Phantom 2 Vision Plus Camera and Gimbal not working

[Bernie1998]

Ok so I just bought a Phantom 2 Vision Plus off my friend knowing that the ribbon cable and role motor were broken on the gimbal. I bought a new ribbon cable off ebay and glued the motor back into position. After hooking it back up and putting it together I turned on the phantom and nothing. The light on the camera doesn't come on, the camera video doesn't open in the app, and the gimbal doesn't move. I tried everything. Hard reset and Reload phantom firmware, checking all connections ect... What should I do next? I'm thinking about buying a new camera circuit board off ebay and replacing it. If you have any gimbal parts for sale please let me know. Please Help!! Thank You

 

[J Dot]

Hello Bernie

Call Mike Holtz ( 530-277-5366 )
He has them, but gonna cost you around $175, which is cheap for one guaranteed to work, my buddy bought 3 off eBay from $70-$150 all 3 did not work. Just a heads up, most places want well over $200 for them.


Have you checked for power at camera connections, mainboard, or bypassed the wifi to see if it is good as well? Could be a simple broken connector or wire, usually those boards will display red light meaning CMOS ERROR, or critical error. But no light sounds like now power, but I could be wrong. I would do some testing before spending any money. I just recently got sucked into that myself, but now I know all the tricks, not going to fall for that again! Before you know it you'll have spent MORE fixing a used unit when you can buy a NEW p3S for $479.
Just saying! Keep it real!

J Dot

 

[Bernie1998]

Hello Bernie

Call Mike Holtz ( 530-277-5366 )
He has them, but gonna cost you around $175, which is cheap for one guaranteed to work, my buddy bought 3 off eBay from $70-$150 all 3 did not work. Just a heads up, most places want well over $200 for them.


Have you checked for power at camera connections, mainboard, or bypassed the wifi to see if it is good as well? Could be a simple broken connector or wire, usually those boards will display red light meaning CMOS ERROR, or critical error. But no light sounds like now power, but I could be wrong. I would do some testing before spending any money. I just recently got sucked into that myself, but now I know all the tricks, not going to fall for that again! Before you know it you'll have spent MORE fixing a used unit when you can buy a NEW p3S for $479.
Just saying! Keep it real!

J Dot

Thank you for the quick reply!
I have not tested power mainly because I do no know what pins to test. Could you please tell me how to test it and what I should look for? I found this wiring diagram on rc groups.

 

[Bernie1998]

Hello Bernie

Call Mike Holtz ( 530-277-5366 )
He has them, but gonna cost you around $175, which is cheap for one guaranteed to work, my buddy bought 3 off eBay from $70-$150 all 3 did not work. Just a heads up, most places want well over $200 for them.


Have you checked for power at camera connections, mainboard, or bypassed the wifi to see if it is good as well? Could be a simple broken connector or wire, usually those boards will display red light meaning CMOS ERROR, or critical error. But no light sounds like now power, but I could be wrong. I would do some testing before spending any money. I just recently got sucked into that myself, but now I know all the tricks, not going to fall for that again! Before you know it you'll have spent MORE fixing a used unit when you can buy a NEW p3S for $479.
Just saying! Keep it real!

J Dot

Ok so when I hooked up my multimeter to the 12 volt wires on the muddle conector both of them showed 12 volts. But when I hooked up the the 12 volt wire on the right connector I did not get a reading. Does this mean that my camera might be fine and I need to replace the wifi transmitter? How can I test if the transmitter is working properly? Thanks again

 

[Bernie1998]

Also when I open wifi analyzer on my phone and turn the phantom on the module heats up but I do not see a wifi signal from the phantom.

