Gimbal safety wire has a broken strand. Will it still work?

[225]

Crashed my Mavic, the wire that's on the gimbal, not the ribbon has a broken strand.

But it looks like the cable is connected to the camera board.

Just checking before I put everything back together.

 

[Former Member]

Check to make sure you are getting video before you put all the screws back in.

 

[225]

I'll check. Thanks.

I still have to solder the wires for the broken prop arm, but my soldering iron is crap, and I'm getting a new one tomorrow,

 

[Former Member]

I'll check. Thanks.

I still have to solder the wires for the broken prop arm, but my soldering iron is crap, and I'm getting a new one tomorrow,

Did you desolder the broken arm yet? Is it front or rear?

 

[Bunny Too]

Does that make a difference?

 

[Former Member]

Does that make a difference?

A world of difference. The rear arm repair is only 3 wires, but it still takes a good soldering iron to do the job well, otherwise you run the risk of burning the main board by holding an inferior iron on there for too long, or splattering solder all over the place. The front arms require not only the 3 motor wires to be soldered, but 2 microsolders on each arm that are easy to ruin and possibly fuse together with errant solder. I use a Hakko soldering iron to do the work, makes it easy as pie.

 

[Bunny Too]

A world of difference. The rear arm repair is only 3 wires, but it still takes a good soldering iron to do the job well, otherwise you run the risk of burning the main board by holding an inferior iron on there for too long, or splattering solder all over the place. The front arms require not only the 3 motor wires to be soldered, but 2 microsolders on each arm that are easy to ruin and possibly fuse together with errant solder. I use a Hakko soldering iron to do the work, makes it easy as pie.

View attachment 10599

The four microsolders are the antenna? Very cool information, thank you.

 

[Former Member]

The four microsolders are the antenna? Very cool information, thank you.

LEDs. The antennae connect to the core board under the FC ESC board..

 

[Former Member]

The motor solder arent that bad, its the tiny ones that get me. I use a magnifier to work on them.

 

[BorisTheSpider]

Should one ever happen to be unlucky enough to have to do this (I'm not, yet at least...), couldn't you just join the new arm LED wires to the existing wires and heat shrink them to avoid having to do the micro soldering on the PCB, or have I misunderstood?

 

[Bunny Too]

This is becoming a very interesting technical thread.

 

[Cut.Aussie]

As someone who used to make a living until a few years ago working with surface mount component repairs can I suggest the very first thing you do is take the very best quality digital pics you can before you start any repair so you have a reference when putting it back together. Also because of ROHS compliance, the old 60/40 solder is no longer used during manufacture of boards made in the last few years, the replacement solders now have a higher melting point, often look like poor soldering, dull rather than shiny. Use can use older 60/40 solder though to make repairs easier.

 

[Former Member]

Should one ever happen to be unlucky enough to have to do this (I'm not, yet at least...), couldn't you just join the new arm LED wires to the existing wires and heat shrink them to avoid having to do the micro soldering on the PCB, or have I misunderstood?

Nope. The wires have an insulated coating on them and if you try to strip enough to make a splice, the wire will shred. They are tiny and extremely fragile and dont take solder well. Also, running an new wire from the LED to the main board is impossible, they cram 5 wires into a plastic braiding that once opened, cant be redone in any reasonable amount of time. I have had no success with soldering motor wires together on Mavs or Phantoms, I always go to the main board instead of splicing. And the motor wires are thicker gauge than the LED wires.

I have had no help from DJI in DIY repairs on my birds, they want me to send it to them and they will just send you a refurbed bird and then repair the one you sent top them later. I cut my teeth on electronics repairs when I was 10 years old at my dads TV shop, and repairing RC for 35. Ive never met an RC manufacturer who doesnt want you working on your own stuff.

 

[Former Member]

As someone who used to make a living until a few years ago working with surface mount component repairs can I suggest the very first thing you do is take the very best quality digital pics you can before you start any repair so you have a reference when putting it back together. Also because of ROHS compliance, the old 60/40 solder is no longer used during manufacture of boards made in the last few years, the replacement solders now have a higher melting point, often look like poor soldering, dull rather than shiny. Use can use older 60/40 solder though to make repairs easier.

Excellent point. I always take pictures of the wiring before taking things apart, especially where screws went.

And youre right about the high melting point of DJI solder. Thats why i use a $300 gun instead of a $40 Weller. If you leave the gun on the solder joint for too long trying to melt it, you can destroy the board.

 

[Cyberpower678]

I'm certainly going to be doing this tomorrow. I'm taking my drone apart to replace a bad part on my drone's left rear arm. I have to desolder the arm to do it.

 

[Former Member]

I'm certainly going to be doing this tomorrow. I'm taking my drone apart to replace a bad part on my drone's left rear arm. I have to desolder the arm to do it.

CP, yours is going to go well. Its the LR arm, and that is only 10 screws to take off the top cover, then 1 screw to release the arm from the mount, and 2 screws inside to remove the mount. The 3 solder joints are big ones, so not too difficult. Just remember the order you took them off, grey, white, black. I use a high temp on my gun and the solder joints break loose in one second.

 

[Cyberpower678]

CP, yours is going to go well. Its the LR arm, and that is only 10 screws to take off the top cover, then 1 screw to release the arm from the mount, and 2 screws inside to remove the mount. The 3 solder joints are big ones, so not too difficult. Just remember the order you took them off, grey, white, black. I use a high temp on my gun and the solder joints break loose in one second.

I have a soldering station. What temp do you set yours to?

 

[BorisTheSpider]

Nope. The wires have an insulated coating on them and if you try to strip enough to make a splice, the wire will shred. They are tiny and extremely fragile and dont take solder well. Also, running an new wire from the LED to the main board is impossible, they cram 5 wires into a plastic braiding that once opened, cant be redone in any reasonable amount of time. I have had no success with soldering motor wires together on Mavs or Phantoms, I always go to the main board instead of splicing. And the motor wires are thicker gauge than the LED wires.

I have had no help from DJI in DIY repairs on my birds, they want me to send it to them and they will just send you a refurbed bird and then repair the one you sent top them later. I cut my teeth on electronics repairs when I was 10 years old at my dads TV shop, and repairing RC for 35. Ive never met an RC manufacturer who doesnt want you working on your own stuff.

What a ***** - I figured it couldn't be as simple as that if you were emphasising the difficulty of those joints.

Just out of interest, are you aware if there's any problem (other than obviously that the LEDs wouldn't work) with just leaving the LEDs disconnected if you ever had to do this without an expensive good quality soldering iron.

 

[Former Member]

I have a soldering station. What temp do you set yours to?

You can start at 750 and it should break the solder joints in 2 seconds. Just be careful and quick, dont sizzle the solder or it will get into nearby caps or chips. Also, use a tweezers or forceps to hold the sire while you desolder it. It gets hot very quickly.

 

[Former Member]

What a ***** - I figured it couldn't be as simple as that if you were emphasising the difficulty of those joints.

Just out of interest, are you aware if there's any problem (other than obviously that the LEDs wouldn't work) with just leaving the LEDs disconnected if you ever had to do this without an expensive good quality soldering iron.

I dont think it would be a problem to leave one LED lead off. That would be better than trying to solder it, goof the job up, then get solder into surrounding areas or fuse other solder joints together with wayward solder. (I speak with experience from the trial and error method, with plenty of error )