Gimbal thrashes around and goes nuts after start up

Liveddica · Apr 28, 2017

Hey everyone,

So I got a replacement drone from DJI using the Refresh about a month ago.....I had updated it to the .400 firmware and noticed the gimbal calibration to be a bit rough and aggressive when I started it up...thought it was a one time thing. Then it did it again and again, but a long time between flights, wasn't every single time. Now it seems almost every time I start the Mavic up is starts calibrating the gimbal, and it SLAMS it back and then forward. Sometimes it really thrashes around to the point where it happened today in mid flight and I had to bring the drone down because it was swaying around too roughly. I'm updating both the drone and RC to .550 as we speak (because I heard horror stories about .600) but I doubt a firmware upgrade will fix this gimbal issue I'm having.
Check out the links to see what I'm talking about.

Any ideas as to why this is happening and if this is something I truly have to return to DJI and wait another month before I get a replacement back? I have already checked that the gimbal is sitting inside the front and rear brackets properly...and Yes I did remove the ND filter and re calibrate, same issue.

Thanks in advance!

Robin · Apr 28, 2017

Thats not right !

Bintryin · Apr 28, 2017

Holy Crap!!! something wrong there with the first video , the second one looks like the filter hit

4wd · Apr 28, 2017

You might try the gimbal auto calibration but that rapid flapping is abnormal.
If you show them a video of what it does don't send the one with filter on.

allufewi · Apr 28, 2017

Uhm... mine behaves almost like in the second video all the time when I power up.

It makes one or two quite erratic movements then it finishes and all is fine. It doesnt take as long as in OPs video, but it is similar. I was under the assumption that this is normal behavior?!?

Former Member · Apr 28, 2017

In video #1 it thrashes and never centers itself. Was this after startup and if so how long after startup?

In video #2 it bangs but eventually centers itself. If the filter is other than the Polar Pro cenematic, its possible the filter is causing the problem.

Can you try a normal startup without filter and see what happens?

Marco Cantieni · Apr 28, 2017

1. Do an IMU calibration.
2. Then calibrate the compass in open field. No metal nearby (street contains metal). Take of any metal you're wearing.
3. Perform a gimbal calibration without your filter applied.
If the problem persists contact DJI

Robin · Apr 28, 2017

The IMU and compass calibration would not have any effect on this.
Gimbal cal maybe
But do as other suggest and remove everything.

Liveddica · Apr 28, 2017

Thanks for the replies, so I removed the filter , which in my previous Mavic never gave me any issues, I then proceeded to remove my phone, my Fitbit, and anything else that may throw the compass off, then I recalibrated the compass, the IMU, and the gimbal ...... the gimbal still seems to start abruptly (I restated 3 times and it was abrupt every time… But it did not thrash round this time.
But like I had mentioned in my original post that thrashing around doesn't always happen but it's happened numerous times before enough to piss me off. I'm going to put the filter back on and proceed to restart the drone a few times throughout the day to see if it will actually thrash. But I guarantee that the gimbal will start abruptly when the drone powers up .......that does not feel good... what are your thoughts on that?

Thanks

Former Member · Apr 28, 2017

Liveddica said:
But I guarantee that the gimbal will start abruptly when the drone powers up

In the second video you posted, do you interpret that movement after power on as the gimbal starting abruptly? Mine goes through the same motions.

Liveddica · Apr 28, 2017

Thunder-drones said:
In the second video you posted, do you interpret that movement after power on as the gimbal starting abruptly? Mine goes through the same motions.

Hey Thunder,

I haven't heard of many others having this kind of start up... My first Mavic did not have this abrupt gimbal start up… It was always very smooth going back and then coming forward this one just snaps abruptly.... I'll restart it and record the initialization and see.

Liveddica · Apr 28, 2017

Here is a video of me starting it up, shutting it down, then starting it up again. As you can see the gimbal is very abrupt when initializing.

Any thoughts on this? Should I be on the phone with DJI getting an RMA for a replacement, or is there something I can do?

Former Member · Apr 28, 2017

Liveddica said:
Here is a video of me starting it up, shutting it down, then starting it up again. As you can see the gimbal is very abrupt when initializing.

Any thoughts on this? Should I be on the phone with DJI getting an RMA for a replacement, or is there something I can do?

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Thats normal based on most Mavics Ive seen, sold, or repaired. It does seem like it bangs around, but mine has done it a few hundred flights and the cam still works. This last FW update .0600 has some "optimized gimbal calibration settings", but that still didnt cure the banging at first start up. It does take around a minute now to autocalibrate in DJI Go, but maybe its trying to cure tilted horizon and other issues others might be experiencing.

Here are a couple of mine at startup, 24 seconds in duration, then doing an autocalibration from within DJI Go which takes around a minute.

Liveddica · Apr 28, 2017

Thunder-drones said:
Thats normal based on most Mavics Ive seen, sold, or repaired. It does seem like it bangs around, but mine has done it a few hundred flights and the cam still works. This last FW update .0600 has some "optimized gimbal calibration settings", but that still didnt cure the banging at first start up. It does take around a minute now to autocalibrate in DJI Go, but maybe its trying to cure tilted horizon and other issues others might be experiencing.

Here are a couple of mine at startup, 24 seconds in duration, then doing an autocalibration from within DJI Go which takes around a minute.

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Thunder,
Thanks for uploading your video… But are you sure you're watching my video carefully? Yours does not even come close to the abruptness of my gimbal, yours is smooth .....watch mine again at the very end , it's ridiculous ! ....your start up is what I used to have.

Any other options on what I should do? Because by looking at Thunder's initial start up , mine definitely looks like it's defective compared to his.

Daniel3257 · Apr 28, 2017

That last swing of the gimbal doesn't seem right at all.

Liveddica · Apr 28, 2017

Daniel3257 said:
That last swing of the gimbal doesn't seem right at all.

Exactly my point Daniel.... I feel that eventually that's going to do some damage ......when my refresh runs out of course... I just hate to think that I have to send it back to them because honestly their customer service is the worst I'm holding onto that as a last resort

Former Member · Apr 28, 2017

Yours at 14 seconds and 34 seconds does an extra movement that bangs the cam. You are using .055, and since you are thinking of sending it in anyway, no harm in updating to .600 and see if that helps.

Daniel3257 · Apr 28, 2017

Might want to make that call to DJI!

Liveddica · Apr 28, 2017

Daniel3257 said:
Might want to make that call to DJI!

Already made the call sending it back.... I'm not dealing with this nonsense anymore..... I highly doubt a firmware upgrade is going to change that... plus already upgraded three different firmwares same issue.

Thanks for your guys' help

Bintryin · Apr 28, 2017

Thunder-drones said:
Thats normal based on most Mavics Ive seen, sold, or repaired. It does seem like it bangs around, but mine has done it a few hundred flights and the cam still works. This last FW update .0600 has some "optimized gimbal calibration settings", but that still didnt cure the banging at first start up. It does take around a minute now to autocalibrate in DJI Go, but maybe its trying to cure tilted horizon and other issues others might be experiencing.

Here are a couple of mine at startup, 24 seconds in duration, then doing an autocalibration from within DJI Go which takes around a minute.

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That's nothing like the OP