 

[J Dot]

Hello Bernie,
First thing we need to do, is the wifi bypass.
Your wifi unit has 3 connections, and 2 antennas. 2 connections are small connectors down the side, we want the largest one at the end. You'll have to remove camera/gimbal, gimbal bottom plate , then pull off USB cover ( rubber cover ) , now unscrew USB port, you'll need to track that wire, pull it loose from USB housing, rerouted it to ( CAM PORT ) on mainboard, there is already a plug there, so unplug that, and plug in rerouted wire, then use analyzer, to find DJI stamp ( 60:60:1f:??:??:?? )

Let me know if this works, this will tell you if wifi module is good or not.

Then we will go from there.

J Dot

 

[Bernie1998]

Hello Bernie,
First thing we need to do, is the wifi bypass.
Your wifi unit has 3 connections, and 2 antennas. 2 connections are small connectors down the side, we want the largest one at the end. You'll have to remove camera/gimbal, gimbal bottom plate , then pull off USB cover ( rubber cover ) , now unscrew USB port, you'll need to track that wire, pull it loose from USB housing, rerouted it to ( CAM PORT ) on mainboard, there is already a plug there, so unplug that, and plug in rerouted wire, then use analyzer, to find DJI stamp ( 60:60:1f:??:??:?? )

Let me know if this works, this will tell you if wifi module is good or not.

Then we will go from there.

J Dot

I did exactly what you told me and I still did not get a wifi signal. Plug the middle 6 pin connector that goes to the gimbal into the port labeled "CAM" right?

 

[J Dot]

Yes,
This powers your wifi module directly
And not through the gimbal first.

Ok can you check for this

Let me know?
J Dot

 

[Bernie1998]

Yes,
This powers your wifi module directly
And not through the gimbal first.

Ok can you check for this

Let me know?
J Dot

Mine is not burnt like that

 

[J Dot]

Ok,
And with wifi bypassed, your not getting and wifi signal? ( in analyzer )
( sorry to ask but you did power up phantom to check? )
On the cam port,
Center 2 pins ( be careful testing not to short terminal out with test probes ) ) you should get 11.5volts there

Let me know?

J Dot

 

[Bernie1998]

Ok,
And with wifi bypassed, your not getting and wifi signal? ( in analyzer )
( sorry to ask but you did power up phantom to check? )
On the cam port,
Center 2 pins ( be careful testing not to short terminal out with test probes ) ) you should get 11.5volts there

Let me know?

J Dot

Wifi bypassed, no signal in analyzer, phantom powered on and those 2 pins gave me around 17volts

 

[J Dot]

Ok,
That is weird, as the battery is only 11.1vdc. But if your getting a reading there, I'm sure phantom mainboard is good. So , so far I'm assuming the wifi module has failed. But for gimbal having no power, that is something else. You said you checked all connectors, wires. So can be 3 possibilities.

1. Power transfer board ( the small circuit board the gimbal wires hook to from ZENMUSE port.
2) wire bad somewhere?
3) gimbal issue ( ribbon, or mainboard )

I would first order a p2v+ cable set, not expensive at all, comes with all new cables, new compass cable, esc cables, and power transfer board.

Try this if still no go, I would inspect the ribbon closely or replace ( also cheap ) and if still no, than I would have to say BAD gimbal mainboard.

First:
With battery out of bird, turn it on, test those leads for 11.1vdc
( the pin CLOSEST, to the 2 communication pads, is positive, the other is negative. I'm wondering if the battery shorted out, and is kicking off huge volts ( 17vdc ) causing the burnout? Can you please look into this, as well.
Keep us informed?

I realize I'm asking you to buy and try stuff, but $11, and $20 is a LOT cheaper than the $175+ mainboard.
That would suck to buy it then realize it was a bad wire or something stupid like that. This is the route I would take if it were mine.
But I have working parts to swap with, and could figure it out quickly, but without working extras, you just have to exhaust all possibilities. Plus a new set of wires never hurts!

Let me know
J Dot

 

[Mako79]

Is yours the perforated wifi module?? If so, and not under warranty, peel the copper tape off. This will expose led lights. The top board has green light and the bottom should have 4. These will flash different colours for errors etc. If you have no power when you do the bypass then your board wifi board is fried.
If it powers on, use a laptop and connect to it and ping 192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.10 (lower wifi board - known to fry).

