No video after ribbon cable replacement

[e_tietze]

I'm hoping someone can provide me some ideas of where to go from here. I crashed my p3a a couple weeks ago breaking the yaw control arm and ribbon cable on the gimbal. Replaced both pieces this weekend. Now when I turn the bird on it powers up, the camera goes through the normal cycle moving around and I can roll the camera up and down from the remote for about 5 seconds then it just stops and sits there. I never get video feed to the controller, only black screen.

I double checked the two cable connections that go into the top of the gimbal from the phantom, pulled both off and reattached them just to be sure they were connected. Double checked ribbon cable connections and they all seem to be secure as well. At first DJI Go was seeing it as a P3P. I uninstalled the app and reinstalled the latest version which now sees it as an Inspire instead.

Any ideas?

 

[Dome]

I think that P3 has some other damage, not simply the camera cable. Not very easy to make troubleshooting ... May be is better you ask for repair...
If p3 starts but then it lock itself may mean that TX chip is not trasmitting correct data (or not complete protocol) to the remote controller...

 

[e_tietze]

The p3 itself isn't locking up, just the camera. I haven't tried to fly but it will start up and shut down without blades, accelerate, etc... The camera is still transmitting some data back to the controller because the indicator bar on the controller which shows the vertical orientation of the camera still moves anytime the camera is moved, even if the controller won't move the camera.

I'm wondering if possibly one of the cables from the gimbal to the p3 has come loose inside the p3 possibly? I haven't opened the shell yet though.

 

[Dome]

The p3 itself isn't locking up, just the camera. I haven't tried to fly but it will start up and shut down without blades, accelerate, etc... The camera is still transmitting some data back to the controller because the indicator bar on the controller which shows the vertical orientation of the camera still moves anytime the camera is moved, even if the controller won't move the camera.

I'm wondering if possibly one of the cables from the gimbal to the p3 has come loose inside the p3 possibly? I haven't opened the shell yet though.

If you move camera up&down from the RC it works correctly ? It can start/stop video capture ?

 

[e_tietze]

It will move up and down from the RC for about 5 seconds after power up and then it won't any longer. The indicator on the RC that shows the vertical position of the camera will continue to indicate position though after that, I discovered that because I was messing around with the P3 and bumped the camera with my hand causing it to move and noticed the vertical indicator on the RC accurately reflected the movement. I haven't tried to actually record anything since there was no video coming back and no control of the camera after the initial few seconds, I can try that this evening though.

 

[FlyOrFry]

I'm hoping someone can provide me some ideas of where to go from here. I crashed my p3a a couple weeks ago breaking the yaw control arm and ribbon cable on the gimbal. Replaced both pieces this weekend. Now when I turn the bird on it powers up, the camera goes through the normal cycle moving around and I can roll the camera up and down from the remote for about 5 seconds then it just stops and sits there. I never get video feed to the controller, only black screen.

I double checked the two cable connections that go into the top of the gimbal from the phantom, pulled both off and reattached them just to be sure they were connected. Double checked ribbon cable connections and they all seem to be secure as well. At first DJI Go was seeing it as a P3P. I uninstalled the app and reinstalled the latest version which now sees it as an Inspire instead.

Any ideas?

It's the new ribbon cable. I just went through the same ordeal, but I happened to by another ribbon cable from a separate vendor. I duplicated the issue multiple times with the same results. One cable was bad, the other was good. Ginbal was working but the video signal constantly dropped in/out. If you look at the GoApp it also shows signal in/out.

 

[FlyOrFry]

Bad ribbon cable.

 

[Tommytoop]

Hi flyorfry!
I am having a very similair problem. Crash broke yaw arm and ripped ribbon, New 3d printed arm and replacement ribbon of eBay later and no video signal. I have tried everything, I don't think it's firmware cos every now again (like VERY rarely) the camera connects for a few seconds but with no picture. Angle of camera is shown always just as you observed.

Can you suggest what ribbon you used? Price range perhaps? There are a few out there, I suspect the £20 one I used may be the issue.

Anyone else had issues or success with the "cheaper" ribbons?

 

[FlyOrFry]

Hi flyorfry!
I am having a very similair problem. Crash broke yaw arm and ripped ribbon, New 3d printed arm and replacement ribbon of eBay later and no video signal. I have tried everything, I don't think it's firmware cos every now again (like VERY rarely) the camera connects for a few seconds but with no picture. Angle of camera is shown always just as you observed.

Can you suggest what ribbon you used? Price range perhaps? There are a few out there, I suspect the £20 one I used may be the issue.

Anyone else had issues or success with the "cheaper" ribbons?

Ya I'd stick with the OEM from DJI unless someone finds a better cheaper place. I've found its not even worth skimping on.

 

[Tommytoop]

Just to follow up on this, I have ordered an official dji ribbon from the online store dji.com
Ordered it Monday and it arrived here lightening fast (Scotland) on Thursday, it was shipped from China. £41
Fitted the ribbon and all is well. Moral of the story, as others have rightly pointed out, DONT USE CHEAP PARTS!!

