gimbal trouble

windmill · Oct 29, 2022

I replaced the ribbon cable,the other cable, and the vibration board for the gimble. I did the gimble recalibration with the DJI GO4 App. This fixed the operation of the gimble. Next I did the forward sensor recal with the DJI Assistant2 app done on the laptop. This took care of the forward senor error and allowed the drone to go into GPS mode. The gimble no longer operates after doing the forward vision recalibration. I have attempted gimble rec with the DJI GO4 App again with no success-can't get past 5%.Can the DJI assistant 2 app on laptop be used for gimble calibration? I appreciate any help.

windmill · Oct 30, 2022

Well, I have gone back into assistant 2 and see that camera recalibration is within the whole forward sensor recalibration process. I attempted recalibration a couple more times. The screen indicates recalibration successful;however,the gimble doesn't operate at all.

dave canada · Oct 30, 2022

you should probably check all ribbon connections but something came loose somewhere

Dunegolfer · Nov 3, 2022

windmill said:
I replaced the ribbon cable,the other cable, and the vibration board for the gimble. I did the gimble recalibration with the DJI GO4 App. This fixed the operation of the gimble. Next I did the forward sensor recal with the DJI Assistant2 app done on the laptop. This took care of the forward senor error and allowed the drone to go into GPS mode. The gimble no longer operates after doing the forward vision recalibration. I have attempted gimble rec with the DJI GO4 App again with no success-can't get past 5%.Can the DJI assistant 2 app on laptop be used for gimble calibration? I appreciate any help.

The same thing is happening to me as I’m getting a Gimble Overload warning. The gimble goes nuts, moving all around and then sets in an unviewable position. +/-30 seconds later, it’s doing the same thing. I’ve gone on YouTube and they show starting the drone sideways, but that’s not working either.

I’ve tried numerous times to recalibrate the gimble and like you, it won’t go past 5%.

I have not replaced the ribbon cable, nor the vibration board…

windmill · Nov 8, 2022

Well, I have put the original vibration plate with rubber mounts back on. I have calibrated camera with the assistant app as well as the Go 4 app. The camera/gimbal slams back and forth on start up and I get a n error message for the gimbal. I can start it and make it not slam around and get no error message and then I can control the camera although it's slow. I do get too much vibration of the camara a good bit. This is all unfortunate. I've spent a lot of time on this thing and still have no resolution.

Channel Hopper · Nov 10, 2022

It would be good to know the root cause of this, I get the 30 second gimble switching and as such cannot use the Pro at all.

I might dismantle in the next few days for a more detailed look.

Aus1 · Nov 19, 2022

I have a gimbal problem with my Mavic Pro. The problem seems similar to this and other gimbal malfunctions but in my case I have not had a crash or made any modifications. I had been taking a few vertical photos at about 3 metres height so I could check the precision of the GPS numbers listed with the photos. I landed the drone, went and had lunch and when I came out to start flying again the gimbal just started banging around into the travel stops during the start-up sequence and gave the "overheating motor" warning. Shutting everything down completely and starting again brought about the same reaction from the gimbal. A cracked gimbal ribbon cable seems to be a common cause of this issue so I got a replacement ribbon cable. This settled the gimbal rotation issue - partly, as the 3 axis rotation test works properly on startup but the last stage fails to occur. The last stage seems to be that the camera should snap into a "ready" position, but this does not happen and the camera settles into a downward facing position and does not respond to the remote controller at all. An error message appears on the smartphone screen stating "Gimbal gyroscope error. Hardware malfunction. Contact DJI support for repairs" I can still take photos and video and focus the camera but cannot do anything else with the camera. No panoramas can be taken and any attempt to recalibrate the gimbal completely locks up the the drone, controller and the smartphone. A message appears on the screen stating "calibration complete - do not take off" The only way I can get out of this lockup is to shut down the phone, controller and Mavic. There have been no software or firmware updates for a coupe of years. I can fly the drone without any issues - just cant control the camera at all.

Channel Hopper · Nov 20, 2022

The issue here might be a damaged cable (highlighted).

