Gimbal Overload Error?

REKANIX · Sep 11, 2021

Hey, everyone - so, I know this topic has been covered extensively, but forgive me for asking. Yesterday I got a gimbal overload error on my Mavic 2 Pro, but it was totally inconsistent. I'd bring the Mavic down and restart, and the gimbal would work (I didn't see any obstructions), and I had to do this several times to get through the mission. Sometimes the gimbal would power up normally, and other times it wouldn't - sometimes it even tilted during flight, and the last flight it "jittered".

Today I powered it up and did a gimbal calibration, downloaded the DJI Assistant 2 software and updated the firmware (even though it said I had the current version), calibrated the sensors and the IMU. It appears to be inconsistent today also, as I've restarted the Mavic several times. However, the last two times that I've restarted the Mavic, the gimbal has been working correctly. I'm going to take it out flying here in a bit and see if anything I did today has helped.

My question: do you have any ideas on what I'm experiencing, why it's inconsistent? And are there any other steps I can perform that I haven't done already?

Thanks in advance

joelseph · Sep 25, 2021

Are you still having this problem? I have had this happen randomly over a period of over a year and am not sure how I clear it, but it seems moving the gimbal around gently and then restarting the drone has helped for me in the past.

I just crashed my m2z yesterday into some power lines being careless and am now getting this error every time I power it on, even though I've replaced the stabilization board (one of the posts broke) and there are no signs of problems with the gimbal motion or damage to the ribbon cable. I also used an air compressor to carefully clean all the joints in case there was some dirt/dust from the crash, to no avail.

I'm going to create a new thread for this and see if anyone has ideas. I have a new gimbal on order that won't get here for about a week and we're trying to find one of our dogs that went missing Tuesday. :/

Hope you figure this out without dropping $360 on a new gimble like I am! FYI, gimbal replacement is really easy on these if you are worth trying it and you can save a lot of $$ if you need to go that route. It's 6 1.5 mm screws and a push-on connector. 10 min job.

REKANIX · Sep 25, 2021

joelseph said:
Are you still having this problem? I have had this happen randomly over a period of over a year and am not sure how I clear it, but it seems moving the gimbal around gently and then restarting the drone has helped for me in the past.

I just crashed my m2z yesterday into some power lines being careless and am now getting this error every time I power it on, even though I've replaced the stabilization board (one of the posts broke) and there are no signs of problems with the gimbal motion or damage to the ribbon cable. I also used an air compressor to carefully clean all the joints in case there was some dirt/dust from the crash, to no avail.

I'm going to create a new thread for this and see if anyone has ideas. I have a new gimbal on order that won't get here for about a week and we're trying to find one of our dogs that went missing Tuesday. :/

Hope you figure this out without dropping $360 on a new gimble like I am! FYI, gimbal replacement is really easy on these if you are worth trying it and you can save a lot of $$ if you need to go that route. It's 6 1.5 mm screws and a push-on connector. 10 min job.

Thanks for your reply - I am still, exactly as you described. Restarting the drone seems to help, and it randomly occurs. I’m figuring on having to replace the gimbal on mine also.

BMmavicair2 · Oct 30, 2021

REKANIX said:
Thanks for your reply - I am still, exactly as you described. Restarting the drone seems to help, and it randomly occurs. I’m figuring on having to replace the gimbal on mine also.

In regard to Gimbal overload error. Check the camera mounts one on each side. I had one break. They attach the camera to the gimbal and are inserted inside like a bearing. Very small. I got Gimbal overload then gimbal stuck over a few months. On close inspection I found a small piece of the mount protruding. I pulled it out gently and then noted what it was. Unfortunately, the gimbal/camera sells as one part. In Australia $500.00 plus. They do not sell the little bearers. According to DJI this is a safety factor due to flight restrictions what ever that means. Mine is in getting fixed now. I could have bought the whole gimbal assembly and done it myself but was dearer elsewhere and only cost $60.00 for DJI to do the work plus the part.

BMmavicair2 · Oct 30, 2021

BMmavicair2 said:
In regard to Gimbal overload error. Check the camera mounts one on each side. I had one break. They attach the camera to the gimbal and are inserted inside like a bearing. Very small. I got Gimbal overload then gimbal stuck over a few months. On close inspection I found a small piece of the mount protruding. I pulled it out gently and then noted what it was. Unfortunately, the gimbal/camera sells as one part. In Australia $500.00 plus. They do not sell the little bearers. According to DJI this is a safety factor due to flight restrictions what ever that means. Mine is in getting fixed now. I could have bought the whole gimbal assembly and done it myself but was dearer elsewhere and only cost $60.00 for DJI to do the work plus the part.

I might add that I have never crashed this craft. Nore has it been subjected to abnormal flight conditions at all. It just broke???

REKANIX · Oct 31, 2021

BMmavicair2 said:
In regard to Gimbal overload error. Check the camera mounts one on each side. I had one break. They attach the camera to the gimbal and are inserted inside like a bearing. Very small. I got Gimbal overload then gimbal stuck over a few months. On close inspection I found a small piece of the mount protruding. I pulled it out gently and then noted what it was. Unfortunately, the gimbal/camera sells as one part. In Australia $500.00 plus. They do not sell the little bearers. According to DJI this is a safety factor due to flight restrictions what ever that means. Mine is in getting fixed now. I could have bought the whole gimbal assembly and done it myself but was dearer elsewhere and only cost $60.00 for DJI to do the work plus the part.

The last few times I haven’t had any issues - I hope it stays that way.

BMmavicair2 · Nov 9, 2021

REKANIX said:
The last few times I haven’t had any issues - I hope it stays that way.

Following on from my first post. I contacted DJI repair direct. The started a job and sent me a quote for the repair. I was very surprised at the reasonable price. I sent the aircraft to them for final assessment and repair. After receiving a written quote from them, within 1 day of them receiving it. This quote was for A$159.00. WOW I was impressed. I was looking at at least $500 or more. I gave them the go ahead. Within 3 days I had a reply telling me it was ready to ship. I rang them for confirmation. On talking to the representative, I asked him exactly what did they do to repair it. He stated that because the parts would not be available for probably more than 3 months, they were replacing the entire aircraft with a new one...WHAT!! I was astounded. I then asked him if it would have a new serial no. as I was registered with CASA (our local air authority) He stated yes that it would and he was throwing in a full extra set of propellers because CASA would charge me for the change over.... This was compensation for me... I waited with baited breath for it to arrive. It did exactly as he said. With the propellers..
Well done DJI THIS IS SERVICE.. I had heard so many negative comments about their repair service over the years that I was sceptical. Great job guys. Keep up the good work. I have NO complaints at all....