Unable to calibrate Gimbal

[Former Member]

@Joanne Sometimes a ribbon cable problem, sometimes a gimbal motor assembly problem, sometimes a gimbal PCB problem. Sometimes it takes me 2 hours to troubleshoot a gimbal, and I have all the replacement parts already.

 

[Joanne]

@Thunderdrones THANKYOU so much for replying ...

I've had no luck getting this back working and no way of trouble shooting without a full kit of parts
only getting reasonable prices on eBay.. But as expected very variable quality and lead times

to (*try) summarise

I got the 2 rear motors (a pull).. not bad condition but couldn't make good on removing them from the front due to way the arm is manufactured
i'm assuming some sort of plastic welding .( ultrasonic??) anyway I bit the bullet and ordered 2 arms because the 2 used motors were more step free feeling
so i guessed it was best not to use the original even slightly dented ones ... this meant no loss trying to dremel the arm bottom to get to the motors which almost worked ...had a not snicked the coax ... arse... but yah it would've been tough to make a tidy repair .. so back to the Ebay "lottery" one came in genuine one used, which makes me think .. not a balance pair but gimbal issues have taken president over that at the moment

*i needed both cases .. both came gen ( with the core cables nice for $35)
* the gimbal AV and plate .. this was non genuine * look out everyone *
if you look on Ebay you'll see the Anti Vibe board has 2 small cutouts on the sides near the front .. its not hard to cut this but some of the ebay ones only have this notch on one side not both as the gen. ones do.. the gen ones have the ♲ recycle symbol in the middle .. at least the ones i can see
* two arms ( see above)

and now i cant solve this gimbal issue ...had i known how hard it was to get a know good gimbal for reasonable price i would have tried the cable only option firstly
even thou my suspicion that the gimbal was bent on the tilt axis (below the yaw motor) was correct i thought i could just replace the 2 and save time..
but the gimbal i got ... has problems ...

*** this is where your reply becomes more relevant***
this "new" gimbal is overheating to the point it burns my fingers ... PLEASE can you tell me if its possible this is NOT the FWD sensor control PCB even though the FWD obs sensors are ok .. is this likely just the motors it feels like all 3 axis are getting hot the roll only goes one way when in Cal. .. but the other 2 (axis) make a full swing ( AFAIKT) to be sure i changed the cable .. and i'm sure it wasn't damaged on arrival or during installation but this is what i'm left with


thanks for getting this far

 

[Former Member]

@Thunderdrones THANKYOU so much for replying ...

I've had no luck getting this back working and no way of trouble shooting without a full kit of parts
only getting reasonable prices on eBay.. But as expected very variable quality and lead times

to (*try) summarise

I got the 2 rear motors (a pull).. not bad condition but couldn't make good on removing them from the front due to way the arm is manufactured
i'm assuming some sort of plastic welding .( ultrasonic??) anyway I bit the bullet and ordered 2 arms because the 2 used motors were more step free feeling
so i guessed it was best not to use the original even slightly dented ones ... this meant no loss trying to dremel the arm bottom to get to the motors which almost worked ...had a not snicked the coax ... arse... but yah it would've been tough to make a tidy repair .. so back to the Ebay "lottery" one came in genuine one used, which makes me think .. not a balance pair but gimbal issues have taken president over that at the moment

*i needed both cases .. both came gen ( with the core cables nice for $35)
* the gimbal AV and plate .. this was non genuine * look out everyone *
if you look on Ebay you'll see the Anti Vibe board has 2 small cutouts on the sides near the front .. its not hard to cut this but some of the ebay ones only have this notch on one side not both as the gen. ones do.. the gen ones have the ♲ recycle symbol in the middle .. at least the ones i can see
* two arms ( see above)

and now i cant solve this gimbal issue ...had i known how hard it was to get a know good gimbal for reasonable price i would have tried the cable only option firstly
even thou my suspicion that the gimbal was bent on the tilt axis (below the yaw motor) was correct i thought i could just replace the 2 and save time..
but the gimbal i got ... has problems ...

*** this is where your reply becomes more relevant***
this "new" gimbal is overheating to the point it burns my fingers ... PLEASE can you tell me if its possible this is NOT the FWD sensor control PCB even though the FWD obs sensors are ok .. is this likely just the motors it feels like all 3 axis are getting hot the roll only goes one way when in Cal. .. but the other 2 (axis) make a full swing ( AFAIKT) to be sure i changed the cable .. and i'm sure it wasn't damaged on arrival or during installation but this is what i'm left with


thanks for getting this far

It could either be the ribbon cable or motor assembly. If all 3 motors are getting hot, it might be your motor assembly.

 

[Joanne]

i had the same feeling but it is tough to be sure at least roll and tilt are getting super hot

does this risk buring the control PCB out ?

also do DJI sell just the bare gimbal to Auth agents ? if so whats the going rate for it ... so i can gauge it

 

[Former Member]

does this risk buring the control PCB out ?

Yes it's possible, but worse, it could feedback and fry your core board.

also do DJI sell just the bare gimbal to Auth agents

No, any authorized agent will replace the whole gimbal. Thats what DJI requires them to do.

 

[Joanne]

the whole gimble inc mount and PCB ?

 

[aksobby]

Had same problem as described. Lucky I was still in warranty and Pro was sent away and problem solved

 

[Cymruflyer]

I had the same problem but had no crash prior to it. It has been related in other posts but here it is again. I flew fine and landed. Changed batteries and went to fly a little later and at turn on, the gimbal did the up down, up down thing then came to rest off to one side. Tried a few things but nothing worked. It was NOT the ribbon as so many always seem to think it might be. The board was fine too. The gimbal was getting too hot to even touch. It turned out to be the top motor of the gimbal that had failed for no apparent reason and it was just a few months old.

