I received my P3 today and installed the new FW and everything seemed to be good. I wanted to fly the thing tomorrow but now i detected a slight scratcheing noise from one motor, i think thats it guys. I will have to send it back and have to wait another 4 weeks. Its only a slight scratching noise but the other motors are all good. This could be a magnet to close or a bad bearing, i dont know but i will take no risk in such a case because the Motors are your insurance. I was happy because i obviously received a gimbal without vibrations when you tilt the phantom in your hands, some gimbals do that and those are mostly the jello producing ones. I have the feeling that the next P3 will be a "gimbal lemon" :p Its a pitty with the quality control. Otherwise it seems like a nice product, the remote controller feels really good compared to the old one.
The motor spins like the others when you move it with your hands and i doubt the camera microphone will record the noise but i will see if i can record it.
I send it in to the service in Schondra Germany, its only 100km from me away but i saw that to late. I thought it is in deepest bavaria but it is actually not. If they change the motor i hope those guys use new silicon afterwards to dampen the cable vibrations and i hope the soldering is as solid as the original with that clear coat. Its always a pitty when you send a brand new never used product in to repair. I have a bad feeling about this but it is like it is
Fulgerite Posted at 2015-5-21 05:16
Most likely one of the motor mounting screws is too long or is screwed in so far it's hitting the ar ...
It was original and i doubt the screws can be screwed in to far, i think it isnt even possible. I even unscrewed them a bit to check. The noise is most likely from a magnet, its not loud at all but it would be dangerous to fly. I bet most ppl dont even check for that in a silent place.
well, it was brandnew out of the box but like i said its already there at the service now, they maybe solder in a new motor or maybe just a new motor housing, who knows.
So yesterday i got my P3 back after 2 weeks unrepaired but now the gimbal seems to have a problem. As you can imagine im not happy at all. I also want to mention that i never received any emails from DJI Germany. The UPS guy arrived all of a sudden, i told him that its strange because i ordered nothing with UPS. It turned out it was my P3. The box wasnt dampened very good, i did a much better job and the gimbal clamp had fallen off like i thought.
This thing arrived with a fully attached gimbal clamp all the way from china the first time i opened it but it could not stay on from here to Schondra which is only 100km from here. The next time i will drive to them and pick it up there as well.
I can understand that the scratching noise is hard to hear in a repair factory with probably some background noises etc.. I dont really care about that noise but if that thing falls from the sky its not my fault and maybe i will get a brand new one than : )
Like i said before the P3 arrived with a badly attached gimbal clamp and i tested the quad today for the first time and all i can say is it was a jello heaven, i can not use the video files at all, you just cant correct that with a video editing software. I simulated a ND Filter as well in locking in ISO 100 and 1/60 shutter speed, the same results, maybe a little bit better.
Before i drove to that place i fired the P3 up at home and i did the usual IMU calibration like i do before every flight. After that i switched off the VPS system, made EXPO adjustments, set the fail save height 50m etc.. All of a sudden i got an gimbal IMU error and the thing did a hang loose and rebooted?
When i arrived i tested my Phantom2 H3-3D first without any problems and when i powered up the P3 i got an MC error and the gimbal did a hang loose again. I had a bad feeling to start this P3 for a test flight but i did and it worked but with a terrible jello effect, i could see it even in the live stream. After i landed the gimbal made those noise again like seen in the video attached. The only positive thing was that the hardware decode seems to work on the Ipad Air2 and the latency was pretty good.
I could see nothing on that ipad screen in the sun and i had to put an umbrella over my head to see, it worked besides everybody must have thought im an idiot and thats why i drove a bit further away this time :p
I will post some videos here
First is the normal Phantom3 startup and i like to check if everything is normal here. The gimbal will always make the noise you can hear at 0:43, after i landed i could hear it immediately.
Now i want to show you the video of the scratching motor and the jello effect i get. This was hard to capture because i dont have an external mic, so you have to increase volume
Now i will show a little video from what looks like jello effect but this was on the ground, motors not activated! So thats a bummer but its not always the case
So all in all im disappointed with the Phantom3 and of course with the Service Center, they wrote that they tested my P3 in the air. How on earth they managed to overlook the jello effect?
The only thing i want is a working product without jello effect.
I can test stiffer dampeners and different props and ND filters and wait for a complete windless day but that cant be the solution when i see other P3 owners without any problems at all.
Maybe the dampeners are to soft, i will try the earplug solution and different props. Please i dont want to hear any remove the foam comments :p
So i visited DJi Europe yesterday again to collect my P3, i brought it to them 3,5 weeks ago. I wasnt able to test fly it because of an enourmous africa heat in germany these days (40 C). I had no joy so far to test it under these conditions, maybe in the evening. All i can say is the vibrations on the ground are gone now. The gimbal still sounds a bit "sick" but now the vibrations and the loud noise is gone. No jello on the gound visible in extreme shutterspeeds. Like i said i cant say much about the performance in the air regarding jello.
An interesting fact i discovered with my gimbal is regarding the ribbon cable. Originally i could feel the ribbon cable inside the gimbal when i move the gimbal with my hands, it was almost like i could feel a small tension from the ribbon cable and you could hear it cracking when you move the gimbal with your hands, but only very slightly. This is now gone, they must have adjusted the ribbon cable as well. Maybe this was the reason for the pulsating vibrations. That lead to another interesting fact, now the camera is pointing 90 degrees to the bottom without powering it on, before it was like 70 degrees without power. So maybe the ribbon cable played a role, i dont know. There is obviously a way to calibrate those gimbals in the factory.
The gimbal is not perfect now, i still can hear the noise from time to time at some angles but it disappears quickly. Im still a bit sceptical how the gimbal will perform now in the air, i will test it tomorrow. the goal is jello free footage without ND Filters.
The employees i met were all friendly, especially the guy with the british accent.
I also discovered that the app showed gimbal motor overlord from time to time when the gimbal is pointing 90 degree to the bottom, a raised the gimbal gain to 60 and it was solved
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