Gimbal Trouble

[Stickynick]

Zoom/Smart Controller, flying in sight at 20 meters height - cold day a couple degrees below freezing - windy but not extreme.

I had the Gimbal tilt full up on it's own a few times - regained control with tilt wheel a few times but the uncomanded tilting repeated a few times - eventually got a "gimbal motor overheat" message. All of this was within a minute or so. Flew back to a hover beside me and watched while I moved the gimbal side to side - up and down - and re-centered a couple times. All was working and the overheat message had gone away. Gimbal tracking was back to normal and did a few more minutes of flying with no issues. Post-flight checks the gimbal was clean etc.

I was flying over ocean surf and it was a damp day - the manual has a note about wet gimbal problems that go away once they gimbal is dry - Perhaps this was what happened with a random drop of water...

Anybody else has this type of thing happen?

And a reminder that had this happened at a great distance (and remained stuck at full up) I would have had to return on the map or RTH. A case of a small thing making a big difference.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Made of video of how that gimbal can get compromised by the wind and than get stuck .
The good thing is when you restart the drone everything is back to normal.

Its the Wind and not the Water or the Cold.

Here it is in action: Notice as soon as I get past the break wall the Camera gives way.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Land on Water.

 

[StantonZ]

I actually think cold temps affect gimbal operation as well: mount lubrication and cable flexibility both tend to "fail" as temps get really cold (and I consider anything around "freezing" cold).

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I actually think cold temps affect gimbal operation as well: mount lubrication and cable flexibility both tend to "fail" as temps get really cold (and I consider anything around "freezing" cold).

Yes we have seen on the Mini 2 when flying in Freezing conditions the Gimbal Chatter very quickly but not on the mavic 2 just wind thus far. .

There was a point in the video when the water splashed onto the Gimbal but even that did not fault the gimbal only the wind at full gust.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and land on Water.

 

[Stickynick]

Phantomrain - - Thanks for the video - that appears to be exactly what was happening to me. I am inclined to think that strong winds AND freezing conditions together are the issue though. I have not seen this problem in warm weather and much stronger winds than I had on the flight in question. The video and my flight were both in cold and windy conditions. Perhaps, in the cold, some tolerances get ever so slightly tighter - mechanism gets a little stickier etc so the gimbal motor is fighting slightly more than just the strong wind...

 

[GB1Yorkshire1]

Zoom/Smart Controller, flying in sight at 20 meters height - cold day a couple degrees below freezing - windy but not extreme.

I had the Gimbal tilt full up on it's own a few times - regained control with tilt wheel a few times but the uncomanded tilting repeated a few times - eventually got a "gimbal motor overheat" message. All of this was within a minute or so. Flew back to a hover beside me and watched while I moved the gimbal side to side - up and down - and re-centered a couple times. All was working and the overheat message had gone away. Gimbal tracking was back to normal and did a few more minutes of flying with no issues. Post-flight checks the gimbal was clean etc.

I was flying over ocean surf and it was a damp day - the manual has a note about wet gimbal problems that go away once they gimbal is dry - Perhaps this was what happened with a random drop of water...

Anybody else has this type of thing happen?

And a reminder that had this happened at a great distance (and remained stuck at full up) I would have had to return on the map or RTH. A case of a small thing making a big difference.

The tolerances on the gimbal bearings are very small, anything that stops or hampers the free rotation will cause the overheating warning, so just a small amount of water, grit or in my case the lens cover left on can give problems
Best if you see the warning, to do exactly as you did RTB and check!
In my instant fix kit I carry a pair of tweezers, black electrical tape and a can of air to blow out dust etc.

 

[DanMan32]

What, no duck tape?

 

[GB1Yorkshire1]

Duct tape leaves a messy sticky patch....black electrical tape leaves no residue and looks cool?

 

[DanMan32]

Duct tape leaves a messy sticky patch....black electrical tape leaves no residue and looks cool[emoji4]

I beg to differ about the black tape. All mine got gooey over time, more so than duck tape.

And most mistakenly call it duct tape. Actual duct tape is aluminum foil with adhesive on one side.
The fiber reinforced tape is often called by one of the brand names duck tape.