Gimbal whirring noise + solid red light

[Nakedmeeple]

After a minor crash a year ago, I had a problem getting the Phantom 3 back up and running. I did some brief troubleshooting at the time, including a failed firmware upgrade, and then set it down.

Now I'm back after a year of grumbling about it, and I'm hoping to fix the problem. Well, two problems.

1. When I connect the RC to the drone, I see the error "Accelerometer Failure", and I get a solid red indicator light on the drone along with a kind of whirring, grinding noise. The first little set of noises sounds familiar and I think is normal - but then it goes to a continuous whir. This seems to be coming from the gimbal area. I've posted a video, below.

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2. I've tried to reinstall the firmware, but when I do, it blinks red/green for 10 seconds before going solid red. I'm guessing this is related to #1.

 

[KachemakDiver]

The accelerometer failure is due to an error in the IMU located on the main aircraft circuit board. This issue happens fairly often after a crash. Unfortunately you need to separate the aircraft shell to access the IMU. If you decide to do the repair yourself, we can give you guidance on how to do it. And I believe there are YouTube videos about it also.
The failed update most likely fried the camera gimbal board. When you have the aircraft and remote linked and both are powered up, do you have live video transmission showing on your phone or tablet? And is there any other errors displayed, besides the accelerometer error?

 

[Nakedmeeple]

The accelerometer failure is due to an error in the IMU located on the main aircraft circuit board. This issue happens fairly often after a crash. Unfortunately you need to separate the aircraft shell to access the IMU. If you decide to do the repair yourself, we can give you guidance on how to do it. And I believe there are YouTube videos about it also.
The failed update most likely fried the camera gimbal board. When you have the aircraft and remote linked and both are powered up, do you have live video transmission showing on your phone or tablet? And is there any other errors displayed, besides the accelerometer error?

There is no video feed when the aircraft and remote are connected. The only errors in the Overview are the accelerometer failure and, previously I did see an Aircraft Update failure.

Is the IMU the little black box in the center of the main board under the top cover? I have opened the top up and have found that unit, and even carefully unclipped it to look inside - but didn't know where to take it from there.

 

[KachemakDiver]

Ok, the no video feed does mean that the gimbal board is bad.Phantom 3 Professional 4K camera’s are famous for this problem. When you do an update on them, you must aim a small fan at the gimbal to keep it from getting to hot and damaging the board.
Yes, the IMU is the small black box in the center. After you remove the cover of it,you will see on the top half that you took off a little module attached to it. That contains the brains of it. Now, on a solid surface like a table, hold onto it and smack it down on the table on each of the sides. Be careful when smacking the side with the cable so you don’t damage the cable. The thing is tougher than it looks, so sometimes you gotta hit it fairly hard. This process sounds crazy, but it does work. It does free up the stuck accelerometer. I have fixed several of these doing this process. I found out about this here on this forum.

 

[Nakedmeeple]

There is no video feed when the aircraft and remote are connected. The only errors in the Overview are the accelerometer failure and, previously I did see an Aircraft Update failure.

Is the IMU the little black box in the center of the main board under the top cover? I have opened the top up and have found that unit, and even carefully unclipped it to look inside - but didn't know where to take it from there.

I'll recheck tomorrow, but if it turns out I can't get a video feed at all, and I want to replace the gimbal board, what's involved, and are they available from DJI? Any ballpark on cost? Is this the one?

 

[KachemakDiver]

You can buy a good gimbal board on eBay. I buy the boards from one particular seller that are guaranteed to be good for $80.00 plus $6.00 shipping. Haven’t got a bad one from him yet. And he’s located in California, so it doesn’t take a month to get! They are simple to change out. Inspect the rest of the camera parts for any damage also to make sure it’s just a gimbal board you need.

 

[Nakedmeeple]

You can buy a good gimbal board on eBay. I buy the boards from one particular seller that are guaranteed to be good for $80.00 plus $6.00 shipping. Haven’t got a bad one from him yet. And he’s located in California, so it doesn’t take a month to get! They are simple to change out. Inspect the rest of the camera parts for any damage also to make sure it’s just a gimbal board you need.

Thanks for your help. I'll try to tap the IMU tomorrow and see if I can fix that problem, and then move on to the board. That may have to wait until after all this covid craziness when I regain my job, but at least I've got a plan! Thankyou!

 

[KachemakDiver]

We are all here to help each other ?
Take care and be safe!

 

[Phantom2USA]

He said "smack" don't tap...

 

[Nakedmeeple]

He said "smack" don't tap...

Oh god.

Alright!

 

[KachemakDiver]

Oh god.

Alright!

It’ll be ok! The first time I did it, I was gentle, it still had the accelerometer problem. Took it apart again, smacked the crap out of it, put it back together and it works great still!
A piece of advice,,, don’t totally put the shells back together until you know the IMU is working properly.

 

[Nakedmeeple]

Well, good news is that after SMACKING the IMU, I've cleared the Accelerometer Failure. I wasn't really able to remove the ribbon from either the mainboard side, where it appeared to be glued, or the IMU side, where it appeared to be threaded through the unit... but with the handle of a screwdriver, I forcefully knocked each side of the IMU and that appears to have worked.

...but I still have no video feed, and I've got the "Aircraft Upgrade Failure" - so I'm assuming both of these problems are due to a damaged gimbal board.

 

[KachemakDiver]

Well, good news is that after SMACKING the IMU, I've cleared the Accelerometer Failure. I wasn't really able to remove the ribbon from either the mainboard side, where it appeared to be glued, or the IMU side, where it appeared to be threaded through the unit... but with the handle of a screwdriver, I forcefully knocked each side of the IMU and that appears to have worked.

...but I still have no video feed, and I've got the "Aircraft Upgrade Failure" - so I'm assuming both of these problems are due to a damaged gimbal board.

NICE ?, ya if you take it completely off the board, you have to carefully remove the glue they use. Very happy you were able to fix it by just tapping on it in place ?.
Chances are,you will have to get the gimbal board replaced before you can attempt the firmware update. But, if the Go app shows that you have the gimbal connected and an sd card is inserted, you could attempt to update the firmware again. If so, format the sd card while inserted in the camera. Then download the latest firmware version on the card and try the update. I would still recommend aiming a fan at the gimbal while it updates. But in my experience, once the gimbal board shows no video feed, the update will try for a few minutes and then it will fail. Instead of the red-green gimbal light, it will turn solid red and make a continuous beeeeeeeeeep noise, instead of the b-b-b-b sound. Always start with a full battery charge also.

 

[Nakedmeeple]

NICE ?, ya if you take it completely off the board, you have to carefully remove the glue they use. Very happy you were able to fix it by just tapping on it in place ?.
Chances are,you will have to get the gimbal board replaced before you can attempt the firmware update. But, if the Go app shows that you have the gimbal connected and an sd card is inserted, you could attempt to update the firmware again. If so, format the sd card while inserted in the camera. Then download the latest firmware version on the card and try the update. I would still recommend aiming a fan at the gimbal while it updates. But in my experience, once the gimbal board shows no video feed, the update will try for a few minutes and then it will fail. Instead of the red-green gimbal light, it will turn solid red and make a continuous beeeeeeeeeep noise, instead of the b-b-b-b sound. Always start with a full battery charge also.

Oh, speaking of batteries - does DJI still sell these? I'd like to buy a second one. Or, is there a third party you prefer?