 

[Bernie1998]

Is yours the perforated wifi module?? If so, and not under warranty, peel the copper tape off. This will expose led lights. The top board has green light and the bottom should have 4. These will flash different colours for errors etc. If you have no power when you do the bypass then your board wifi board is fried.
If it powers on, use a laptop and connect to it and ping 192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.10 (lower wifi board - known to fry).

No it is not the perforated module and I will try that first thing tomorrow. thanks

 

[Mako79]

No it is not the perforated module and I will try that first thing tomorrow. thanks

With the non perforated module, you wont be able to see the lights as its sealed. The perforated module has holes top and bottom and enough to see the LEDs.
If you are on your last stretch, you can always dissemble the module and reconnect without the top casing. Just make sure you always have the 2 antennas plugged in when the module is powered. otherwise this will fry or lower your transmission range.

 

[Bernie1998]

With the non perforated module, you wont be able to see the lights as its sealed. The perforated module has holes top and bottom and enough to see the LEDs.
If you are on your last stretch, you can always dissemble the module and reconnect without the top casing. Just make sure you always have the 2 antennas plugged in when the module is powered. otherwise this will fry or lower your transmission range.

Is there any way to test that small anti interference board that the cable pack comes with?

 

[Mako79]

Is there any way to test that small anti interference board that the cable pack comes with?

do you have a link of the cable pack. I recall it doesn't come with an AI board. The one that comes with the AI board has a short zenmuse cable and wont reach. The pack with the 15cm zenmuse cable is about $10. I stole mine from another P2 non vision (the cable taped to the belly).
DJI Phantom 2 Spare Cable Pack DJI-1073

 

[Bernie1998]

do you have a link of the cable pack. I recall it doesn't come with an AI board. The one that comes with the AI board has a short zenmuse cable and wont reach. The pack with the 15cm zenmuse cable is about $10. I stole mine from another P2 non vision (the cable taped to the belly).
DJI Phantom 2 Spare Cable Pack DJI-1073

https://www.amazon.com/DJI-Phantom-..._SL500_SR135,135_&refRID=504FKW3KAKVWWZZY9ZH9
This is the one that I was thinking of. Is there any way to test that board? What does it do? Can I connect the camera straight to the main board with out going through the small board?

 

[Mako79]

https://www.amazon.com/DJI-Phantom-Vision-Part-Cable/dp/B00LVQFL9C/ref=pd_rhf_dp_s_cp_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=5150QsoodbL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_SL500_SR135,135_&refRID=504FKW3KAKVWWZZY9ZH9
This is the one that I was thinking of. Is there any way to test that board? What does it do? Can I connect the camera straight to the main board with out going through the small board?

Don't get that pack. The cable is too short.
And you don't need the AI board. I bypassed the whole thing, zenmuse port on the board right into the back of the H33D gimbal. The board was meant reduce static interference. I've done test on them and they don't do much.
The top board is an Analogue AI board found in the P2 Non-Visions.
The bottom board is Digital AI board found in the P2 Visions.

The only thing that board is good for is a fuse. I've seen users plug aftermarket gimbals and cameras. The first thing that fries is the AI board.

 

[Bernie1998]

Don't get that pack. The cable is too short.
And you don't need the AI board. I bypassed the whole thing, zenmuse port on the board right into the back of the H33D gimbal. The board was meant reduce static interference. I've done test on them and they don't do much.
The top board is an Analogue AI board found in the P2 Non-Visions.
The bottom board is Digital AI board found in the P2 Visions.

The only thing that board is good for is a fuse. I've seen users plug aftermarket gimbals and cameras. The first thing that fries is the AI board.

So it is totally fine if I take my vision plus gimbal and plug it straight into the zenmuse port without the board that is on the bottom?