Hi Everyone,

I recently had a minor crash and broke the gimbal plate. I understand this is quite common.

I have 2 questions-
1) Is the original DJI plate made of aluminium? It looks like some composite under the microscope. There are a lot of ads on ebay for aluminium plates.

2) Should I fly with the dome in place? I read somewhere that it restricts airflow through the fan.

Comments on 1)   I think the sellers assume its aluminium. I think the mass of the plate is important as it is part of the anti-vibration mechanism.
I also think it may be a sacrificial part to prevent more serious damage to the gimbal/camera assembly.

Comments on 2)   It would have most likely prevented the plate from damage.

Eric

Dome you mean the camera cover? If you're filming or shooting something it's not an option because of the quality loss and reflections.

Atercervus is right, shooting with the dome on results in pretty awful takes and will only get worse as the dome accumulates scratches. DJI has said airflow is not a problem, so some leave the dome on for extra protection when flying just for fun.

If yopu want to take picture and shoot vdeo you have to take out. If just for flying fun I always keep mine on to protect it from high winds!

Sorry to hear about the crash, if you mean there is a damage with the gimbal vibration absorber board, I recommend sending the drone in, we will have a check for the drone and get it repaired.
It is the user's preference to fly with or without the gimbal cover (if the dome means it).Please fill in some info on our online repair link of our official web and then send it back if you need. Here is the link: https://repair.dji.com/en/SelfRepair/Area
We will do our best to help this out. Thank you

Thanks, all for you responses.
I was flying for practice and familiarization with the aircraft's various setups.
I made the mistake of trying to control it's landing while it was in RTH mode without first cancelling RTH.
I realize the Gimbal cover or Dome is not optically correct and would never shoot through it but I was more concerned about cooling.
Having looked at the airflow, there is a considerable reduction with the cover on. Sometimes the fan cuts in if you leave it on the ground while waiting for GPS or just setting up.
I guess with forward movement of the craft there is plenty of airflow over the heatsink but not sure about that with long hovers. I did a recording at a shooting range here in USA.
I hovered it over the target while shooting took place. That required long hovers but without the cover I was not concerned about cooling. That day ambient temp. was about 88F and 70% RH.
I will always practice with the cover ON in future!
Regarding the repair, the ribbon cable is intact so I will repair it myself as original parts can be bought from various places. I will opt for the original material which is NOT aluminium. It is much lighter but also more brittle.

Eric

I replaced the broken gimbal plate and flying again!

i never fly with the globe cover on, i was frightened but i think that extra fear made me take extra care in my first few flights... sort of, i still ended up with a few close calls.. now i'm a lot less nervous with it exposed..  what i hate is the gimbal locking plastic thing to hold the gimbal in place, dji should really come up with a better locking system, i refuse to use it simply because everytime i remove it i feel like im doing it wrong or im too forceful it really locks tight..  i just pack her up with globe on her when im done..

as for is the bottom of the mavic pro metal.. definitely is milled aluminium from a single block, as for what type of aluminium, not much if any zinc in it.. so not likely an alloy.  but it is used as a thermal interface, basically a heatsink

I meant the material the anti-vibration plate is made of. But I agree about the heatsink underneath. Probably Duralamin.

I will still perform all practice flights with the cover ON.

I do the same as dronist leave it on just to fly with but remove it for pics n video

Rotorcrafty Posted at 2017-8-24 21:36
I replaced the broken gimbal plate and flying again!

Glad it was an easy fix and that it all worked out well for you!