P3 4K Broken Gimbal (Shaky Camera Dance)

[calgaryflyer]

Hi all.

I've got a Gimbal camera which is causing me some problems.

Bought a P3 4K off of someone who had crashed their drone and the Gimbal took the brunt of the damage. A few bent motors. Circuit board appears to be damaged/missing component. Previous owner replaced broken motors with working ones.


The flex ribbon cable got a tear in it. So previous owner replaced it with a 3rd party cable. At first I thought it was just this that was causing the problem, so yesterday I went and got an Official DJI ribbon cable and installed it in the drone today. Still getting problems.

What's happening is the drone turns on and the camera motors are making a grinding sound. Most of the time the gimbal does a shaky dance where the roll arm knocks back and forth. The gimbal is basically spazzing for 15-20 seconds when I turn the drone on before losing power (failing).


So I now know it isn't a problem with the ribbon cable. I personally think it is the main circuit board, but I will need confirmation on this. All other boards appear intact. And the motors spin perfectly fine as well.


However, when I plug the gimbal into the computer my computer is still able to recognize it, the main board's LED light is illuminated in green.

Here is few photos of the main board and the damage in question. I circled where the component broke off and the board is dented. Will this missing component and dent location cause these problems?

I think at this point, if the board is too damaged I will need to get a different board. If so, If anyone knows of someone who is selling these boards or if I can buy a working board off of you, I am interested.

 

[Great_Lakes]

That's a given! These boards are nearly impossible to find by themselves, and you won't know if you're getting a good one or not! Save yourself a month's worth of headaches and buy a new camera and gimble! I've gone through this game before and could never get a pieced-together camera and gimbal to work properly.

 

[calgaryflyer]

Additionally, I can include my damaged

That's a given! These boards are nearly impossible to find by themselves, and you won't know if you're getting a good one or not! Save yourself a month's worth of headaches and buy a new camera and gimble! I've gone through this game before and could never get a pieced-together camera and gimbal to work properly.

Why? Is DJI making each board they print different and unique? In theory as long as everything is connected properly with DJI cables, it should work.

 

[Great_Lakes]

Boards are not made different or unique. It should work. Yes, you would think so. I have a camera and gimbal on my phantom 3 pro that is pieced together from other "good" parts, and I have no image transmission signal! No logical reason, but no signal. Everything else works perfectly! I can fly, I have all the telemetry, the camera even shoots good video, but I can't see where I'm flying on my tablet.
I wish you good luck and I hope you can get it all working, but I'm just sharing my experience.

 

[calgaryflyer]

Boards are not made different or unique. It should work. Yes, you would think so. I have a camera and gimbal on my phantom 3 pro that is pieced together from other "good" parts, and I have no image transmission signal! No logical reason, but no signal. Everything else works perfectly! I can fly, I have all the telemetry, the camera even shoots good video, but I can't see where I'm flying on my tablet.
I wish you good luck and I hope you can get it all working, but I'm just sharing my experience.

Hmm. Are you using the right board from the pieced together parts? For example you say you have a P3 Pro. Are you using the gimbal main board from another P3 Pro, or did you get it off a different model such as the P3 4K for example?

Also, what size of SD card are you using when you get no transmission signal?

Try this:
1. power on the drone with dji go open on phone and leave on for 25 seconds or until you recieve the no image transmission signal message.
2. power off the drone
3. remove the SD card from your gimbal camera.
4. power on the drone
5. See if the image begins transmitting
6. re-insert SD card.


Besides, to answer your comment. Yes, I could go out and buy myself a new camera. But for me this is fun to repair, even if it will take time. I've already met a few interesting people in my quest to fix this gimbal camera. And it will make it all the more rewarding when I finally have it working.

 

[Great_Lakes]

Yes, all the parts I'm using are from a P3 Pro. And I have also read about starting without an SD card first, but I've already tried that. Still no image.

I admire your attitude. Please let me know what you finally find out once it's fixed because I have no idea how to fix mine!

 

[weiwei Fan]

Hmm. Are you using the right board from the pieced together parts? For example you say you have a P3 Pro. Are you using the gimbal main board from another P3 Pro, or did you get it off a different model such as the P3 4K for example?

Also, what size of SD card are you using when you get no transmission signal?

Try this:
1. power on the drone with dji go open on phone and leave on for 25 seconds or until you recieve the no image transmission signal message.
2. power off the drone
3. remove the SD card from your gimbal camera.
4. power on the drone
5. See if the image begins transmitting
6. re-insert SD card.


Besides, to answer your comment. Yes, I could go out and buy myself a new camera. But for me this is fun to repair, even if it will take time. I've already met a few interesting people in my quest to fix this gimbal camera. And it will make it all the more rewarding when I finally have it working.

Hello my friend, I know it is an old post but I am also in calgary and crashed my P3P last week. I have problem on gimbal as well since it doesn't spin horizontally when turned on. The pitch and roll motor seems good cause there's tension on them when turned on. Have you fixed your board eventually?