HELP, Gimbal Overload, camera pointing to the right!

[AYA74]

After all calibrations went good, put on props to go out for first flight.

powered up controller, APP the Phantom and I get this!

gimbal overload warning in the APP and camera pointed to the right????

firmware 1.1.9

What do i do? Not good...

View attachment 22803

Morphious, why do you leave these little yellow warning notices on top of your motors? Shouldn't they just been removed the first time installing the props and thrown away?

By the way Morphious, is like Morpheus the God of Dreams though you are more like a Goddess?

 

[Fares]

Same problem here the fix and a full recalibration of everything worked for me too.......if your having this problem don't forget to line up the screw with the flat part of the shaft....forgot this part and had to redo it

Not sure how to.. So hope i dnt get this problem. [emoji85]

 

[indifference]

I'd like to add
1) If you align the screw properly, it will go "all the way in." If it doesn't go in all the way (ie it still sticks out after you've tightened it down), then your screw and shaft aren't lined up properly.
2) If you flip the Phantom upside down (like I did) and loosen the screw, you need to pull the gimbal UP before tightening the screw. If the top of the gimbal rests on the bottom of the "gimbal case" (whatever it's called), it will cause friction and your camera will probably not line up right.

 

[AE284]

Hi, recently bought a Phantom 3 and had a small crash. I'm having this same problem and this is the only forum I could find someone with similar issue. See my picture attached. I've found the hex screw you are talking about but mine is only tightening up a bit, I cannot get it to go in flat. I took it out all the way and tried putting it back in, but it is raised slightly.

Is there something i'm not understanding ? Any help please, my camera just keeps facing the landing gear during flight

 

[indifference]

Here's an image of how it should look. You need to line up the 'flat' area of that inner shaft with the screw. I did this by loosening the screw, holding the inner shaft with a finger, and moving the gimbal. There's probably better ways to do it. I am not mechanically inclined, but I got it figured out. Good luck

Oh, and if you flip the P3 over to work on the gimbal, like I did, remember to lift the gimbal up so it's not sitting on that bottom piece of plastic, then tighten the screw.

 

[AE284]

It is not uncentered anymore, But now the Camera is just rotating constantly like it does when it starts up. In the app I'm getting an error that says "gimbal motor overloaded" telling me to remove the gimbal and contact DJI.

Any luck resolving this one?

 

[AE284]

Wow.. You were so right on that hex screw. I guess I didn't understand but I was about to give up. I went into a local drone repair shop here in Los Angeles minutes before they closed. They thought the sensors were busted. Said I should probably return to the seller or DJI OR buy a new camera/gimbal. I was sad to think of losing the drone for 8 weeks and an undetermined fate or paying $600 more for the camera/gimbal.

The shop guy accidentally knocked the hex screw out when trying to see what he could do.. On putting it back in he realized it needed to be flat like you said above (and I mentioned this post ha) turned it on and it f*ing worked.. I couldn't believe it. Looks like a possible ever so slightly drift on the camera occasionally but it's almost like nothing ever happened... Crazy such a small thing made such a big issue. If anyone else needs help understanding the screw issue I'll try to help also. Thanks again!

 

[Jogle]

Good call on the hex screw. I want to bump this because it's a really helpful tip. I was nervous to see my camera pointing the wrong direction after no crash or anything.

 

[Jogle]

Here's an image of how it should look. You need to line up the 'flat' area of that inner shaft with the screw. I did this by loosening the screw, holding the inner shaft with a finger, and moving the gimbal. There's probably better ways to do it. I am not mechanically inclined, but I got it figured out. Good luck

Oh, and if you flip the P3 over to work on the gimbal, like I did, remember to lift the gimbal up so it's not sitting on that bottom piece of plastic, then tighten the screw.

THIS post. Thank you, indifference. I did everything wrong before doing it right.

1. Make sure the gimbal is not resting on the plastic beneath it (if operating upside down). There should be a small gap
2. Align the screw with the shaft (I used a rubber band between my finger and the metal piece to twist it into place)
3. Screw it in all the way

If done correctly, it will work! If done incorrectly, either the camera will point to the right or left or it will be stuck pointing in one direction. EACH of those things is very frustrating.

 

[Roger Somazzi]

Hello, I had the camera pointing left also and tightening this screw helped. However, I noticed the camera now points slightly left if looking down onto the aircraft from above. Video looks even, so I think this slight direction and not directly forward is ok.

The screw was loose, and I heard grinding noises when the camera was first orienting/turning the phantom 3 on. Its only when this screw is snuggly tightened this grinding goes away when turning on the craft. Thank you for posting this, I thought my camera was broken and I'd have to fight with DJI to get this fixed.

Is this slight off center camera alignment ok or not? I've done compass, IMU, and gimbal cals after I tightened the screw.

Update: I loosened the small hex, aligned the flat part of the shaft with the hex screw while keeping the arm off the plastic and tightened the screw. After a gimbal cal, the bottom pic is what I get. The camera is slightly off to the right. Is this normal?

Thank you!

 

[WWK888]

I too am glad I found this post. My yaw arm was not moving smoothly side to side after an encounter with a tree branch. I thought the arm may have bent but I took a chance and loosened the set screw and retightened it. Camera is smooth as butter...thanks!

