Gimbal Motor Overloaded

Joined
Oct 3, 2015
Messages
17
Reaction score
1
Age
35
So probably not the only one here. Bought my P3 last week, first time unpacking it and downloaded the DJI App. Was following the onscreen instructions how to set up controller and phantom. When the app came in to the flight simulator it showed me the notification - warning gimbal motor overload' as I realised that I dod not remove the small white foam behind the camera. After that the camera rotated and 'danced' like it always does in the videos or when you turn the P3 on. Flown a couple of flights already full days, and no issue, but my OCD just wants to know if that was a problem or could have harmed the motor.

Thanks
 
So probably not the only one here. Bought my P3 last week, first time unpacking it and downloaded the DJI App. Was following the onscreen instructions how to set up controller and phantom. When the app came in to the flight simulator it showed me the notification - warning gimbal motor overload' as I realised that I dod not remove the small white foam behind the camera. After that the camera rotated and 'danced' like it always does in the videos or when you turn the P3 on. Flown a couple of flights already full days, and no issue, but my OCD just wants to know if that was a problem or could have harmed the motor.

Thanks
I forgot to remove my gimbal lock once, and got the same message. No problems after 15 flights. I have attached a "Remove Before Flight" tag to the gimbal lock to make sure I don't make that mistake again.
 
It's letting you know that you goofed. Get into a habit of removing the protector before powering up. Get a tag or something t remind you. You will be ok doing it a few times but one to many is costly. Preflight check list and making it a routine and a habit works well.
 
Thanks guys. It only happened that one time at the very beginning first time I switched it on. Of course I removed the huge plastic gimbal cover, I was referring to the small white piece of foam from behind.
 
Thanks guys. It only happened that one time at the very beginning first time I switched it on. Of course I removed the huge plastic gimbal cover, I was referring to the small white piece of foam from behind.

You're fine... it stops trying to move the motor as soon as it realizes it is overloaded... it's a nice failsafe.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ti22
maybe p3 is improved, but my p2 does not stop fighting after the message pops up. i believe it will overheat and fail if left stuck.

i never use even the plastic holder anymore: my carry case is a cardboard box large enough to set my p2 in complete with wrench tightened props that never are removed - sitting in the molded cardboard inset it came in new. has nice side pockets for batts, controller, etc. i crumpled soft foam packing sheets in camera hole and p2 just sets down in it - no camera support needed anymore.
 
You will get the same overload message if u start your phantom in deep grass too. Just move it to a area that is has less growth pushing on the camera during startup
 
You will get the same overload message if u start your phantom in deep grass too. Just move it to a area that is has less growth pushing on the camera during startup

Yep.

Just flew and had to start from tall grass. this time, no overload message, but could see gimball constantly (1/sec?) trying to adjust both vertical and horizontal against the grass. Not quite enough for the overload message, but still kept trying. able to take off before the overload message.
 
Yep.

Just flew and had to start from tall grass. this time, no overload message, but could see gimball constantly (1/sec?) trying to adjust both vertical and horizontal against the grass. Not quite enough for the overload message, but still kept trying. able to take off before the overload message.
Try taking along a door mat to launch from. Solves the problems of grass and (worse) sand.
 
  • Like
Reactions: yorlik
Can someone post a pic of this piece that needs to be removed? I've removed the clear piece but can't find the other. Getting the same error message as the op
 
All I see is ribbon connectors, guess I removed it, still getting the error message. But I've got bigger problems, crashed it today, going to start a new post.
 
Got my problem with my gimbal fixed due to the crash, but still getting the gimbal motor overload error, can't find any white foam anywhere, can someone post a pic please?
 