I would say 99.9% the fault was with one of your gimbal motors and would say it was the top motor. After you had your slight crash, it may have been something else, however, I would still say it is your top motor of the gimbal. You can find places that will replace just that motor for you and that should make it all work again, unless the heat affected one of the other motors or other components, if you did not switch things off fairly quickly.

As I said, I had the same problem but my ribbon and board were fine, so it was the top motor of the gimbal that failed and I suspect this will be your problem too and many others, where they have found their ribbons and boards to be in tact and fine. Please let us know if it was the top motor on your gimbal.

 

[Joanne]

Possible pedantic. ..
But the crash wasn't slight in the slightest. .. It was at least 30 meters. . On to aggregate ..lol. I don't do anything by half's !

The overheating gimbal was a replacement for the original from eBay. . Which I had to get a cable for because due to poor packing arrived damaged and otherwise looked ok ...(The doublesided sticky had stuck to the inner package ) The comments above refer to it. Hence why I refer to the original being very slightly bent (under the yaw motor ).
In the end I got a refurbished complete gimbal AV and PCB based on the possibility that the replacement overheating gimbal had took the pcb out .. ( see @Thunderdrones ) above and sell the pcb on ebay if it was good .. Unfortunately it had problems with the original PCB .. It actually DID calibrate but it was flipping up so fast it was making a thwacking noise so I think it would fail eventually. . So had I not been sold a **** gimbal .. I probably had a working pcb .. so my idea of saving fifty quid faded fast...
Not all bad news though .. Not only did the Replacement pcb fix it. I DID get a refund from the eBayer for the bad gimble. Admittedly if they hadn't insisted on my videoing it .. I probably wouldn't have burnt out the PCB!!!
slightly less relevant. .. The parcel bounced back unopened but it's no good to me ... Or probably them
So I do have 2 cameras and a video cable to sell !!! One carefully .. (coughs) owner

Thanks @Thunderdrones .. In particular
I did suspect that DJI didn't sell the gimbal parts separately but had no idea what they charged the dealers
.... so far ....

All good here ... touch wood ..
List of parts changed
2 cases (top ,mid)
2 front arms
Fwd obs sensors (cable sheared off)
Gimbal .. ( have a spare plate and AV)
Rear Motor Cover
New Props (only lost 1 but best change all )
Replacement ND4.

No labour charges. .. priceless

 

[Former Member]

Possible pedantic. ..
But the crash wasn't slight in the slightest. .. It was at least 30 meters. . On to aggregate ..lol. I don't do anything by half's !

The overheating gimbal was a replacement for the original from eBay. . Which I had to get a cable for because due to poor packing arrived damaged and otherwise looked ok ...(The doublesided sticky had stuck to the inner package ) The comments above refer to it. Hence why I refer to the original being very slightly bent (under the yaw motor ).
In the end I got a refurbished complete gimbal AV and PCB based on the possibility that the replacement overheating gimbal had took the pcb out .. ( see @Thunderdrones ) above and sell the pcb on ebay if it was good .. Unfortunately it had problems with the original PCB .. It actually DID calibrate but it was flipping up so fast it was making a thwacking noise so I think it would fail eventually. . So had I not been sold a **** gimbal .. I probably had a working pcb .. so my idea of saving fifty quid faded fast...
Not all bad news though .. Not only did the Replacement pcb fix it. I DID get a refund from the eBayer for the bad gimble. Admittedly if they hadn't insisted on my videoing it .. I probably wouldn't have burnt out the PCB!!!
slightly less relevant. .. The parcel bounced back unopened but it's no good to me ... Or probably them
So I do have 2 cameras and a video cable to sell !!! One carefully .. (coughs) owner

Thanks @Thunderdrones .. In particular
I did suspect that DJI didn't sell the gimbal parts separately but had no idea what they charged the dealers
.... so far ....

All good here ... touch wood ..
List of parts changed
2 cases (top ,mid)
2 front arms
Fwd obs sensors (cable sheared off)
Gimbal .. ( have a spare plate and AV)
Rear Motor Cover
New Props (only lost 1 but best change all )
Replacement ND4.

No labour charges. .. priceless

Job well done!

 

[DannyDieHard]

You were having gimbal overload problems before the crash, but after you flicked the cam it centered itself. Now you have a non-responsive gimbal. It might seem like they are related, but Im guessing its your ribbon cable after the crash. If the ribbon cable even has a small tear in it, it will stop the gimbal from moving. If youre still getting video feed, thats my guess.

Its possible that a connector on the ribbon came loose, that would also cause problems.

Nope that's not it cause its happening to me and a torn ribbon cable wouldn't allow u to fly. It will error 200 until u change the flex cable or the ribbon cable , its not the gimbal either its software issue, I can move my gimbal to look where I want it to , but it thinks the center is offset to the left I change the screws and turn all 3 sides and keeps doing it, so it has to be software , did u figure out how to reflash it?

 

[Thomas B]

Nope that's not it cause its happening to me and a torn ribbon cable wouldn't allow u to fly. It will error 200 until u change the flex cable or the ribbon cable , its not the gimbal either its software issue, I can move my gimbal to look where I want it to , but it thinks the center is offset to the left I change the screws and turn all 3 sides and keeps doing it, so it has to be software , did u figure out how to reflash it?

@DannyDieHard .... I guess you realize the post you quote above is 6 months old and was not in response to your problem... which you have posted prior to this post.
For those who may be able to help him please go to this post by DannyDieHard:

Mp2Zoom camera faces off left ,wont center on its own

Ok like yall see in the picture , once I power up ,the whole start goes good. But cam does the up down right left and center off set to the left. I can center on the app with my finger I can point the cam where I want it to look ,it zooms in and out. it looks up down evrything good so I lock...

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