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Day 2 of flying, broken gimbal... But can I get by?
1132 8 2015-4-4
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paul
lvl.3

United States
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I suppose I'm not surprised to break the gimbal on day 2... I kinda expected a disaster on my first day and was relieved to have the best "first flight" of any RC ever!

Luckily, I had already installed my aluminum gimbal protector before day 2 and I think it helped a lot.  My gimbal actually still "works".  That is, the ribbon cable is intact and I can still see video and it even steadies the camera.  But...

A) It's a bit bent so the plastic gimbal guard hardly fits without a bit of force.
B) Upon power-up, the gimbal goes into a loop trying to fix its roll... wildly skewed... at least at first.  I just have to flick it with my finger and it rights itself and works fine for entire flights.
C) I suspect the permanent magnet inside the roll motor is a little shattered because I can feel pieces grinding when I rotate it to an extreme.

So I guess the requirement to flick it with my finger before each flight isn't much of a loss.  At least not yet.  Ultimately, it's clear that motor will die because little "magnet chunks" are floating around in there, so I will eventually lose the gimbal's ability to roll properly.

Here's my question: When the roll motor dies in the future, is there a way I can "lock down" the roll motor in a way that won't cause that motor to draw a lot of current, potentially overheating or draining the battery?  I can still enjoy the phantom with a working camera if only the other two aspects of the gimbal work, and I'd rather not spend a fortune right now.




2015-4-4
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droneflyers.com
First Officer
Flight distance : 60709 ft
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United States
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I can't answer the exact question, but you won't spend a fortune if the thing is still in decent shape and you send to one of the independent repair guys
http://www.usdronerepair.com/
https://www.facebook.com/USdronerepair

http://www.uavrepairshop.com/
2015-4-4
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paul
lvl.3

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droneflyers.com Posted at 2015-4-5 08:47
I can't answer the exact question, but you won't spend a fortune if the thing is still in decent sha ...

Here's my experience so far with uavrepairshop.com.  I'm more than a little concerned at this point.

On April 9th I called, had to leave voicemail but he called back quickly and was very receptive and helpful on the phone.  

The same day April 9, I paid the $50 diagnostic fee online (It "cleared" the next day.) I mailed my gimbal to USPS priority mail, with tracking.  Accoding to USPS tracking it arrived and was signed for by "an individual" on Saturday April 11.

The website says: "Turnaround time for diagnostics and assessment is 24-48 hours from the time I receive your UAV."  Okay, so...

I didn't call Monday because I assume he only works 5 days a week, so I figured "24-48 hours" must mean after the first workday, and although I worry about my gimbal, I didn't want to be a pest.

I called Tuesday April 14th, leaving voicemail just to make sure he received my package.  No call back.

I called Wednesday April 15th, leaving voicemail again.  No call back.

I didn't call yesterday April 16th.

Well, I called today, April 17th and left another voicemail.  So far still no call back, no email, etc.  Inside my package was my contact information... email, address, etc.  It's been 6 days since someone signed for that package, and I still don't know for sure if he has it in his hands and has associated it with my payment.  (For example, it could have been signed for by a family member.  Also I'm worried because oddly, the USPS tracking says "signed for by an individual in Saint Paul, MN", which is weird because although that's probably where the post office is... The actual destination address is in New Brighton, MN which is 20 minutes away.)  

Maybe he's sick.  Maybe he's had a death in the family.  But I'd still like to know where my expensive gimbal is.

Anybody have any knowledge of what's happening here?
2015-4-17
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jtrjr
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Flight distance : 4341 ft
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Paul,

That sucks, all of it. Don't have an answer and you shouldn't have to do this but did you try leaving a post or email on his actual website? I'll check when I post this but does he have his own forum, maybe? If he does, perhaps someone there will hear you and get in touch with him? Wish I had more for you, I feel your pain. Anyway, hope you hear something soon. I'm retired so I'll poke around the net a bit for you. I'll post back here if I find something useful.

Jerry


2015-4-17
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jtrjr
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Flight distance : 4341 ft
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Paul,

Okay, no real help just some info. I don't see any other forums or websites dedicated to UAV Repair Shop in New Brighton, MN other than their normal site. I went through that as I'm sure you already did and didn't see anything useful. I started looking through search links and came across this thread on the other site (It's old, mid-December 2014):

http://www.phantompilots.com/thr ... -and-dealers.31337/

Towards the bottom of the page is this statement by "Hunch" (hani):

"just to correct, it is "UAV Repair Shop" on facebook and you can go to www.uavrepairshop.com if you need my info. also, starting last week if you are going to call UAV Direct with a gimbal problem they will forward your call to my cell phone (don't ask :mrgreen: )

hani
"

I then called UAV Direct at 1-855-778-6363 and got tech support. Told them I had a bent gimbal for my Phantom 2 and asked if they could repair. I was told that they don't do gimbal repairs just replacements. I asked if he could recommend someone that does. He told me that he couldn't recommend anyone because as far as he knows nobody is doing gimbal repairs. That DJI is not selling gimbal parts so no one can get parts to do repairs.

Obviously, I'm not affiliated with anyone. Just read your post, felt your pain and as a fellow pilot thought I'd try to lend a hand. I'll keep my eye's open and if I think of anything else I'll sure let you know. Hopefully, you're right and he just got pulled away for some other reason. I haven't seen anything negative about UAV Repair Shop either.

Jerry
2015-4-17
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paul
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jtrjr@yahoo.com Posted at 2015-4-18 03:27
Paul,

Okay, no real help just some info. I don't see any other forums or websites dedicated to UAV  ...

I appreciate your efforts, but he did finally call me.  He says he had a lot of recent voicemails like mine from other customers because his day job is in I.T. and this week they were upgrading servers and I guess things didn't go as smoothly as expected.  I used to be in I.T. myself and usually the boss doesn't care if you get sleep when systems aren't working.

He confirmed he has my gimbal and would probably get back to me tomorrow.

With that said, a phone call or email would have gone a long way to improve my experience.  Stuff happens, but sometimes communication matters more than the service itself.

I'll post here with an update when I get my gimbal back.
2015-4-17
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jtrjr
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Flight distance : 4341 ft
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Paul,

I hear you, a call or email would have been nice. At least you know he's got it. Good luck!

Jerry
2015-4-17
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kjkisatsky
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United States
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Please keep us updated, as I was planning to send mine to him as well.  Weird hearing you cannot get replacement parts, that makes me nervous, as my yaw arm on the gimble is seriously bent.
2015-4-19
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grangerfx
First Officer
Flight distance : 817713 ft
United States
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I thought my gimbal was destroyed after my first crash last week because the arm would not rotate and the protector would not fit onto the camera. It turned out that the arm was just pressed down on the spindle at the base. There is a hex screw on the arm you can loosen, reposition the arm and tighten again. Once you do that you should be able to use the protector again. Try that before you give up.
2015-4-19
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