Bought a Phantom 3 Advanced 10 days ago, but I'm having problem with my gimbal. My gimbal emits buzzing noise intermittently when its on ground. Vibration can be felt on the gimbal frame when it buzzes. In flight, it induces vibrations/jello in the recorded video in a fixed interval(like one wave of vibration/jello every 1 or 2 seconds), horizon will go out of place as well throughout the flight. Photos are fine, this problem only affect the videos. Firmware version is 1.19 and I have performed advanced IMU calibration, compass calibration and gimbal auto calibration but defect still persist. And yes, I've removed the gimbal lock and the white protective foam piece prior to flight. I contacted the dealer whom I bought this unit from, however he does not have any exchange or return policy. Proceeded to contact DJI 24 hours online chat support and they asked me to email my problems to support@dji.com. Emailed support@dji.com and nil replies nor auto-replies received until now. Now Im a very disappointed DJI customer. Refer links below for video of the buzzing gimbal and recorded in flight video.

There was a post yesterday with a similar issue. DJI-Autumn suggested the user contact DJI as it really look to be a faulty gimbal. You culd try a full IMU calibration on level ground folowed by a gimbal calibration but its a slim change. - http://forum.dji.com/thread-16135-1-1.html

I know it can take some time to get a reply from DJI ( suspect they are very busy but that is no excuse really ). Also I am supprised that live chat cannot create the relevant support tickets in the system for you, something for them to look at maybe. Hopefully DJI-Autumn will escalate your request and you will get a reply soon.

Remember to buy extra propellers and one or two spare batteries to keep you flying

sploodge Posted at 2015-5-27 16:55
There was a post yesterday with a similar issue. DJI-Autumn suggested the user contact DJI as it rea ...

Hi sploodge. Yea I did IMU calibration and gimbal auto calibration for more than 10 times on an extremely level ground(measured with a spirit level). Looks like your issue is the same like mine.

woon_hwan@hotma Posted at 2015-5-27 17:00
Hi sploodge. Yea I did IMU calibration and gimbal auto calibration for more than 10 time on an ext ...

I'm afraid you will need to wait for DJI then I think.. Like I said, hopefully DJI-Autumn will help get support for you.

Remember to buy extra propellers and one or two spare batteries to keep you flying

Whats the status on yours?

I wonder if DJI covers the return shipping to them. And in what form. Its not our fault to have defective brand new products.

woon_hwan@hotma Posted at 2015-5-27 17:15
Whats the status on yours?

Mine was general jello in the video and as far as I remember didn't have this type of vibration ( the link I posted above was for another user ).

My P3 should get to DJI Europe in Germany today. NO idea how long it will take to get a replacement.

Remember to buy extra propellers and one or two sparebatteries to keep you flying

woon_hwan@hotma Posted at 2015-5-27 17:17
I wonder if DJI covers the return shipping to them. And in what form. Its not our fault to have defe ...

I have asked this but as yet not had a reply.. I know European law makes it very clear that it should be reimbursed so I would think so. Dont know what protection buyers have in other parts of the world.

Remember to buy extra propellers and one or two sparebatteries to keep you flying

I'll let them contact you.

DJI-Autumn, I live in Malaysia.

woon_hwan@hotma Posted at 2015-5-27 17:27
DJI-Autumn, I live in Malaysia.

I know, can see that from your location.
Support folks from DJI China will contact you.

Received their email. Thanks a lot DJI-Autumn.

woon_hwan@hotma Posted at 2015-5-27 18:05
Received their email. Thanks a lot DJI-Autumn.

You r welcome.

I've had the same issue as yours one - periodical jello in all videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLraLjeiqIiW-cd2w7VZnIclDeCYrAi3VT

I've contacted DJI-Europe, got RMA# (just after DJI-Autumn "ping"), sent the unit, yesterday they received it, now waiting... I have no clue when I am going to get it back.

Do they bear the product return shipping fees?

You sent the whole unit(multirotor, gimbal/camera module, transmitter, battery) or just the gimbal/camera module alone? Just curious.

woon_hwan@hotma Posted at 2015-5-27 20:39
You sent the whole unit(multirotor, gimbal/camera module, transmitter, battery) or just the gimbal/c ...

I've asked that, and I've been told to send the drone itself only.

woon_hwan: I have EXACTLY THE SAME behaviour of my P3P's gimbal. But I discovered that this periodic vibration is present when camera is pointing forward. If I tilt it about 45 degrees downward, vibration disappears. The same in video - when flying with camera pointing forward, periodical blur can be seen. If I tilt camera down, picture is crisp all the time. So this vibration is tilt-dependent. Personally I don't think it is a hardware problem, or at least it's primary cause is not in the hardware. I saw similar behaviour in Tarot 2-axis gimbal and it was corrected after subsequent firmware upgrade. Buzzing is too regular and repeatable, so I think the problem is in the gimbal's motor control part software. Maybe some hardware factors amplify that problems, but they should not be a cause itself.

kudlaty Posted at 2015-5-27 22:22
woon_hwan: I have EXACTLY THE SAME behaviour of my P3P's gimbal. But I discovered that this periodic ...

