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MAVIC (1) Pro Spazzy Gimbal / Camera

adamb1123

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Joined
Nov 17, 2018
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Hi guys -

Having a frustrating problem that appeared after bringing out my Mavic 1 that's been sitting on my shelf ever since I bought the Mavic 2 6 months ago.. After turning on, the gimbal fails about 50% of the time with an obstruction error, and even when it's working, occasionally it spazzes during jerky movements. The drone was shaken roughly in a backpack while I was ATVing a year or so ago, which required a new ribbon cable, however when this happened the gimbal did not work at all. Right now it's working intermittently. I've done full flights where it worked more or less fine, and other times it is completely useless.

Another possibility, the little black l-clip that holds the gimbal plate up has snapped somehow and it's possible that instability is causing the drone to not perform as well. However, the drone functioned perfectly with the snapped l-clip for several months. While it is spazzing out, the gimbal motor gets incredibly hot.

Not quite sure what to do, I could buy a new ribbon cable, but would that be the problem? I expect a broken ribbon cable would have a 100% failure rate.

Alternatively, I could buy a new gimbal plate to fix that L support clip.

I filmed a video of the problem here:



RE: Sticky note.

Problem?
- The gimbal goes nuts randomly and the motors get extremely hot. Occasionally it works fine.

Was unit in a crash?
- No, however, a year ago it was shaken quite a bit in a backpack without a gimbal guard which required a new ribbon cable. It worked fine after that, then sat unused for 8 months... now it's having this problem.

What have you tried so far?
- I calibrated the gimbal, IMU and compass. Nothing seems to help.

What device are you using ( iphone , ipad, Samsung , etc)?
- iPhone / iPad

What firmware are you running ( aircraft, remote controller)?
- The latest.

What Go app version are you using?
- The latest.

Any modification? (if so what)
- I had the ribbon cable replaced about a year ago. Somehow the little black clip that holds the gimbal up is snapped, which is possibly causing instability.

Did you change anything or install any apps? (if so what)
- No

Do you have a video or pictures of the problem? (if so post link)
- Yes,
 
You could replace the ribbon first and see what happens. I personally think its a bad motor assembly, but I cant tell without it inf ront of me.
 
Thanks Thunderdrones, is there anything else I can do to help diagnose?

New ribbon is going to be about $120USD installed. Do you think it would be that if it's only not working intermittedly?

Here's a picture of another drone with the broken L clip.
 

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Oh, the obstruction error is a nasty one. It sometimes means that your motor assembly is damaged. You can start with the ribbon cable, and after you change it you can see what happens. I have a feeling its going to need a motor assembly too.
 
Ok thanks. Will do that too. For what it's worth, just tried putting a little piece of gaff tape as a makeshift support in there. The micro vibrations were gone, but the gimbal inconsistency was still there.

That side motor gets scorching hot.... I wonder why. I wouldn't be surprised if it burned the ribbon cable.
 
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Ok thanks. Will do that too. For what it's worth, just tried putting a little piece of gaff tape as a makeshift support in there. The micro vibrations were gone, but the gimbal inconsistency was still there.

That side motor gets scorching hot.... I wonder why. I wouldn't be surprised if it burned the ribbon cable.

If a gimbal motor is getting hot, your gimbal motor assy is prob damaged.
 
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