Turn on the MP with gimbal clamp on! How dangerous it is?
2680 15 2017-3-23
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fans62328f64
lvl.2
Flight distance : 42585 ft
India
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Hey Guys,

Yesterday, i receveied my MP and in excitement i turned the Aircraft on without removing the Gimbal clamp. I immediately turned off the Aircarft after my mistake and removed the clamp and turned it back on. Hopefully it was working fine.

What's the worst it could happen to MP if i do so again?

2017-3-23
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Bintryin
lvl.3
Flight distance : 164406 ft
Australia
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Don't know I have done it a few times myself!! I would say it could burn out the gimbal motors.
2017-3-23
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n0gga
lvl.2
Flight distance : 502044 ft
Norway
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To be honest, i don't think it's a big deal. The gimbal calibration on startup har improved a lot, which i believe detects motor overload before doing any big movements on the gimbal.
Have done it two times on mine, no worries yet.
Only way to be safe is to incorporate a good startup routine.
2017-3-23
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CreativeMe
lvl.2
Sweden
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I have done that misstake a severaltime but as @n0gga said the motors detects the overload before anything bad happen.
My gimbal works perfect after those misstakes.
2017-3-23
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rnrnrn
lvl.4
Flight distance : 430932 ft
Germany
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Same here - it happened a few times without any bad outcome - gimbal works well. But just to be on the safe side - I added a long red "remove before flight" label to the gimbal clamp and now it is impossible to forget to remove it ;-)
2017-3-24
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fans62328f64
lvl.2
Flight distance : 42585 ft
India
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Thanks for your inputs guys! Looks like nothing to worry here but yeah as a precaution always remove the clamp before turning the MP on.
2017-3-24
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way wrong
lvl.4
Flight distance : 351631 ft
Estonia
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I myself don't remove the clamp when connecting to DJI Assistant and still Works as it should. No hitting stops or erratic movements thankfully.
2017-3-24
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DroneFlying
Second Officer
Flight distance : 10774613 ft
United States
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What's the worst it could happen to MP if i do so again?

As Bintryin said, the worst case scenario is that the gimbal motor gets damaged. If your gimbal is still working correctly, though, then I'd just try make sure it doesn't happen again and not worry about it. If you don't already have one, creating a pre-flight checklist and adding the gimbal clamp removal to it is a good idea.
2017-3-24
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Katsumoto
lvl.2
Flight distance : 56407 ft
Austria
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did that about  8 times.....nothing bad happened....gimbal still perfect working l
2017-3-24
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R&L Aerial
First Officer
Flight distance : 298100 ft
  • >>>
United States
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If your on the original firmware that the mavics first came with then yes, I could potentially do some damage. The second firmware update addressed this possible scenario so that no damage would occur
2017-3-24
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Midwest_Blue
lvl.2
Flight distance : 202247 ft
United States
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I taped on a (1/4 inch gift wapping ribbon, Red) onto the gimbo guard. It hangs out about 6 inches on each side. and the clear dome, still clamps on. Looks like my Mavic has wiskers . Meow Meow!  Purr!  
2017-3-24
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WolfgangStiller
Second Officer
Flight distance : 599416 ft
United States
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I suspect everyone has made this mistake but the remove before flight idea is a good idea.
2017-3-24
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Dataway
lvl.2
Flight distance : 17152 ft
United States
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I attached a bright orange ribbon to mine and that reminds me to remove it when i pull it from the case to get ready to fly.
2017-3-24
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NoSale
lvl.3
Flight distance : 460958 ft
United States
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This is really a very good question, and a scenario that most every pilot has encountered at least a few times.  As others have posted the information on here, I learned that the firmware changed to prevent calibration by first checking the motor overload.  So that takes a worry off.  However, as others have done, I've included a reminder on my clamp, which has worked to remind me to remove before powering up.  My next step is to extend this remove before flight reminder all the way up to attach on top of the power button, or around the body of the Mavic so that the power button is covered.  Maybe a bit overkill, but seems like it would help to require removing before being able to touch the power button.
2017-3-24
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fansf68d60df
New
United States
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I did this a few days ago, family members waiting to see it in the air rushed me through my preflight checklist.  I took off and noticed really shaky footage in my DJI go app, and then it hit me. I landed the AC powered down, removed clamp, and powered back up.  Was only in air for about 5 seconds so I don't think I did any damage.
2017-5-28
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Jimmers
lvl.4
Flight distance : 49623 ft
United States
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Dataway Posted at 2017-3-24 06:50
I attached a bright orange ribbon to mine and that reminds me to remove it when i pull it from the case to get ready to fly.

Good idea.  I've thought of doing something similar.
2017-5-28
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