It might be a software issue. But my friend got exactly the same Pro model and his one does not have this issue at all. Furthermore - I have seen lots of great P3 videos in the Internet without this issue also. So I assume, that some of P3s might have some hardware issues with gimbal.

Rimas_M Posted at 2015-5-27 22:37
It might be a software issue. But my friend got exactly the same Pro model and his one does not ha ...

Yes, it may be a hardware problem - we cannot be sure for 100% and I guess that DJI also doesn't know the nature of the problem for now. But I suppose that if this could be a pure hardware problem, all the problematic cases would not be EXACTLY THE SAME Instead, they would differ at least a little.

kudlaty Posted at 2015-5-27 23:01
Yes, it may be a hardware problem - we cannot be sure for 100% and I guess that DJI also doesn't k ...

I made some additional research, also made a short clip. It looks like the problem is with yaw motor. I tried to delicately move the camera to the side and force the yaw motor to compensate. Then I felt that the motor tries to counteract on my finger - stronger, then weaker and this continued in the same interval like the vibration. Stronger- weaker - stronger. Regular pulses, about one per second. It can be seen from 2:25 in the movie.

And very similar (if not same) behaviour, this time with P2V+:



Maybe this will help the DJI support to resolve the problem.

I've had the same result - looks like vibration every other second or so.  But here's a theory:  it only happens during the brightest part of the day.  I don't have the vibration/jello nearer to sunset when the shutter is able to slow down.  I've got a RageCams ND filter on order and am hoping that will help.  In the meantime do a test video in less bright conditions.

kudlaty Posted at 2015-5-27 22:22
woon_hwan: I have EXACTLY THE SAME behaviour of my P3P's gimbal. But I discovered that this periodic ...

May not be the tilt situation just the fact that the brightness level drops when the camera tips down.

Quadtastrophe Posted at 2015-5-28 01:32
May not be the tilt situation just the fact that the brightness level drops when the camera tips d ...

Had this idea. But I've noticed that in my case the jello isn't related to light conditions.
Here is a cloudy day, practically no wind. Hovering at ~3m: P.S. don't pay attention to the light part - I've changed camera settings during recording

Quadtastrophe Posted at 2015-5-28 01:30
I've had the same result - looks like vibration every other second or so.  But here's a theory:  it  ...

In my case this is not dependent on the brightness. Shutter speed should not have any connection to the problem, as there is no mechanical shutter - no moving parts that could induce vibrations. But when I watched the camera a little longer, after several seconds vibrations are gone. Like the gimbal was stabilizing itself. But when you move the drone or tilt the camera it starts vibrating again, then after several seconds vibration disappears. Another movement, another vibration for few seconds. It looks like the control of the motors isn't smooth enough and is susceptible to resonances.

Anyone who are facing these gimbal issues received a replacement unit from DJI yet?

woon_hwan@hotma Posted at 2015-5-28 13:57
Anyone who are facing these gimbal issues received a replacement unit from DJI yet?

I didn't decided to send it for repair, because I still believe the problem will be solved by firmware update only. I'm pretty sure that change in the gimbal control routines may solve the problem - some control smoothing, PWM frequency change to get out of resonance etc. I don't want to be without my P3 for several weeks. Jello is a major issue for video, but otherwise the copter works very well. I think I can wait few weeks for a solution and still fly and make a photos (they seems to be not affected by the vibrations).

DJI-Autumn: could you be so kind and pass informations from this thread to the DJI developers responsible for gimbal control software? I've also sent an email to support@dji.com. I'm still pretty sure that the jello problems can be solved just by change in the gimbal motor control software routines.

I am having the same exact issue with mine.  I sat on hold for 2 hours this morning with DJI USA and finally gave up.   I can hear the rhythmic buzzing and my video looks like this:

I am talking to the hobby shop I bought it from for a possible swap, but I'm sure I will need to send it back and wait 5 weeks.  Ugh!

Exactly the same.

kudlaty Posted at 2015-5-28 16:51
I didn't decided to send it for repair, because I still believe the problem will be solved by firm ...

I have the exact same thing and i can tell you that it is not likely that they will swap the gimbal because mine came fresh from the service center, testflown! They were obviously pleased with the results. Its hard to believe and i did an experiment and the jello effect appears also on the ground without powering on the motors, so it cant be related to vibrations. Its the gimbal itself my friend

The gimbal motors are all ok except you feel the ribbon cable moving and scratching inside when you twist the yaw motor with your hands but i think it could be normal. The yaw motor only have to operate in small angles.