Aus1 · Nov 20, 2022

I don't think it is the gimbal cable as I have replaced that. I also thought that may be the problem, but I still have no control of the gimbal. The gimbal goes through the standard 3 axis rotations test (even when the controller is turned off), and then the camera just hangs there dong nothing when the controller is turned on. There must be some process whereby the controller takes control of the gimbal during the rest of the startup sequence.

Channel Hopper · Nov 21, 2022

Thank you for the quick reply.

I have ordered a cable anyway, there is a rough edge on the existing one - highlighted - which might be the beginning of a tear across the tracks.

My thoughts were that when the drone is not powered up the camera is positioned correctly, but the gimbal (I'll spell it correctly next time) is never correct once the battery is on, as though it is an earthing issue.

I only flew the drone once before storing away and the camera was doing the same thing in the air, though I have havve had the switch set to RC as opposed to wifi since the pairing wasn't working on the latter. I will check again tonight.

I'm now wondering if there is supposed to be a three way pairing I've missed to include the camera, this Mavic came from as batch of them and I had to pair drone and controller when the box was delivered.

lookout · Nov 22, 2022

The ball on the screen doesn't match the camera position. Turning the bird around moves the ball but definitely can't fly in that position just to get the ball and camera in the same position. Doesn't do anything for calibration. Don't think it even matches when laid on the side. Ball still doesn't match. Think the lens has a sensor in it telling it which way is up.

windmill · Nov 30, 2022

This is am update to my original post.I have replaced the gimbal assy and transfered the camered onto the replacement gimbal.The gimbal came with both new cables. I can fly fpv now;however, I still get "gimbal overloaded" message as well as "excessive gimbal vibration" message.The video does get shakey at times. I have to b elieve the gimbal has one of the motors that is bad.I can calibrate with the DJI Assistant app successfully;although, I only get to 41% on the DJI GO4 appwhen attempting gimbal recalibration. I've learned quit a bit with this experience and I intend to continue until I have it fully repaired. I will post again when I do have it fully fixed. Thanks. for all replies. .
I just need to add that I've read about folks recalibrating the IMU. I' ve seen no "recalibrate imu" option in either the DJI GO4 App nor the DJI Assistant . perhaps it's the same as a firmware update-I have done a firmware update-it's made no difference. I've tried a different SD card and a freshly reformatted SD card- no difference. Thanks again.

Aus1 · Nov 30, 2022

windmill said:
This is am update to my original post.I have replaced the gimbal assy and transfered the camered onto the replacement gimbal.The gimbal came with both new cables. I can fly fpv now;however, I still get "gimbal overloaded" message as well as "excessive gimbal vibration" message.The video does get shakey at times. I have to b elieve the gimbal has one of the motors that is bad.I can calibrate with the DJI Assistant app successfully;although, I only get to 41% on the DJI GO4 appwhen attempting gimbal recalibration. I've learned quit a bit with this experience and I intend to continue until I have it fully repaired. I will post again when I do have it fully fixed. Thanks. for all replies. .
I just need to add that I've read about folks recalibrating the IMU. I' ve seen no "recalibrate imu" option in either the DJI GO4 App nor the DJI Assistant . perhaps it's the same as a firmware update-I have done a firmware update-it's made no difference. I've tried a different SD card and a freshly reformatted SD card- no difference. Thanks again.

I too had continued with tyring to make sense of the non-behaving gimbal, as many people clearly have similar or related problems. I did a 'pretend' gimbal jam up by obstructing the gimbal movement with my finger during the gimbal's 3 axis test, and the "motor overload" warning flashed up on my screen, so that much of the gimbal operation is still working properly. I did also dismantle the remote controller to check for proper operation of the camera control dial. That component (potentiometer) was working correctly and had not been cracked loose from the circuit board. At this point I decided to get into contact with the official DJI service centre in Australia and have now sent the drone to them for repairs. I shall report back on what solution they come up with for this problem, which seems to be frustrating for many people. I have been flying this drone for over 5 years now and it has been a very reliable aircraft.