I was having fun with the P4 software and didn't bemove it. I was watching a video on how to update with assistant II. About half way through he mention about the guard. It would over stress the gimbal motor. Also, you should get an error message. Well, I took the guard off and the camera when crazy. I had to turn the P4 off and on about three times before it got back to normal. I looked at the one page that gives a over view, and there where 2 error messages about the gimbal.

Aloha Anchorage,

     Oops!  Good thing Phantoms are resilient.  

Aloha and Drone On!

Good to hear you were able catch it in time and resolve the issue before it became a larger problem.

I had forgotten my gimbal guard a couple of times and when I turned on the drone, got a warning message:
"Gimbal Overload"

You learn quick, when you realize the error of your ways...
Take your time and make it a good habit to go through a preflight check.


RedHotPoker

I once had the same issue when landing in low mowed grass to change the battery.  If you reset the bird while it's in the grass the reset dance will produce a gimbal overload.     I now use a large  acrylic cutting board as a launch and recovery device.

I could be wrong, but I think the gimbal motors are actually stepper motors that receive pulses to move left, right, up, down. When (forgetting to remove the guard) keeps the gimbal from moving, its give you a warning that it didn't see all of the max travel points it expected to see during startup. I don't think the motors can be harmed/overheated by this happening.

Jamming a motor that is trying to move its connected parts is a mistake, and eventually, something will fail.


RedHotPoker

I have a long ribbon tied with gimbal protector to alert me every time before flight.     It's something like "remove before flight".

Focusian Posted at 2016-11-10 23:40
I have a long ribbon tied with gimbal protector to alert me every time before flight.     It's somet ...

Aloha Focusian,

     Now, that is a good one.  I rarely travel with my Phantom and that is the only time I use the gimbal guard.  And I get so paranoid.  You solved my problem!  The guards are so hard to see.  Mahalo!

Aloha and Drone On!

Coming close to screwing up that motor made a big impact on me. I wasn't smart enough to think of the ribbon.[img]https://forum44.djicdn.com/data/attachment/forum/%5BURL=http://s141.photobucket.com/user/AnchorageAlaska/media/album2/DSC01765_zpsth9sebwc.jpg.html%5D[/URL][/img]

AnchorageAk Posted at 2016-11-11 13:56
Coming close to screwing up that motor made a big impact on me. I wasn't smart enough to think of th ...

What is that script around the pic you posted?

Seems like you added more info, than is necessary.

RedHotPoker

I didn't know if that was normal or not. I just put in the img file from Photobucket like it suggested for forums. I'll try some thing a little different next time.

AnchorageAk Posted at 2016-11-12 20:18
I didn't know if that was normal or not. I just put in the img file from Photobucket like it suggest ...

If you go into 'Advanced' edit mode then you can upload picture directly as an attachment, as long as it is <2MB in size.

Will do Aardvark. Thanks