 

[David Cohran]

Thanks guys... I had the exact ssame problem and now it's fixed. Also, after I did IMU calibration on a very flat surface and then gimbal calibration, the "gimbal overload error" went away too

How do you do a IMU calibration?

 

[Rogerdodger]

Soooooo,...after about 6 hours of going on this Forum,..and then fiddling to adjust the Grub screw on the Gimbal shaft,..the light dawned-when I noticed,..thanks to another post,- the flat side of the Gimbal shaft coming down from the motor. (Thanks,..bud!). As stated above, the Grub screw must tighten up against this flat side,..to hold the camera straight forward.
HOWEVER, on the Phantom 3 Standard,..it is difficult to get to the screw head when it is turned so against the flat side of the shaft. Enter my wife,...she discovered that on the opposite side of the Gimbal shaft there is a small(1/4 inch) opening, where you can use a flashlight and insert the tiny Allen wrench and get to the Grub Screw to tighten it agains the flat shaft surface.
FINALLY!! Camera now faces forward again
Tools needed:
Tiniest Allen wrench you can find,
Flashlight,.
Flat, white surface, in case you drop the tiny screw, so you can find it,
Wife with great intuition, patience, & eyes
NOTE: the Grub screw is magnetized, so should stick to your Allen wrench,..if you are real careful.

Now, safe flying,..y'all.

 

[Falcor]

I know exactly what it is.. I had the same issue, took it back to the place I bought it, and they replaced it. BUT as I was waiting for the new one to be brought out, the technician said he knew exactly what it was, and that it was a pretty simple fix. If you hold the phantom in front of you and look into the left side of it (phantom facing left), and push the back of the gimbal all the way to the back so the camera is pointing all the way to the left. you will see a little set screw right where the gimbal arm attaches to the motor that turns the gimbal to the left and right (I think it a tiny hex set screw). In my case this had loosened, and just needed to be tightened down. The way it should be aligned is that set screw should be tightened down on the flat side of the shaft coming down from the motor (which you can see if you look up underneath the phantom gimbal. Let me know if this gets you up and running...

A sincere thank you! I have been racking my brain over this for days thinking it was a broken ribbon or motor issue. I read this, flipped over my Phantom and was able to instantly see that the set screw did not align with the flat part of the shaft. Your taking the time to make this comment saved me so much future headache!!

 

[RadioNick]

I know exactly what it is..

AmirChar, huge thanks! I had a small crash and had this exact issue. First my pan motor faced only to the sides, then after attempting calibration, it would bounce around and never settle.

Tools required: 1.5mm Allen / Hex wrench
Time required: About two minutes.

VIDEO TUTORIAL: I've made a quick video demonstrating this fix.

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[Evandro Damasceno]

Does anyone has the solution for Phantom 4 to the same problem?. I've noticed that the camera is tilting just a little bit to the right. You just can see it's tilting right when you look up like the last photo.

 

[Thomas Lindhe]

I thought this at first also, but the OP said all calibrations went well. I assumed that meant a gimbal calibration also. That would fail for sure with foam still in place, right?

I flew into a lamppost today and there is no camera image, and when flying the gimbal goes to the left and right for no reason. Do I have to send it for repair or is there something I can do?

 

[Oso]

I flew into a lamppost today and there is no camera image, and when flying the gimbal goes to the left and right for no reason. Do I have to send it for repair or is there something I can do?

If it were mine, I would check all of the cables on the camera/gimbal to be sure they were all well seated. Sometimes it takes a very careful inspection to see a partially unplugged cable that may appear to be well seated at first glance.

 

[Wingfan04]

Set Screw on the Flat spot... Got it

 

[JohnnyB]

In a respect of patients being your best tool, and from a mechanics POV, here's what I would do; and this is for all of you that are going to take the time to "check" your set screw even if nothing is wrong with it.
First, have a calm state of mind. If you're rushed, forget even looking on this day. Fix a cup of coffee, and be relaxed when you start to work on it. Knowing this is something that is going to take an amount of vibration, and after reading this forum, I would suggest taking the set screw out and applying the smallest amount of the blue #242 loctite and reinstalling to help keep it from happening, or happening again. The blue #242 is not the heavy duty and will allow removal if later needed. DO NOT use the red 271! It is the heavy duty made more for industrial purpose.
Take your time! When working on anything, do something, then stop and give yourself time to think and look. Take a sip of coffee. You'll be surprised how much more you'll see and understand having enough patience and time to begin your project.
I noticed before and after this procedure, my camara was slightly facing left. I also noticed when everything but the motors is on, you can move the yaw left to right and the camara also moves left and right. I suppose it's to help compensate for the force of the turn. I took a test a step further. On your screen you can put a center cross hair in the very center of your screen. I went outside and got it all fired up, all calibrations completed along with a hover test, then pointed the cross hair directly towards a tree at the end of the property which was about 50' away. Then carefully making sure I pushed very straight forward, I flew towards the tree slowly and it flew exactly in line with the cross hair. This told me in flight the camara had to be facing as it should during flight which is what we want. I'm satisfied with that.
Good luck and remember that patience is your best tool!