P3P Post crash/repair camera & gimbal issues

[Steve G]

I crashed at about 50 ft. into the top branches of a tree and the camera and half the gimbal landed about 50 ft. from the aircraft. After replacing the ribbon cable and putting the gimbal back together, every time I start it up, the camera seems to do it's happy dance and end up tilted at an odd angle. A gimbal calibration gets it level for the time being, but restarting it results in the same issue. All other camera controls seem normal. All shafts are correctly oriented and camera is right side up. I've done a firmware update and IMU calibration to be sure, but it doesn't change. Unfortunately, that's not the worst of it. Looking at my DJI-Go screen, the picture from the camera only shows about 5 percent of the time and when it does, it has many many fine horizontal lines in it and is basically unusable. I've tried to record and it will record only when the picture is showing. It stops recording as soon as the picture disappears. I've had it back apart 3 times to clean and re-insert the cable ends to no avail. I've reset the camera and made just about every adjustment with the camera or LightBridge that I could think of and nothing works. At this point, I'm thinking I will have to send it in but I thought I'd put it out there to see if anyone might know of a way to determine whether it's actually the camera, the board in the gimbal base, or the aircraft itself that may be causing this. Also, if I must send it somewhere, where would be the best bet to get it properly and quickly repaired.

 

[firepol]

Hi, it would be nice to share if you have some news about this. I have also video with lines after repairing a crashed gimbal with a repair kit found on aliexpress. I wonder if somebody know what is the cause for those lines... cable issue, camera issue, or gimbal unit issue? Thanks for sharing...

 

[Steve G]

I eventually sent the Phantom to DJI for repair. They replaced the camera assy. and one of the antennas on the landing legs. I think the broken antenna was what was causing the issue because I had replaced the ribbon cable myself and it almost worked. I ultimately ended up buying a Mavic Pro and DJI Goggles and sold the Phantom a few months ago. Loving the Mavic.