H3-3D gimbal violent malfunction (video)

[ltcopley]

Longtome lurker first time poster. I recently had an issue with my H3-3D on my P2. I had about a dozen flights on the drone before the malfunction happened. I was flying back to my location and panned the camera (GoPro Hero 4 Silver) down slightly. The gimbal started to twitch (I had an immersionrc, iosd, and black pearl setup) and then started to violently thrash around. It was almost as if the gimbal was trying to throw the GoPro off the drone for nearly a minute. At first, I though I had lost a prop or hit a bird but when the iosd display didn't move, I knew it was isolated to the gimbal. Luckily, it reset itself in flight and I was able to land safely. The GoPro did have a ND filter on it but I balance the rig properly (Quarter on side, Nickel on the back). I have it routed via usb to the interference board, through the iosd, and then out through the immersionrc 600mw transmitter with spironets. I called up DJI and they sent me the info to send it in for testing. Anyone else have this issue or know a way to fix it?

Here's the video for good measure.

Thanks for reading.

 

[jason]

Longtome lurker first time poster. I recently had an issue with my H3-3D on my P2. I had about a dozen flights on the drone before the malfunction happened. I was flying back to my location and panned the camera (GoPro Hero 4 Silver) down slightly. The gimbal started to twitch (I had an immersionrc, iosd, and black pearl setup) and then started to violently thrash around. It was almost as if the gimbal was trying to throw the GoPro off the drone for nearly a minute. At first, I though I had lost a prop or hit a bird but when the iosd display didn't move, I knew it was isolated to the gimbal. Luckily, it reset itself in flight and I was able to land safely. The GoPro did have a ND filter on it but I balance the rig properly (Quarter on side, Nickel on the back). I have it routed via usb to the interference board, through the iosd, and then out through the immersionrc 600mw transmitter with spironets. I called up DJI and they sent me the info to send it in for testing. Anyone else have this issue or know a way to fix it?

Here's the video for good measure.

Thanks for reading.

That looks and sounds like VRS as you were descending. Did you see this happening physically or are you going by what you're seeing in the video

 

[ltcopley]

I've witnessed both. This was the first and only occurrence I caught on video. The second occurrence happened when taking stills and happened near me (hovering 15 feet in front of me) so I got a good look at what was happening. It literally looks like its trying to shake off the GoPro front the mount. What is VRS?

 

[jason]

Watch the following video on how to reset the gimbal and hopefully that will take care of the problem.

 

[jason]

When you're finished with the reset and downloading the gimbals software do a complete calibration of the sticks and X1 on both the RC controller and P2. Start with the RC then the P2. Also make sure the gimbal configuration is set to default 50 - 0 - 0.

 

[ltcopley]

Watch the following video on how to reset the gimbal and hopefully that will take care of the problem.

I did the hard reset after the first occurrence and re-installed the firmware. When it happened again 5 flights later, I called up DJI since its still under warranty. I'm just hoping its an easy fix before sending back the gimbal and being out of commission for the next 3 weeks (I've got a trip to Kauai and I wanted to bring the P2). Oddly enough, it happened using the same battery each time (I have 4 and got that one second hand) but I haven't had time to test it. I though it might be an overload issue where the gimbal thinks its stuck but the erratic behavior makes me think its an overheat or short condition.

I haven't tried the stick calibration so I'll give that a go. Its an intermittent failure though and Im not sure what reproduces it.

 

[jason]

I did the hard reset after the first occurrence and re-installed the firmware. When it happened again 5 flights later, I called up DJI since its still under warranty. I'm just hoping its an easy fix before sending back the gimbal and being out of commission for the next 3 weeks (I've got a trip to Kauai and I wanted to bring the P2). Oddly enough, it happened using the same battery each time (I have 4 and got that one second hand) but I haven't had time to test it. I though it might be an overload issue where the gimbal thinks its stuck but the erratic behavior makes me think its an overheat or short condition.

I haven't tried the stick calibration so I'll give that a go. Its an intermittent failure though and Im not sure what reproduces it.

Buy a new one and send that one in for repair when it comes back sell it. You will need a sale receipt and RMA from DJI if it's still under warranty. Order today and you'll have it Monday or Tuesday unless you pay for shipping.
DJI Zenmuse H4-3D Gimbal for GoPro HERO4 Black CP.ZM.000145 B&H

 

[Pat W]

Hi all,
I have a Phantom 2 with a H4-3D and unfortunatly, I've got exactly the same problem.
Randomly, during the flight after about 5 minutes, the H4-3D unhooks and does a sort of violent cycles to try to restore the service without success.
I did a Gimbal hard reset, firmware upgrades, recalibrations, several tests in settings (gain 50 - 0 - 0) but the issue is still there.
The issue occurs in normal flights without any strong wind or tight turns.
And for the fun, I have no DJI sale receipt .

What do you recommed to me?
Itcopley, what did you do finally?

Thank you for your advices!

 

[ltcopley]

Hi all,
I have a Phantom 2 with a H4-3D and unfortunatly, I've got exactly the same problem.
Randomly, during the flight after about 5 minutes, the H4-3D unhooks and does a sort of violent cycles to try to restore the service without success.
I did a Gimbal hard reset, firmware upgrades, recalibrations, several tests in settings (gain 50 - 0 - 0) but the issue is still there.
The issue occurs in normal flights without any strong wind or tight turns.
And for the fun, I have no DJI sale receipt .

What do you recommed to me?
Itcopley, what did you do finally?

Thank you for your advices!

I did send mine in for warranty service and the repaired one worked fine for a few flights, then it happened again. I suspect that the warranty department couldn't replicate the issue so they performed a hard reset and sent it back to me. Its only happened once since I got the "repaired" unit and its been really windy here so I haven't had the chance to fly for a while. All my occurrences happened in-flight while panning down. Still have no clue what causes it but I used extra rubber bands to secure the go pro just in case. I'm going to upgrade the firmware on the go pro and see if that helps.

 

[jason]

I did send mine in for warranty service and the repaired one worked fine for a few flights, then it happened again. I suspect that the warranty department couldn't replicate the issue so they performed a hard reset and sent it back to me. Its only happened once since I got the "repaired" unit and its been really windy here so I haven't had the chance to fly for a while. All my occurrences happened in-flight while panning down. Still have no clue what causes it but I used extra rubber bands to secure the go pro just in case. I'm going to upgrade the firmware on the go pro and see if that helps.

Unless that GoPro is a Hero 4 do not upgrade any of the Hero 3+ cameras as the firmware v3.0 will block video from the cameras USB port and you will then have to rollback to v2.0. If you are using a Hero 4 you may a weight problem causing the gimbal to act up when tilting the camera down and it may need to be balanced by adding weighs to either the camera plate or one of the motors.

 

[Mako79]

Does this happen only when you tilt down???
It looks like the tilt is going beyond the range of movement.
Go to the Gimbal settings on the Phantom Assist. Limit the range to 5 on both vertical and horizontal.

 

[Pat W]

Thank you for your advices.
It's true that the unhooks occur mainly when I tilt down the camera during a move forward but sometimes it occurs also horizontally without any change of tilt.
I'll try to limit the range.

 

[Pat W]

Hi Itcopley,
I read in your posts that you have a Hero 4 plugged into the Gimbal H3-3D. Is-it right ?
On my side, I have a Hero 3 (silver) plugged into a Gimbal H4-3D.
I've balanced horizontally the Gimbal with a smal metalic piece but nothing on the vertical balance.
Do you think there is a link with those stalls?