So here's a variation of that. My P3 Pro all of a sudden is exhibiting the jerky gimbal for no reason I can determine. See attached video. I recently recalibrated the IMU cold and that worked great to correct the slightly slanted gimbal I had been experiencing. I fired it up after all that everything was right. I put the P3 away for a few weeks, and took it out today to show a new P3 friend how to fly his. When I fired up mine, the gimbal went nuts and gave me the "gimbal motor overload" message. I rebooted several time and got the same thing. All firmware on controller and P3 is the latest and it has had no impact damage at all. All three axis of the gimbal rotate freely and with no rubbing or grinding or hesitation at all. On each restart however, the same behavior is exhibited. Any thoughts on anything else I could try? I though I'd reinstall the latest firmware, but I couldn't get the red and green blinking, beeping. Perhaps because it was already up to date. The GO app tells me all software is up to date. I did take off for a short hop to make sure the P3 could fly fine and it functioned normally. I landed immediately so as not to jeopardize any gimbal components that were getting worn or overheated. Thanks for any advice. I'll send it in if I need to, but can't understand why this would come out of the blue. Would re-calibrating IMU do anything, even if the IMC check said all was fine?
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
 
So here's a variation of that. My P3 Pro all of a sudden is exhibiting the jerky gimbal for no reason I can determine. See attached video. I recently recalibrated the IMU cold and that worked great to correct the slightly slanted gimbal I had been experiencing. I fired it up after all that everything was right. I put the P3 away for a few weeks, and took it out today to show a new P3 friend how to fly his. When I fired up mine, the gimbal went nuts and gave me the "gimbal motor overload" message. I rebooted several time and got the same thing. All firmware on controller and P3 is the latest and it has had no impact damage at all. All three axis of the gimbal rotate freely and with no rubbing or grinding or hesitation at all. On each restart however, the same behavior is exhibited. Any thoughts on anything else I could try? I though I'd reinstall the latest firmware, but I couldn't get the red and green blinking, beeping. Perhaps because it was already up to date. The GO app tells me all software is up to date. I did take off for a short hop to make sure the P3 could fly fine and it functioned normally. I landed immediately so as not to jeopardize any gimbal components that were getting worn or overheated. Thanks for any advice. I'll send it in if I need to, but can't understand why this would come out of the blue. Would re-calibrating IMU do anything, even if the IMC check said all was fine?
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Did you attempt to recalibrate the gimbal?
 
Did you attempt to recalibrate the gimbal?
Thanks Wetdog, yes, and it had no effect but just continued to jerk around instead of going into the robotic gimbal calibration I know pretty well. Very frustrating cuz I just know it's going to be something simple and I'll end up sending it in for 6 weeks or better for something I could have done if I knew what to do. This is not my first Phantom but my third and I've had these things apart and have even swapped out lenses and taken apart the cameras before. This one is likely stll under warranty though, so I don't want to mess with it.
 
I experienced somethign similar just after my first landing. The gimbal did not touched anything, no crash, ... All is mechanically right, no damage at all but playing this crazy shaking every time I power on the drone. I cannot believe how fragile it is and what could happen. It seems like the encoders or whatever they have for knowing the position of the a is losing the home position or so but no idea how to reset such situation. I have already tried IMU and gimbal adjustment ...
All I see in the forums is about broken arms, cables and so on but it is not my case at all.
Any help will be more than welcome, thanks in advance
 
I experienced somethign similar just after my first landing. The gimbal did not touched anything, no crash, ... All is mechanically right, no damage at all but playing this crazy shaking every time I power on the drone. I cannot believe how fragile it is and what could happen. It seems like the encoders or whatever they have for knowing the position of the a is losing the home position or so but no idea how to reset such situation. I have already tried IMU and gimbal adjustment ...
All I see in the forums is about broken arms, cables and so on but it is not my case at all.
Any help will be more than welcome, thanks in advance
DJI tells me (yes, sent it to California) that it is not warranty covered and that I need two part for the horizontal motion of the gimbal. One of the customer service people I spoke with tells me that if you've had a hard crash (which I had, just not recently) and then later updated the firmware, that is often when gimbal issues develop based on the damage you might have done to the Phantom. Not sure why a new firmware would surface this, but she said she sees this all the time. I may still ask for more explanation from DJI about this being non warranty, but I want the bird back so paid for the repair to get it on its way.
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,358
Members
104,936
Latest member
hirehackers