Newbie Gimbal mistake & now paranoia

[Andy-W]

In short…. Took delivery of Mini 3 pro yesterday, and excited switched it on - guess what…didn’t even think about removing the gimbal cover! :-(

Realised once the firmware update etc. was complete. What’s the chances I will have done damage? Initial flights and videos I recorded seem absolutely fine, but I’m rather paranoid! Is there anything I can do to determine if there is a problem lurking?

 

[old man mavic]

its not something you want to do on a regular basis but you should be ok if it now appears to be working correctly ,fortunately the gimbal dance movement on start up for the Mini 3, is only a few small moves compared to other Minis

 

[Andy-W]

its not something you want to do on a regular basis but you should be ok if it now appears to be working correctly ,fortunately the gimbal dance movement on start up for the Mini 3, is only a few small moves compared to other Minis

Thank you for the prompt and re-assuring reply. Anything I should look out for in particular or any calibration (or other) action I can take to test it out fully?

 

[MS Coast]

As @old man mavic said, don't fret. If you surveyed the the population of pilots represented here about whether they've powered up with the gimbal installed, you'd probably find three groups. I suspect most of us fall into the first group.

• Those who will admit that they have.
• Those who will eventually do it.
• Those who are lying about not having done it.

I suspect most of us fall into the first group.

 

[ssvdh66]

been there ,done that , drone survived nicely

 

[LoudThunder]

Anything I should look out for in particular or any calibration (or other) action I can take to test it out fully?

Welcome from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, USA. I fly a Mini 2 and I know the excitement you are going through…

If you are in the U.S.A. there are a couple of Legal Things you need to do… Register your Drone; that can be done at the FAA Web Site. You also need to get your TRUST Certificate. You can get that at the Pilot Institute Web Site (FREE…) .

FAADroneZone

FAA TRUST Online Portal for Recreational Drone Operators - Pilot Institute

If you live elsewhere, be sure you are following all of the laws and rules applicable to you. Here is a DJI Link to Many Sites of interest to all.

Drone Flight Application Strategy Digest, continually updated!

Do not let the excitement of the moment get the best of you. When you are going out to fly, do it slowly and deliberately. Get used to a set procedure and even practice it.

Plug in your phone/tablet into your controller; turn on the Controller and DJI Fly App (if it does not start on its own…). On the Drone, open the front legs, then open the back legs, then remove the Gimbal Cover.

The Gimbal is the most delicate item on the Drone and banging or bumping can damage it. I also fastened a short "Remove Before Flight" ribbon to the cover so it's more noticeable and I do not forget to remove it…

Turn on the drone and watch it come to "life." Watching the Gimbal go through its self-check is almost like watching a kitten or puppy opening its eyes for the first time…

Place the drone down (preferably on a Landing Pad) while it finishes its self-test (collecting satellites, etc…).

Check your battery status (Phone, Drone, and Controller), check the Signal Strength, by now the Controller should have reported it updated the Home Point.

Lift off, 4-5 feet (1-1/2 meters) or so, hover a bit, check the controls (move the drone a bit forward, back, left, right, yaw left and right). By now, your Controller will probably report again, Home point Updated.

If you go out in a rush and race thru your start up and take off before the drone has finished it prep, it may update its Home Point over that pond or that old tree you are flying over and in your excitement, you'll fly the drone long past it Low Battery point and when it engages Return to Home and lands in the pond or in a tree; it will be all on you…

Now go have fun, learn to fly the drone by sight before you try to fly it out a distance depending on the video feed, FPV.

The following YouTube Video by Jeven Dovey is well worth watching and you might even subscribe to his channel…

I would also advise you to use YouTube and watch a lot of the Videos on flying and setting up the Drone. When it is too dark, too cold, or too wet, you can "fly it vicariously" through YouTube. Also watch some of the Blooper Drone Videos and learn how not to fly your "New Baby."

Below is the link to all of the downloads offered by DJI for the Mini 2. You will also find the 75-page User's Manual, in case your Drone did not come with one. The User Manuals are published in different languages.

After you read the Manual, read it again, you will be surprised what you missed the first time and you will be better prepared for that first "scary moment…"

DJI Mini 2 - Download Center - DJI

Happy and Safe Droning…

 

[Xenomorph UK]

In short…. Took delivery of Mini 3 pro yesterday, and excited switched it on - guess what…didn’t even think about removing the gimbal cover! :-(

Realised once the firmware update etc. was complete. What’s the chances I will have done damage? Initial flights and videos I recorded seem absolutely fine, but I’m rather paranoid! Is there anything I can do to determine if there is a problem lurking?

Hi,

Weve all done it at some stage and anyone that says they havent is either a liar or a perfectionist.

Just slip a sheet of paper on the top of however you store it with the word Gimbal cover on it, ive never done it since.

 

[scro]

Glue a bit of red ribbon onto the cover, or get right into the aeronautical theme with one of the below ribbons. You're unlikely to miss that. We've all forgotten at least once, and survived. The gimbal motors sense a restriction and stop before they frazzle themselves.

 

[old man mavic]

Thank you for the prompt and re-assuring reply. Anything I should look out for in particular or any calibration (or other) action I can take to test it out fully?

in the menu in the fly app there are gimbal settings that you can do if you want to ,but really as long as the gimbal and camera are ok then i would relax and enjoy your new purchase
a small tip to help attaching the gimbal cover ,is to keep the piece of black foam that was behind the gimbal in transit ,and slide that back in the same way before you put the cover back on it keeps the gimbal and camera steady ,while you fit the cover

 

[GFields]

In short…. Took delivery of Mini 3 pro yesterday, and excited switched it on - guess what…didn’t even think about removing the gimbal cover! :-(

Realised once the firmware update etc. was complete. What’s the chances I will have done damage? Initial flights and videos I recorded seem absolutely fine, but I’m rather paranoid! Is there anything I can do to determine if there is a problem lurking?

Greetings from Birmingham Alabama, welcome to the forum!

 

[SETI 2022]

In short…. Took delivery of Mini 3 pro yesterday, and excited switched it on - guess what…didn’t even think about removing the gimbal cover! :-(

Realised once the firmware update etc. was complete. What’s the chances I will have done damage? Initial flights and videos I recorded seem absolutely fine, but I’m rather paranoid! Is there anything I can do to determine if there is a problem lurking?

Yes, as a very new newbie, I have done that several times on my Mavic 2 Pro, no apparent problems so far , touch wood, so I stuck a self adhesive label over the drone battery start button, saying remove gimbal cover, that worked , but thanks to my continual reading from this forum , I saw mentioned , " remove before flight" flag attached to gimbal cover , so got a narrow bit of brightly coloured ribbon and loosely attached it to the gimbal cover.