Beginner question and concern

dgonzalezh · Sep 18, 2017

I got a used Phantom 3 Standard from a store here in COL, it came just fine -- I guess -- camera looked fine, video and pics, I decided to start, read the manual, charged everything up, installed props, connected to the drone to test, but I couldn't resist flying in doors. bump.

I could never get satellite locked but although, I took off, the drone moved sideways, and hit a wall, it wasn't brutal fall, 3-4 feet but aircraft was turned all over camera facing up, as far as I'm concerned camera was not hit.

Nw the issue, when I turned the P3 again today, I noticed a weird sound and erratic movement on the camera, it doesn't stop moving and it gets way too hot. I do see video but the app shows those like white dots moving up and down.

As you may see in the pics the gimbal looks fine, no missing pieces AFAIK, aircraft turns on, connects to remote and app, video preview shows fine, with the exception that the camera doesn't stop moving around its axis and gets excessively hot.

I would like to know if I might have damaged the camera, gimbal, what? due to my own stupidity and what could I do, reminder there's no returns or warranty, mostly because I messed up some of the props (edges), so, I want to ask, what could I do, check, I've tried reset to defaults, turn on and off, t was off all night -- no use -- so any useful tips would be appreciated.

Thanks and I hope I can for once fly it for real, I had one of those chinese crappy crap drones which never even got 3 feet off the ground.

Asking for mod permission I publish a youtube link to the private video of the aforementioned situation.

Please help me change from :'-( into .

WV. Rootman · Sep 18, 2017

I think you broke a small stop that keeps the camera from moving too far. The piece cost about $30, but it takes much more effort to get it installed. You never fly a Phantom 3 in doors. You really need to send it off to get it repaired.

Traveler · Sep 18, 2017

dgonzalezh said:
I got a used Phantom 3 Standard from a store here in COL, it came just fine -- I guess -- camera looked fine, video and pics, I decided to start, read the manual, charged everything up, installed props, connected to the drone to test, but I couldn't resist flying in doors. bump.

I could never get satellite locked but although, I took off, the drone moved sideways, and hit a wall, it wasn't brutal fall, 3-4 feet but aircraft was turned all over camera facing up, as far as I'm concerned camera was not hit.

Nw the issue, when I turned the P3 again today, I noticed a weird sound and erratic movement on the camera, it doesn't stop moving and it gets way too hot. I do see video but the app shows those like white dots moving up and down.

As you may see in the pics the gimbal looks fine, no missing pieces AFAIK, aircraft turns on, connects to remote and app, video preview shows fine, with the exception that the camera doesn't stop moving around its axis and gets excessively hot.

View attachment 88370 View attachment 88371 View attachment 88372 View attachment 88373 View attachment 88374

I would like to know if I might have damaged the camera, gimbal, what? due to my own stupidity and what could I do, reminder there's no returns or warranty, mostly because I messed up some of the props (edges), so, I want to ask, what could I do, check, I've tried reset to defaults, turn on and off, t was off all night -- no use -- so any useful tips would be appreciated.

Thanks and I hope I can for once fly it for real, I had one of those chinese crappy crap drones which never even got 3 feet off the ground.

Asking for mod permission I publish a youtube link to the private video of the aforementioned situation.

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Please help me change from :'-( into .

I once had a like minor bump with a P3, and at first glance I couldn't see any gimbal damage, but as soon as I attempted to install the gimbal clamp, I knew better. It was a tight fit vs the normal fit. That may be a tell to you too. Of course the erratic behavior of the gimbal speaks volumes it's self.

Mine was fine for a while, but later started developing intermittent erratic problems, and eventually I was forced to accept that I had to replace it or rebuild it. Anyway, while I was nursing it along, I found that my number one problem was a damaged ribbon cable.

So, check how the clamp fits and check how the ribbon cable looks, i.e., well seated in the connectors and no visible damage.

The ribbon on my P3P had a white line to indicate it was seated properly.

If you search the web, you can find videos on how to take one apart.

Best of luck!