Loose Gimbal—what next?

jm715 · Apr 30, 2018

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I suffered a crash recently, breaking off a remarkably small piece of plastic atop the gimbal, jarring it loose from the assembly.

Note: I still have video and motion capabilities, but the gimbal is not secure. (As pictured above)

What step should I take next to alleviate this?

Simmo · Apr 30, 2018

The best bloke on here to advise you is @Thunderdrones

Former Member · Apr 30, 2018

Thank you for mentioning me @Simmo

OP it looks like your gimbal plate is broken. Are you going to attempt a self-repair? To repair that plate, and you will need to disassemble the Mavic, drop the gimbal and then replace that part. Most of the time when that part breaks, it tears the gimbal ribbon as well. You wont know if your ribbon is torn or damaged until after you replace the plate. I make a habit of replacing both the ribbon and plate at the same time.

@fstop.labs sells them on Amazon here:

https://www.amazon.com/Platinum-Vibration-Dampener-Assembly-Dampners/dp/B06XF37CGF?th=1

I repair these every day, and Im located in Georgia.

jm715 · May 1, 2018

Self repairing and I’ve reached this task— how shall I go about securely removing those cords from the circuit board as I seek to attach my new vibrator plate?

Just_nick · May 1, 2018

Remove the circuit board and slowly peel off the gimbal cable anywhere it's stuck to the old plate. Don't mess with the silver one, leave it attached to the board.

Former Member · May 1, 2018

You definitely want to remove both cables from the gimbal PCB before doing anything with the gimbal plate or unscrewing the gimbal PCB. You have to remove the black ribbon from the gimbal PCB to get the new plate on since the ribbon fits through a slot in the plate. If you accidentally snag or nick one of those cables during the repair, it's going to be alot of pain later.

Also, be careful not to strip the 3 Phillips gimbal PCB screws. Some have silicone in their threads, and you need to apply firm pressure to get through the black stuff unless you can get it all out before you start unscrewing.

jm715 · May 1, 2018

Thunderdrones said:
You definitely want to remove both cables from the gimbal PCB before doing anything with the gimbal plate or unscrewing the gimbal PCB. You have to remove the black ribbon from the gimbal PCB to get the new plate on since the ribbon fits through a slot in the plate. If you accidentally snag or nick one of those cables during the repair, it's going to be alot of pain later.

Also, be careful not to strip the 3 Phillips gimbal PCB screws. Some have silicone in their threads, and you need to apply firm pressure to get through the black stuff unless you can get it all out before you start unscrewing.

Ok how do I go about doing so securely?

jm715 · May 1, 2018

Also, thank you to everyone for their advice thus far!

jm715 · May 1, 2018

Got the circuit board off safely. Will check in soon!

Former Member · May 1, 2018

Keep us posted.

jm715 · May 2, 2018

Assembly is all back together—I’ve got picture and movement of the gimbal looks good. Currently updating the firmware before I do a test flight. Will check back in!

jm715 · May 2, 2018

Just did a field test and I’ve got clear video and fluid movement. The one issue I have, however is some wobble to the video itself. Maybe the dampener isn’t fully secure?

Former Member · May 2, 2018

Can you do a youtube and post it up here?

jm715 · May 2, 2018

Give this link a shot.

Dropbox - EDC7A572-26C6-4757-A601-863CCFA1A325.mp4

Former Member · May 2, 2018

With the drone off, move the gimbal motor assembly through all of its axes. Make sure that none are binding or gritty.

After that, can you fly it for a few minutes and see of any of the gimbal motors getting hotter than the others? Could be a bouncy pitch motor.

You didnt replace the video or black ribbon cables, correct?