what happens if you forget to remove the camera protector?

[cb4ishoot]

Nice! I put a rubber band over the protector that I remove, now...

 

[Video]

I think almost everyone has done that at least once. I certainly have. I've never heard of any damage as a result.

Consider attaching a "Remove before flight" ribbon on the gimbal cover as a reminder. Try some Christmas ribbon and glue, rubber band, tape, or whatever.

Great idea.

 

[Baron von Richthofen]

What damage could occur

None I suspect. I’ve done it at least a few times. It’s not ideal because it shows me I’m not paying attention - and I haven’t even got the thing in the air yet! But it no longer throws me into the panic it did the first time it happened. I get a message warning me that the gimbal is overloaded, which would make sense as it is unable to go through its self-test procedure when it boots up because the camera’s held in place by the guard.

I think it’s extremely unlikely that DJI haven’t figured out this would be a common error. If there was a possibility that the gimbal motors would be damaged by this easy mistake then within a year or two just about every DJI drone owner would have a broken aircraft.

More like, the software quickly recognises the gimbal is unable to move, instantly shuts off the procedure and alerts the pilot. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if that is the only reason the gimbal goes through that quirky little ballet on start-up in the first place.

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

I’ve heard of a few people reporting damage, one here in this thread but from a technical perspective damage is highly unlikley.

Gimbal drive motors in DJI drones are as far as I am aware all “stepper” type drive motors meaning there is no mechanical connection and motive force is achieved with electromagnets. This is why your gimbal does the little calibration dance every time you power up. There is no mechanical connection so it needs to explore it’s complete range of movement to ascertain where it is pointing.

That being the case (speaking with my texhnician’s hat on rather than my drone pilot hat) the only way I can think of damage occurring off the top of my head would be for it to draw enough current for long enough for heat to cause the stepper motor windings to actually burn out …. Highly unlikely to put it bluntly.

Regards
Ari

 

[Jiminy Cricket]

I have a PTouch Label Maker so I made this with 1" tape and all 3 of my drones have it on it.
It's ugly but it works.

View attachment 141006

Is that a flag skin on your drone? Very cool!!!! Does it help with visibility in the sky or just a pretty wrap?

 

[mattcaz]

Is that a flag skin on your drone? Very cool!!!! Does it help with visibility in the sky or just a pretty wrap?

Helps some with visibility but I'm 65 and my vision sucks so I can't really give you a qualified answer. Sorry.

 

[stanbrown333]

Where can you find those? I'm truly surprised that I haven't come across them, actually.

eBay, very cheap.

 

[Fishbumfrank]

Just did the same with my P-Touch. Great idea!