticed right away the gimbal was intermittently responsive then I got the error code 40003 gimbal motor overload and the 40002 gimbal stuck error code but then the message quickly went away. A little concerned i went forward with my flight but quickly noticed the gimbal not being smooth and would ether get stuck or jumpy... I landed the drone, turned it off and checked for free movement of the gimbal. it seemed ok so I powered it up and flew my mission without problems until I was making my final loop and it gave a stuck gimbal message again. I landed and this time tried calibrating the gimbal. it failed and I started to see visions of being without the drone for the remainder of our short summers. I got on line and started searching this code pertaining to the MA2. I found very little about these codes but the more I read the more I was sure I had not done any of the things others had done to get these messages (so I thought)...
My wife starts telling me, maybe you hit something or some how got things out of alignment. Then she says maybe you flew through a dust cloud or something. Well, She was kind of right but I think more of a flaw in the camera design. Apparently those holes in the camera head that a filters attaches to go all the way through to the vertical gimbal mechanism so flying (in my case taking off without a landing pad) without the beauty ring installed allowed enough dust, dirt or sand to get inside the housing and prevent the gimbal from free vertical movement.I don't see any other openings in the gimbal that could allow anything into the camera head but i just dont understand why the holes go all the way through the gimbal hardware. I tried blowing it out but that didn't work but with a can of compressed air seemed to do the trick. Its now works again 100% again, calibrates and I'm back to smooth movements without issues. The amount of dust that came out was so small it was undetectable but it apparently does not take much to completely disable the gimbal.
The moral to this story; NEVER LEAVE THE CAMERA HEAD OF A MA2 WITHOUT A FILTER OR THE BEAUTY RING INSTALLED !!!
I'm serious, there has been only a few times I've not used a landing pad and I usually make sure the area is clean of rocks or loose particles. it's never been to a beach and really has been treated the same as my other drones that have not had this kind of issue...
