New Mavic 2 Zoom with Smart controller January 8 2020;

After the required updating and calibrating; approximately 3 minutes into my 1st flight I received the Gimbal Motor Overloaded warning. The next 12 or so test flights resulted in the same error message at about the same few minutes after take-off. Wind less than 10 MPH, partly cloudy day and approximately 20F.

Test flight indoors or idling on the surface produced no warning messages and the gimbal worked fine.

I just found about and have calibrated the Inertial Measurement Unit and now waiting for outside temperatures to get above 14F. I tested indoors again with normal Gimbal movement.

Hello and good day Babbest. I am sorry for the trouble and thank you for reaching out. May I know what happened to your DJI Mavic 2 Zoom prior to this issue? Did you experience any hard landing or crash? You can try to calibrate the gimbal of the said drone to see if there would be some changes. Also, please try to update your firmware for us to avoid any issues or problems. Please keep us posted for further assistance. Thank you.

Hello DJI Stephen,

January 7
What happened before was I opened the new box from an Amazon DJI reseller and spent most of the day charging, updating firmware, software and watching YouTube videos on un-boxing the new drone and 1st flight instructions which included the calibration steps (note; I missed the IMU).

January 8-11
My 1st launch outside was normal and within a few minutes the error message “Gimbal Motor Overloaded” appeared which caused the camera to not function properly. I was maybe a few hundred feet away so I returned to home and within a few seconds of landing the warning cleared until I launched again. This happened over the next couple days with the same results.
The camera gimbal worked fine during the indoor testing which I did after each outdoor failed flight.

January 13
I called a DJI USA technician who suggested to calibrate the IMU. I watched a video on what Inertial Measurement Unit was and found the sensor location in my smart controller. I calibrated the IMU, compass, gimbal and checked that the firmware is updated. I tested indoors again for a few minutes with no warning message and the camera gimbal worked normal. Like I mentioned, I am waiting for the temperature to reach the minimal required 15F to test outside which might be towards the end of this week.

Thank you and hopefully I can report back a successful no error flight.

Babbest Posted at 1-14 10:28
Hello DJI Stephen,

January 7

January 16
After speaking with a DJI technician in CA USA, I have factory re-set the Smart Controller, updated the latest firmware, again calibrated the Gimbal, Compass, IMU and removed the SD card on the drone resulting in the same consistent error message with in a minute of the drone launch. Less than a minute after the drone is landed and props stopped the error message disappears. The Gimbal works normally when the remote controller and aircraft are activated but propellers not turning. This time within a minute of the props idling the error message appears. This test was done in my garage approximately 17F (-25F outside)

The Drone is now on its way to DJI Services LLC in Cerritos, California.

Just a thought...did you check the rear of the gimbal and remove the small, clear sticky label that is attached on a new or replacement drone?

Not sure if this even exists on a Zoom but it does on a Pro!

Don’t ask me how I know this can give a gimbal overload error in a replacement drone <blush>

-=Glyn=-

GlynH Posted at 1-31 05:52
Just a thought...did you check the rear of the gimbal and remove the small, clear sticky label that is attached on a new or replacement drone?

Not sure if this even exists on a Zoom but it does on a Pro!

DJI Repair Progress Inquiry from their CA USA repair station;
They show a picture of my camera with a title “gimbal off center and noisy”
They show another picture of an I-phone with a title “overall status” which I cannot read.

Yesterday, I received a different drone body and the gimbal seems to work fine and appears to be “looser” in movement.
I have not flown it. I am waiting for the winds to die down for a test flight.

Update February 2;
24 degrees F, 4 MPH and partly cloudy.
Flew for a total of about 45 mins and no problems, this is going to be a fun drone to learn :0)