Minor crash and gimbal now sits on an angle - what's the fix?

robbiewex · Sep 2, 2017

Hi, so I had a relatively minor crash a week ago and now the gimbal is angled and I can't tell exactly what I need to do next. I assume the plate the gimbal is attached to is bent, but not certain. I purchased the DJI Refresh with my Mavic purchase a couple of months ago. Do I send it back or get a new plate and try to fix it myself (if that is what needs to be fixed)?

By the way, the horizon still appears straight when I shoot video, etc. I'm hoping nothing else is messed up and I don't believe it is (although my exposure seemed light last time I used the drone, but I think my settings for the camera were not good).

Any help is appreciated...

robbiewex · Sep 2, 2017

By the way, after looking at a couple of related posts, I am not seeing any damage other than the angled gimbal. That L-clip is still attached, the plate and little rubbers bands are all attached and the ribbon cable is fine. The only other thing I think is that maybe the gimbal clamp may not be fully seating correctly like it used to, but it still does seat and retain the gimbal as it should.

4wd · Sep 2, 2017

It isn't just one of the supporting tabs got below where it should be?
This is something can happen without a bump even in the case.

robbiewex · Sep 2, 2017

4wd said:
It isn't just one of the supporting tabs got below where it should be?
This is something can happen without a bump even in the case.

Thanks for the reply. I just took another photo, I don't think any tabs are where they shouldn't be, but if you notice on the gimbal where it mounts to the plate that little silver bracket, maybe that is not positioning correctly? What do you think?

4wd · Sep 2, 2017

It does look like it might have somehow unclipped
I tried to check mine but really hard to see it when not hanging down a bit like yours - but almost certain it should be over that plate above.
Very fiddly to apply enough force to get it back though with it in place.
The ribbon cable doesn't want yanking under any circumstances.

robbiewex · Sep 2, 2017

Yea, unfortunately, it looks like I'll have to remove it and possibly replace the vibration plate it connects to. Everything looks intact otherwise and there is no clear problem anywhere else. I'll probably order a plate and take it apart once I receive it. I think sending it to DJI under the Refresh plan right now is a bad idea; I may need it another time when things are much worse (but let's hope not!). Again, thank you for your responses!

mangospoops · Sep 2, 2017

Before you start sending it back. The same thing happened to me. Had a minor crash and thought the plate was bent. That plate believe it or not is very very hard to bend. After reading some posts on here i found out that because of the crash the IMU went crazy and so did the gimbal. An IMU and gimbal recalibration in that order on a very flat surface fixed then issue. Looks like your camera might just be out calibration after the crash.

robbiewex · Sep 2, 2017

Hey man, I appreciate the advice. I did do that and everything is working fine. I feel like everything works OK; need to fly it again tomorrow and will determine if the images and video look good but as I said, the horizon in the videos appear level. But the gimbal arm on the left when you look face-to-face with the Mavic is definitely angled incorrectly -- so instead of the left anchoring arm sitting like this | it looks more like this /

mangospoops · Sep 2, 2017

robbiewex said:
Hey man, I appreciate the advice. I did do that and everything is working fine. I feel like everything works OK; need to fly it again tomorrow and will determine if the images and video look good but as I said, the horizon in the videos appear level. But the gimbal arm on the left when you look face-to-face with the Mavic is definitely angled incorrectly -- so instead of the left anchoring arm sitting like this | it looks more like this /

Did you do a gimbal tilt adjustment also. That might help. I did the IMU and gimbal recalibration twice. Just to make sure. If the camera looks fine while in flight I would just let it go. As long as it works the way it’s supposed to. It could be leaning like a lazy boy for all I care and I have ocd but that’s just me. Glad it’s working for you somewhat.