This is the noise you describe, you can hear it at 0:41


I have this noise even when i play with the app and push a gimbal related button in the app. every push in the app will produce that noise form the gimbal : )
After i landed my P3 i could immediately hear that noise, other ppl have gimbal without that sounds and only in extreme angles. So i think its not normal at all because you can see tons of jello free videos on the internet. I dont understand why the Service Center let their customers in the rain like that. This is a 1400 Euro product and its main purpose is to record videos and in this condition now you just cant record any good videos at all. I wont fly with it anymore because there is no sense in it without the video footage. I also had a Gimbal IMU error and an MC error before my first flight, you ever experienced this as well?

here is the gimbal without activated motors on the ground

Daninho Posted at 2015-6-6 00:10
I have the exact same thing and i can tell you that it is not likely that they will swap the gimbal ...

Daninho, your case is exactly my case, like your P3 and mine could be the twin brothers. I reported this issue to the DJI support and after few days I got RMA and advice to send the copter to DJI service center in Germany. Like many others I really don't want to be without copter for best part of summer, so I'm in doubt - send it for repair/replacement, or wait for firmware upgrade hoping that it will resolve our problems. Moreover, I just got information from PolarPro that my ND filter set has been dispatched. I hope that with ND filter the yello will be much less annoying. And I'm still waiting for three additional batteries I've ordered.

I've never had IMU errors or MC errors. Just tilted horizon, but finally managed it. Copter flies like a charm, stable and responsive. No flyaways, no lost control, no problems with Pilot app, no problems at all except the cyclic camera vibrations originating from gimbal motors and destroying the video recorded. With long exposure time the vibration causes horizontal blur, with short exposure time it creates tremendous jello.

Daninho
<...>They were obviously pleased with the results.<...>
Unbelievable. DJI sold deffective unit for a good money and their (un)support is pleased with that? Now I am scared. Maybe we must send a properly working P3 to them together with bad one, to make them see the difference.

kudlaty Posted at 2015-6-6 03:09
Daninho, your case is exactly my case, like your P3 and mine could be the twin brothers. I reporte ...

exactly right, i tested it a few hours ago. You can do that easily at dawn when there is exactly the right light conditions for ISO100 1/120. The result was of course different but you could see the pulsating movement every 2 sec as well but in a different way. First of all the video is less sharp in general because of the motion blur and every two secs you will see the video get even more blurred. So the whole video gets even more blurred in a pulsating movement. This is the price for a jello effect or in this case a pulsating gimbal vibration masked with a ND filter. Without jello effect you would get just an slightly blurred video but constant.

I also discovered that you can even see it in 1/60 and 30fps 4K. When you go at auto mode the camera had selected 1/320 in my case today which is not enough to mask the jello effect. So thanks to the that pulsating gimbal movement we will get alot less quality vidoes with ND filters compared to P3 owners without that problem and that is the questionable thing here.

With this pulsating gimbal vibration every 2 secs. the gimbal is useless for 4K 30fps videos even with ND filter, thats the conclusion. In 60fps and 1080P with ND filter its less obvious but still there. So that means i could have just ordered the P3 advanced

kudlaty Posted at 2015-5-27 22:22
woon_hwan: I have EXACTLY THE SAME behaviour of my P3P's gimbal. But I discovered that this periodic ...

Have you found a solution to your problem?  My Phantom 3 only really has jello when the Gimbal is pointed straight and vary rarely when angled down

It seems thait I have the same issue ! DJI can you communicate about this ? I have also send you an email last week but no answer was provide. Thank you for helping

itsakirkbeat Posted at 2015-6-10 00:29
Have you found a solution to your problem?  My Phantom 3 only really has jello when the Gimbal is  ...

No, I haven't found the solution yet and probably I won't myself. For now we have only two solutions - send the bird for repair (and wait for return few weeks) or wait for fixing it in firmware. Because this issue is reproductible in the exact way by many P3 users, it seems to be software issue rather than hardware failure. But it's my guess only, as I'm not a DJI R&D guy...

kudlaty Posted at 2015-6-10 04:18
No, I haven't found the solution yet and probably I won't myself. For now we have only two solutio ...

Man there are too many stories of faulty gimbals.  Wish I had got one that works correctly.  The straight on shot is a very important angle I need.  $1300 is too much money to be guessing if the shot is going to be ruined or not by jello. smh

I too have had this from day one with my Phantom 3 Advanced...I just didn't know what to call it....it is amazingly consistent I have to admit....look at the 6:10 mark in full screen and HD....talk about wavy!