Hello all,

  

Brand new Phantom 3 Standard owner here. It just arrived yesterday, the bird has never flown or even had props mounted on it yet.

  

Upon opening, I noticed that the 'gimbal guard' had come undone from the camera & gimbal, but thought little of this at the time.

  

After charging the new battery, I powered up the remote, app, & drone - the camera & gimbal immediately began making very bad noise and emitting what sounded like the occasional beep? I followed all the tutorials on IMU calibration, latest firmware, gimbal calibration and even compass calibration (even though I was indoors).

  

Even after all of these steps, I continue have a very noisy gimbal, but have managed to reduce this to just when the bird is pitched forward, just as it would be under speed when in flight.

  

You can see by the video below, that the gimbal begins to make this sound when pitched, but this also introduces noise when the bird rolls to the side.

I've checked the 'grub screw issue', and it doesn't appear that this issue is related to this problem. The motor post for my gimbal is oriented properly and the grub screw appears to be secure, although I can't tell for certain as I don't have an appropriate tool for tightening/checking thoroughly.

Can someone please tell me if my gimbal is behaving properly?

   

I've come across soooo many videos like this, and in virtually all cases, the user had to send their drone back for replacement.

  

I *just got my drone after an over 2 week wait after purchase. I am really disappointed at the thought of waiting even more if this turns out to be a true issue.

   

Any feedback for me?

  

  

Thanks in advance,

  

Danny

  

Oh man, that is horrible sounding. If it were me, I'd send it back. If your a seasoned pilot but never flown a Phantom, I'd fly it a bit before sending it back. Because you're probably in for a treat how well they fly.

Oh that 'gimbal guard' thing. Yeah a lot of them come off during shipment (including mine). Even so, most of them still work just fine. You would think DJI would come up with a better way of keeping them on.

Mine also came similar.

I found that the vertical arm of the gimbal was not seated correctly. I slackened the black grub screw you'll find on the arm and seated the arm properly against the bearing. Tightened up the screw and all the noise stopped. It also cured the slight jello effect I had in flight videos.

You can check the arm --- if you can detect a tiny movement of camera - then that's the problem.

Nigel

solentlife Posted at 2016-11-30 06:46
Mine also came similar.

I found that the vertical arm of the gimbal was not seated correctly. I sla ...

Thank you.

I can't really judge whether this is affecting the camera's performance as I've yet to attempt to fly, and likely won't given these gimbal issues. The camera is becoming *very hot after only a few minutes of activity.

I'm also stuck without the proper tools to address this.

BillW50 Posted at 2016-11-29 18:23
Oh man, that is horrible sounding. If it were me, I'd send it back. If your a seasoned pilot but nev ...

Thanks for the reply.
I just know this isn't normal. Sadly, you're confirming my fears.

I'm a 1st time quad pilot. Nervous about making the smallest error and have really been taking my time familiarizing myself with procedures and good preparation.

This is something I wasn't prepared for.

Looks like an RMA is underway.

The grub screw is 1.5mm standard jobbie. Best for it are the Hex Driver sets sold for the Helicopter boys. A set is only a few $ at local hobby shop or eBay.

Honestly - get a hex driver and check that mount. For a simple $2 tool - you would probably fix it ....

My P3S had exactly same symptoms as yours. Standing it made horrible sounds, tilt the model and it stopped, tilt it another way and sounds were horrible again ....

Its a simple check - if you can feel tiny movement of the gimbal assembly - you need to seat it properly.

The camera does get hot when not flying. It is not good idea to have it all powered up for long like that. I have a small fan heater that can blow without heat - I have that cooling the camera when I have it powered up and not flying.

Nigel

solentlife Posted at 2016-11-30 18:42
The grub screw is 1.5mm standard jobbie. Best for it are the Hex Driver sets sold for the Helicopter ...

Thanks for your reply, Nigel.

I did go out and purchase a set of precision/torque drivers yesterday and gave the drone a very thorough examination. However, I can't identify where the problem is.

Everything seems to be snug, and both gimbal posts are oriented correctly.
I looked at many examples of the "grub screw fix", but it doesn't seem to be the same issue.

The DJI online tech thought it may be the actual motor, or control board. But that, was likely just a guess on his part.

I'm on the west coast, so I'm hoping that my RMA to DJI California doesn't take too long.

Thank you again for your input.

Cheers!

Sorry to keep on this -

Humour me please ...... Slack the screw and press the arm down onto the fixed part with the bearing. Tighten the screw.

Just because the arm looks seated, screw tight is no g'tee. The tiniest bit gives rise to the noise. When you press down - you will think it hasn't moved - but it has by just that thousandth ....

I know others who had exact same and they did the above and it was cured. Its worth trying - it may just save you that RMA and wait to get it back.

Another proof of this - there's no reason you cannot fly the model. Fly it and record a video. If I am right - you will detect a very slight jello effect in the video. Its very slight but there.

Check out my YouTube site : solentlifeuk : my first Phantom videos had this, but once I did the above - everything was rock-solid - jello and noise gone - as you will see in later videos.

Honest - I'm only trying to save you the hassle of RMA ..... if I'm wrong - it cost you nothing.

Nigel

solentlife Posted at 2016-12-1 20:56
Sorry to keep on this -

Humour me please ...... Slack the screw and press the arm down onto the fi ...

Thanks Nigel, I appreciate your continued efforts of assistance.

I'll make time for this today and will let you know if I see any improvement.
I now have my RMA application form, so yes, you just may save me a boatload of trouble & wait time.

I'll let you know if there's been any improvement.

I need to inspect some new batteries that just arrived, so I'll give this a shot when giving the drone another once-over.

Thanks again for your help on this!

Danny

solentlife Posted at 2016-12-1 20:56
Sorry to keep on this -

Humour me please ...... Slack the screw and press the arm down onto the fixed part with the bearing. Tighten the screw.

Just an update - after several flights and attempts to tinker with the gimal, no amount of adjustment seems to solve the problem. I got to the point where I completely removed the grub screw and made absolutely sure that the gimbal was seated properly and not rubbing on the chassis or similar.

There's no intermittency in this noise either. Which to me, indicates that there is an issue within the gimbal motor or assembly that is causing the problem.

No amount of external adjustment will address the issue.

Thanks for your help & input on this!

Shame ... it was worth a try anyway ...

Wish luck getting it fixed RMA ...

Nigel

solentlife Posted at 2016-12-8 16:44
Shame ... it was worth a try anyway ...

Wish luck getting it fixed RMA ...

Many thanks once again!

Dannny

DanoBC Posted at 2016-12-12 13:34
Many thanks once again!

Dannny

So what was the end result? What did they diagnose the problem as? Do you have your Phantom back yet and how long did it take? I have the dreaded screeching gimbal as well. I will probably try to adjust it as Nigel mentioned.  I don't want to have to send my bird away, especially as the weather is getting nicer and I'll be outside more.

solentlife Posted at 2016-12-1 20:56
Sorry to keep on this -

Humour me please ...... Slack the screw and press the arm down onto the fixed part with the bearing. Tighten the screw.

Nigel,
I was having the same noise issue.  I came across this post and followed your advice.  Noise gone!  Thanks a ton!

Corey

Hola. Yo me dedico a reparar drones. Ese ruido se me presentó en un drone que tuve que reparar. El el caso particular que me aconteció, el ruido de debió a la cámara. Luego de buscar y buscar, reemplazar piezas, etc, lo único que funcionó fue cambiar la cámara. Al no encontrar la solución, empecé a cambiar piezas para probar, y cuando cambié la cámara se solucionó. Espero que a alguien le ayude la respuesta. Saludos.