Zenmuse x3 gimbal strange problems after crash

[Whiskeydump]

Hello all,
I am having what I can only assume is a unique problem after a minor crash. I searched all over the forums and can't find this specific issue, so here goes:

Long story short, my inspire crashed today. Aside from some minor scrapes and broken props, the aircraft is perfectly fine and flies correctly again. Unfortunately my zenmuse x3 gimbal is not so ok. It does not initialize when I power the aircraft on. It does beep 3 times as usual, but it is totally limp. The strange thing is that it is still transmitting video, adjusting brightness, taking pictures, and even displaying the tilt/yaw on the app perfectly. (When moved around by hand ).
Could this be a firmware issue? Or have I fried all of my gimbal motors? I have disassembled the whole gimbal and verified that nothing on the control boards within is fried, and as far as I can tell all of the ribbon cables are plugged in correctly and undamaged.

Additionally, I have checked that the aircraft still functions correctly by using a different gimbal with it. I also tried the crashed gimbal on a different inspire and it has the same problems. So as far as I can tell, the issue lies in the crashed gimbal, not in the aircraft.

Any help in this matter is appreciated. Thank you all very much

W.D.

 

[sanderx]

From what you are explaining this does not seem like a firmware issue. The impact of the crash seems to have damaged the gimbal. You might want to send it to DJI for repair.


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[Whiskeydump]

now the gimbal has come back to life. it is still not initializing properly, but at least the motors are active again. it is thrashing around pretty badly, and then stops in random attitudes. i have seen many other people with this issue, so i take this as a step forward from when it was totally limp. any suggestions?

 

[32043jason]

I had the same problem but only my fan works I never crashed mine it just quit working all of a sudden wants and around thrashes about but now mostly limp did you ever find out what was wrong with yours

 

[InspireBart]

My .02.. Since you've already tried a few things and its still not working I'd send it in now rather than let it thrash around potentially damaging something else like burning out the motors.

 

[Steve Porter]

I had the same problem but only my fan works I never crashed mine it just quit working all of a sudden wants and around thrashes about but now mostly limp did you ever find out what was wrong with yours

32043jason, I have been rebuilding an X3 gimbal and have the same issue. Did you ever figure out your problem?

 

[Steve Porter]

now the gimbal has come back to life. it is still not initializing properly, but at least the motors are active again. it is thrashing around pretty badly, and then stops in random attitudes. i have seen many other people with this issue, so i take this as a step forward from when it was totally limp. any suggestions?

Whiskeydump, Did you ever figure out your gimbal problem?

 

[32043jason]

Whiskeydump, Did you ever figure out your gimbal problem?

I just got it back from DJI in California they ended up replacing two of the arms the base arm and the yaw arm which has the motors in there or gimbal motor is also
I thought it was the ribbon cable that went through it but don't know thank the replaced that but they did a really good job for 106.00,,,, $20 was for Freight delivery UPS

 

[Steve Porter]

Thanks 32043Jason, Mine is doing the same after a crash. Thought it was the ribbon cable so bought one from F/stop Labs for $90, took 5 or 6 hours to replace but no change ... real bummer. I'm in AZ so I guess I'll send it in to DJI in CA.

Thanks for the reply

 

[Mistermf]

Thanks 32043Jason, Mine is doing the same after a crash. Thought it was the ribbon cable so bought one from F/stop Labs for $90, took 5 or 6 hours to replace but no change ... real bummer. I'm in AZ so I guess I'll send it in to DJI in CA.

Thanks for the reply

Hey, they told me at a premium dji dealer that the electronics inside the gimbal arms are responsible for the balancing. It needs a software calibration of those chips, and yes they said it can only be done by the dji guys. The chips appear to be highly sensitive. So even if you replace the arms or the ribbon, you still have to sent it in for calibration. I am going to repair a full gimbal myself and at this moment try to get as much information as I can for a full replacement. What I forgot to mention, the nuts that hold every arm part, are magnetic and are also responsible for stabilizing.

 

[Steve Porter]

All new stuff to me. My X3/gimbal is on its way home after a $104 DJI repair. Summary was that they replaced two gimbal arms. No mention of circuit board issues but who knows. The calibration talk sounds reasonable. My impression is that DJI's gimbal repairs or quick and cost is reasonable. I wish i would have sent mine in right after the crash rather than spend days trying to fix it myself.

 

[Mistermf]

Oké, the same here. after trying to do a full replacement. I am much wiser now. Send it in to dji. This is not possible to repair yourself. So I'm going to send it in and we'll see about the costs.


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