Is my X5 dead? Gimbal Disconnected - No Image Transmission Signal

jamesbastable · Sep 25, 2019

Hi I'm having trouble with our X5 on our Inspire 1. This machine has had approximately 60hrs flight time.

See video;
Im getting gimbal disconnected, no image transmission signal. The cameras lights do come on and you can see the aperture opening and closing when exposed to light but no movement from the gimbal or data being transferred.

Latest firmware
Approx 3 years old.
Doesn't work on any of our batteries or lenses. 12,25,45

I'm open to all ideas to try, thanks in advance!

DroneTechAerial · Sep 25, 2019

It looks to me like it is stuck in an update firmware mode. Did your last firmware upgrade go as planned? Do you have an OSMO handle you can try it on and try upgrading the camera

jamesbastable · Sep 26, 2019

DroneTechAerial said:
It looks to me like it is stuck in an update firmware mode. Did your last firmware upgrade go as planned? Do you have an OSMO handle you can try it on and try upgrading the camera

I do have an OSMO and will try to upgrade this morning and get back to you.

Thank you

Donnie Frank · Sep 26, 2019

jamesbastable said:
Hi I'm having trouble with our X5 on our Inspire 1. This machine has had approximately 60hrs flight time.

See video;

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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Im getting gimbal disconnected, no image transmission signal. The cameras lights do come on and you can see the aperture opening and closing when exposed to light but no movement from the gimbal or data being transferred.

Latest firmware
Approx 3 years old.
Doesn't work on any of our batteries or lenses. 12,25,45

I'm open to all ideas to try, thanks in advance!

A buddy of mine had the same issue, so I installed my X5 camera on HIS Inspire, and MY X5 worked. So I installed HIS X5 on MY Inspire, and HIS X5 did NOT work. This allowed us to put blame squarely on the X5 camera/gimbal and not the gimbal controller.

So I would suggest seeking out another operator with an Inspire 1 and X5 so you can trade parts. Without spare parts, troubleshooting is going to be impossible.

D

jamesbastable · Sep 27, 2019

Thanks for everyones replies. See video above of what happens when I try the firmware update on the OSMO.

Also, I have an X3 as backup and the X3 works perfectly on both the inspire and OSMO. Meaning it has to be a fault with this X5.

Thanks for your help so far.

Donnie Frank · Sep 27, 2019

jamesbastable said:
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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Thanks for everyones replies. See video above of what happens when I try the firmware update on the OSMO.

Also, I have an X3 as backup and the X3 works perfectly on both the inspire and OSMO. Meaning it has to be a fault with this X5.

Thanks for your help so far.

I really like the way you're documenting this. It's so frustrating when pilots chime in with ambiguous questions with zero data. Video really is a great way of conveying one's issues. I use it constantly. That said...

Macro photos of the X5's pins would be my next step. Those things are so small that you may miss issues without extreme magnification.

D

jamesbastable · Sep 27, 2019

Donnie Frank said:
I really like the way you're documenting this. It's so frustrating when pilots chime in with ambiguous questions with zero data. Video really is a great way of conveying one's issues. I use it constantly. That said...

Thanks for taking the time to get back to me.

I agree video is very useful for problem solving, thanks for your help so far.

Donnie Frank said:
Macro photos of the X5's pins would be my next step. Those things are so small that you may miss issues without extreme magnification.

As requested I've attached 3 images - All closeups of the pins including the Inspire, x5 camera and OSMO.

I've read and had a second opinion that the "ribbon cable" maybe at fault on this? Would be interested to hear your opinions on that.

Donnie Frank · Sep 27, 2019

jamesbastable said:
As requested I've attached 3 images - All closeups of the pins including the Inspire, x5 camera and OSMO.

All the pins look good to me. I'm sure everyone will agree.

jamesbastable said:
I've read and had a second opinion that the "ribbon cable" maybe at fault on this? Would be interested to hear your opinions on that.

I've not attempted repair on any X5, so I can't really comment on that. The X5 I helped troubleshoot belonged to a military contractor (back before the military ban of DJI drones), so I had them send it in for repair. The thing was that the X5 came back with parts (controller, I assume) that would NOT work with legacy AC FW versions. It was a mess because they were using legacy FW per my recommendation. The point became moot when the DJI ban came down the pike a couple days later.

D

Selfmadevisionz · Sep 27, 2019

Great post

tanakan · Sep 28, 2019

If you have multimeter , you can check flat cable inside of the gimbal... I thought it could be a gimbal connection board on inspire problem, but since the same behavior is present on osmo I would rule out that option.
You will have to remove bottom cover of x5 (5 screws) and check both ends of flat cable with multimeter, very easy to do.

jaycmc · Oct 3, 2019

Yeah, I would agree it is the ribbon cable. Your video looks exactly like the problem I had before. I had accidentally stretched the ribbon cable on the foam in the X5 case while putting it in. There was a visible stretch mark on the cable. Sent it to dji to repair and cut some of the case foam out so it wouldn’t happen again.

DavoMr2 · Jan 5, 2020

Checking if you managed to resolve this? I have the same problem, light comes on but the gimbal just sist there. Would love to hear so I know where not to waste my time

Anthony69 · Aug 7, 2020

My X5 just started doing this too. No problems with it since I bought it new in 2016. It worked fine 4 days ago but upon startup it now just sits there and no video signal. Any help diagnosing the problem would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Aasen · Aug 27, 2020

Any updates on this thread? Have the same issues with a brand new X5.

Aasen · Aug 27, 2020

Regarding the possible faulty ribbon cable. There are 2 of them connected to the camera. Anyone knows which of the cables could be causing the problem discussed here?

Humming.bird i1 · Aug 27, 2020

jamesbastable said:
Thanks for taking the time to get back to me.

I agree video is very useful for problem solving, thanks for your help so far.

As requested I've attached 3 images - All closeups of the pins including the Inspire, x5 camera and OSMO.

I've read and had a second opinion that the "ribbon cable" maybe at fault on this? Would be interested to hear your opinions on that.

Humming.bird i1 · Aug 27, 2020

Hi James I had a problem like yours on my X5 , in like new condition , very little use , ended up sending it back to DJI . The X5 they returned to me definitely was not mine nor was the case .Very disappointing ! So if you go that route be prepared to get replacement returned and not the one you sent them . There used to be a shop in LA area that can do this kind of work. Do your homework
Good luck
Chuck

Anthony69 · Aug 28, 2020

I’m waiting on mine from a repair shop in the US who says they can replace the ribbon cable. I haven’t received mine back yet so I can’t give any feedback on the outcome. Just saying I didn’t send mine to DJI.

Donnie Frank · Aug 28, 2020

Anthony69 said:
I’m waiting on mine from a repair shop in the US who says they can replace the ribbon cable. I haven’t received mine back yet so I can’t give any feedback on the outcome. Just saying I didn’t send mine to DJI.

I have a feeling third-party repair is going to be the best way to go. The DJI repair lemmings will lie to you six ways from Sunday and will ignore your requests or cite "company policy." Maddening. Better to send off to reputable "mom and pop" repair shops that still care about the customer.

D

Warriordroneservices · Apr 5, 2021

Anthony69 said:
My X5 just started doing this too. No problems with it since I bought it new in 2016. It worked fine 4 days ago but upon startup it now just sits there and no video signal. Any help diagnosing the problem would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Did you ever resolve this issue? I'm having the same problem. I have the Inspire 1 pro black edition and it's only been flown a few times with no crashes at all. I really don't want to send it into DJI because they can not tell me how much it will cost to fix. My email is executiveserviceskauai808@ gmail.com. could you please get back to me. Thanks.