Just in case it helps other people, here are the symptoms of my bad ribbon cable.

Firmware update would not complete. Starting but not completing. Failure to update a subsystem [1](the camera I assume)

The app has, a couple of times suddenly flashed up with a video feed for several seconds albeit a very poor quality feed. The only time it does this is if it's been powered down for ages (hours!!!!)

The sdcard will not format from the DJI-GO app. Timeout occurs on attempts. Nothing showing in library either, says “camera not connected”.

No value for sdcard capacity/available in the app menu.

The camera pitch angle is displayed on the app and is correct, is responding to movement.

When I try to calibrate the gimbal via app, it does not move but there is a “beep” from it and it reports “gimbal calibrated”

When you plug an a micro-usb cable into the gimbal unit, the sdcard mounts to the PC showing card contents (windows 10) then after 5 or so seconds it dis-mounts itself; it continues with this strange behaviour in a loop.

Since the gimball movement was ok and it would calibrate, clearly the bad cable was affecting signals between the actual camera and the main control board containing the image processing and storage electronics.

Peace out dudes....

 

[FlyOrFry]

Tommytoop your the man! Thanks for documenting all of your symptoms. You did much better than I did. Glad you got it resolved!

 

[billyghawaii]

Guys I just repaired my gimbal any my symptoms were exactly as described here. I got my repair kit from F.Stop Labs via Amazon.com. Anyone with the same experience?

Perhaps collectively we can get a replacement or credit for the ribbon.

Where is the link for a good cable as I'll want to order it.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Tommytoop]

This is the one I ordered.

Official DJI Store

Very quick delivery from China to UK.

Pretty much every seller of the cheaper ribbons stipulate that once fitted that they will not accept return.

Good luck..

 

[billyghawaii]

This is the one I ordered.

Official DJI Store

Very quick delivery from China to UK.

Pretty much every seller of the cheaper ribbons stipulate that once fitted that they will not accept return.

Good luck..

Thanks Tommy. I went back to Amazon and let Fstop labs n
Know about the cable, awaiting a response. I also notice a note that that repair kit is no longer order-able. Their not sure when it will be back. Ty again

 

[KthP3]

I Had to sign up just to tell you tommytoop that you are a life saver. I ordered a gimbal repair kit on eBay for about 35 bucks came with ribbon included. Got everything installed and started experiencing all the issues you stated. Would not read SD card wasn't getting any video on my screen everything. Realized after looking at DJI website a ribbon cable is about 50 bucks I'm a big believer in you get what you pay for so I figured it had to be my issue. After reading your thread I went ahead and ordered a DJI ribbon keeping my fingers crossed that this fixes my issue waiting on it to arrive in the mail

 

[G.W. Hungerford]

I had crashed my p3p and bent the roll arm and the main gimbal arm. Ordered a kit from f stop labs. Included both arms and the cable for $99. Installation went well took my time and watched multiple videos on you tube. Got it back together and almost all was well some of my ad cards couldn't be read, the screen had horizontal white lines across it and I would occasionally loose all video other times it would freeze or buffer. I thought it was me maybe I didn't insert the cable all the way to the camera so I disassembled and redid the connections, same issues so I ordered one from DJI and took it apart again when I put it back together it worked just like new. Don't waste your money or time on discount ribbon cables. I will say that the f stop labs arms worked great but stick with DJI for the cable


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[flyNfrank]

This issue has came up a few hundred times in the past 1.5yrs. It's real simple of this one, you must use OEM only as a few others mentioned. This is one part that has to be from the factory. You can not substitute inbred low cost parts in this situation.

Btw, you will want to clean the surfaces where the adhesive needs to be applied. If it doesn't stick and remain stuck long term, it will cause movement in the flat cable and have a connection issue to where another cable is needed before you know it.

 

[Droneted]

I have used FSTOP cables without issue. Other than DJI cables they are the only aftermarket cable that works. There may be an occasion bad cable but that has happened with DJI also. Nothing is perfect . Great care must always be used when installing as any nick or scratch can ruin the cable.

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[OrionVP47]

Tommytoop, Finally, someone posted an answer the answer to the problem I'm having.
I downed my P3A two weeks ago. The gimbal came apart at the yaw joint, and was hanging by the ribbon cable. I put the gimbal back together, and everything appeared to function properly. I got up about 175' when I lost video feed.
I purchased a cheap ribbon cable off ebay, and things got worse. Still no video feed, incomplete firmware upgrade, and DJI Go app had me connected to a P3P.
I have a new DJI cable on the way. Hopefully this will resolve the issues. This is getting to be a costly venture.

 

[Fly_phantom_or_go_home]

Does anyone know where I can get the official DJI flex cable if I'm in the USA more specifically Illinois? The DJI site says not available in my country or region! I'm having the same exact problem. Just replaced the flex cable and no image. I bought it off of Amazon. Thanks!