After having a crash last week that resulted in the destruction of the camera on my Advanced,  I ordered a replacement camera off of ebay.  The camera arrived today.  Installation was dead easy.  Just plug in the 2 cables, ( actually that was the hardest part of the job ) insert the pins and retainers in 2 of the holes attaching the gimbal to the mount,  remove the foam pad and gimbal protector, remove the plastic sticker that is over the lens for protection, insert the sd card and go flying.  The camera worked  perfectly,  the P3 flew just as well as it always had and all is once again right in my world.  

So,  if you are unfortunate enough to have your P3's camera destroyed and you are,  like me,  too impatient to wait for the time involved in shipping to Dji,  getting the camera repaired and shipping back to you,  rest easy.  If I can do this job,  anyone can.  It took all of 5 minutes.  I just recommend you leave in the foam block and gimbal protector as well as the lens protector until the job is done.

By the way,  the new camera and gimbal came as a pre-assembled unit and included the same pack of accessories that come when you purchase your P3.  Namely,  2 sets of the rubber shock mounts and the pins to mount them,  a new set of pads for the landing gear,  and a prop tightening tool.  The cost of the package was 359.00 us.  And the shipping time was about 4 days because of the weekend.

It was a hard earned lesson for me,  but one I won't soon forget.  Always check the route before doing a waypoint flight.  Or for that matter,  any flight.

It would be good if someone undertook to repair damaged gimbals and provided an exchange repair service. In other words, you send in your damaged gimbal, pay a fee and get a refurbished one back.

Kneepuck, I did the same thing only mine cost $409 from Amazon. Worked perfectly. I'm also looking for a camera/gimbal repair. I screwed up the ribbon connectors on the mother board and probably the camera.

Nice and quick solution! Did they give you a warranty there?

DJI-Tim Posted at 2016-2-1 19:46
Nice and quick solution! Did they give you a warranty there?

It says Dji on the box, but no warranty in the box.  It is definitely a Dji camera though.

Kneepuck Posted at 2016-2-2 13:06
It says Dji on the box, but no warranty in the box.  It is definitely a Dji camera though.

Then it's alright

dengaiser Posted at 2016-2-1 21:29
Kneepuck, I did the same thing only mine cost $409 from Amazon. Worked perfectly. I'm also looking f ...

These guys claim to offer this service, maybe someone else can chime in as to the quality etc. of the work.   They say they can repair broken gimbals on avg for 25% of a new camera unit and if they can't they will normally offer 100-250 for the old one depending on level of damage.  I opted to order a ribbon cable and try to go at mine alone.  Everything is visually sound on mine no physical damage to gimbal or camera, no errors or anything but I have large purple bars when I try to take video, or the app will just crash repeatedly.  The only thing I can think of is that the cable is defective but I don't want to wait a month or 2 turn around on something I think I can take care of myself.  

Here's a link to the service: http://shop.atkdrones.com/produc ... -flex-cable-service

ryan209 Posted at 2016-2-17 15:01
These guys claim to offer this service, maybe someone else can chime in as to the quality etc. of  ...

O nice link, and they are from Salt Lake City, Utah, not far from me.

For the price a the camera etc it would be better to buy a brand new P3A then sell your existing Phantom and controller separately and recoup the cost of the camera and making a small profit in the process!

You must use a different system of math than me.

Tintin Posted at 2016-2-19 20:24
For the price a the camera etc it would be better to buy a brand new P3A then sell your existing Pha ...

Agreed....some clown on the ebay is trying to sell an Advanced copter for £300 less than a new complete one......less the controller (£491) less battery (£124) less charger (£32) less the props (£15) and less the camera/gimbal (£290).

Madness - its good that the price for the Pros and Advances are much more affordable now but the parts prices are still the same.

Kneepuck Posted at 2016-2-19 22:00
You must use a different system of math than me.

£699 for a new Advanced at the current prices.

So if you broke your Advanced camera then instead of buying a new camera for £280 you should spend the extra £419 on a complete set up - then you can have another battery and charger assuming you dont already and you will want to buy another battery or replace the current one at some point - the rest of the aircraft will owe you £263.  Sell the controller for say £275 say and  you would be in profit by £12 plus you will have a brand new Advanced for spares or to sell.....double your money and keep the SD card !!

;)

foxy-stoat Posted at 2016-2-22 09:45
£699 for a new Advanced at the current prices.

So if you broke your Advanced camera then instead ...

Completely true

ryan209 Posted at 2016-2-17 17:01
These guys claim to offer this service, maybe someone else can chime in as to the quality etc. of  ...

I recently replaced the ribbon cable on my Phantom 3 Advanced.  It certainly wasn't what I would call fun, but if you take your time it's really not that bad.
(Of course everyone's mileage may vary)  

raveneapoe Posted at 2016-2-22 18:10
I recently replaced the ribbon cable on my Phantom 3 Advanced.  It certainly wasn't what I would c ...

I did my ribbon cable this past weekend too!   I followed that same video, and had her back together in about 45 minutes.  It was a major relief when I fired it up all working again!!

ryan209 Posted at 2016-2-23 08:24
I did my ribbon cable this past weekend too!   I followed that same video, and had her back togeth ...

Congratulations!    It kind of makes you feel good when you accomplish something like this.  (At least I was very proud of me!  )