I do not understand HOW the 'other wire' could possibly work. It is my understanding that these three wires control the up and down direction of the camera.....without them the camera has zero control....
Camera wires broke off circuit board
- Thread starter Fleamac
- Start date
Either the three wires from the mount, or the pigtail. They both do the exact same thing, supply power, ground, and tilt signal to the Gimbal/camera. The rest of the camera and gimbal controls are all self contained.
New drone owner here. So after 4 days I crashed and like the others my wires came out. I tried to soder them but when the wires pulled apart they pulled part of the circuit board.
I read on the thread that the wire that comes with the drone does the same thing. I plugged the white end into the circuit board however I see no mention or pictures what to do with the other end.
Some say to remove the 3 screws and put it there but the chip there has a metal conductor when the camera slides in.
Can someone tell me what to do with the black end and perhaps send a picture.
Thanks
I read on the thread that the wire that comes with the drone does the same thing. I plugged the white end into the circuit board however I see no mention or pictures what to do with the other end.
Some say to remove the 3 screws and put it there but the chip there has a metal conductor when the camera slides in.
Can someone tell me what to do with the black end and perhaps send a picture.
Thanks
Go back to post 39. You can still fix your mount connections. If you opt not to, the small pigtail white end, as you stated plugs into the back of the gimbal mount, the black end plugs into the belly of the Q500 just behind (rear) of the mount. The rubber flap that covers the contacts with the gimbal off may be covering it, just push it to the side.
If you opt to not fix your mount wiring, I'd order a spare pigtail now. It's not unheard of to rip that thing apart in a crash. They are not made to be quick disconnects, the plugs do hold on better than the wiring inside.
You also should remove the three screws from the top plate and pull the contact board out so you don't risk a short with the three wires not connected - it would look like that little square chip in the first picture of post 39.
If you opt to not fix your mount wiring, I'd order a spare pigtail now. It's not unheard of to rip that thing apart in a crash. They are not made to be quick disconnects, the plugs do hold on better than the wiring inside.
You also should remove the three screws from the top plate and pull the contact board out so you don't risk a short with the three wires not connected - it would look like that little square chip in the first picture of post 39.
OK...I did the ol' "Found a tree, knocked the gimbal off, broke the wires" thing. I was going to perform the repairs and put in a break away connection mid point in the leads from the gimbal mount to the gimbal so no more ripped wires off the circuit board the next time I crash.
I have the exact same problem. Your photos are identical to mine. My drone did not fine a tree all by itself though, it had help. It came into contact with a hawk that apparently does not approve of drones. The attack put the drone in the top of a 100 foot pine tree. That was back on February 6. I have been unable to locate the drone with binoculars or an extensive ground searching for about a week. I than started finding pieces of prop. Last night we had a severe storm with wind 60 mph gusts that finally made the tree give up the aircraft. I went searching today and found more prop, the 4k camera and gimbal, and the drone in the top of a 12 foot tree which I was able to convince to give up my aircraft.
I have the same problem as mentioned here (identical) where the wires and trace from the circuit board came off. I'm glad someone is able to provide the pinout and I will make the same repair to the back of the connector. This appears to be a common problem. perhaps Yuneec should consider making the cables breakaway to prevent them from getting ripped off the board if the camera separates.
I will also say thanks to George for providing the pinout. I was contemplating all my options for board / pigtail replacement. This will make it a relatively easy fix.
John O'
So I finally got a hold of all the crap I needed to perform the repairs, and that one little inlaid wire that came loose from the circuit board, broke off. And everything was going so well too.
Getting ready to start.
Finished the break away wires for the gimbal mount
The inlaid wire and copper pad that ripped loose of the board.
Got 2 of the lower wire soldered on, then that one that pulled the pad and wire loose from the board broke.
SO - The current plan is to solder the PWM wire to the back of the pigtail connection port, but I need to know which lead is what.
Edited - Found the info - Thanks George for the tip
Left to right,
A ~ GND
B ~ VCC
C ~ PWM
So now that I found out which pin on the back of the connector I need to go to...
Ran the wires under the board and up from behind, then through the cover.
Here is is all assembled and connected. The pins keep a good connection, and should pull free in the event of another gimbal mount separation. No I did not do a inertia test to verify. I will take it on faith that the solder joints and the wires will hold longer than the pins in the sockets.
Probably going to void the warranty on the other (yes, I bought a another Q500 set) and do this pre-emptively, so the board does not get damaged by ripping the solder joints out.
I first tried to test in my steady grip, and everything was working, but the app. I then attached it to my Q and everything works as normal.
OK...I did the ol' "Found a tree, knocked the gimbal off, broke the wires" thing. I was going to perform the repairs and put in a break away connection mid point in the leads from the gimbal mount to the gimbal so no more ripped wires off the circuit board the next time I crash.
So I finally got a hold of all the crap I needed to perform the repairs, and that one little inlaid wire that came loose from the circuit board, broke off. And everything was going so well too.
Getting ready to start.
Finished the break away wires for the gimbal mount
The inlaid wire and copper pad that ripped loose of the board.
Got 2 of the lower wire soldered on, then that one that pulled the pad and wire loose from the board broke.
SO - The current plan is to solder the PWM wire to the back of the pigtail connection port, but I need to know which lead is what.
Edited - Found the info - Thanks George for the tip
Left to right,
A ~ GND
B ~ VCC
C ~ PWM
So now that I found out which pin on the back of the connector I need to go to...
Ran the wires under the board and up from behind, then through the cover.
Here is is all assembled and connected. The pins keep a good connection, and should pull free in the event of another gimbal mount separation. No I did not do a inertia test to verify. I will take it on faith that the solder joints and the wires will hold longer than the pins in the sockets.
Probably going to void the warranty on the other (yes, I bought a another Q500 set) and do this pre-emptively, so the board does not get damaged by ripping the solder joints out.
I first tried to test in my steady grip, and everything was working, but the app. I then attached it to my Q and everything works as normal.
What John O' posted ^^^^^^^^
Soldering on the back of the pigtail plug is a bit of a challenge, but I have bad eyes, and probably not the best equipment to do it.
I have yet to take a test flight since the repair. Unless I find a Sherpa, it will probably be 2 or more months before that happens (broken leg/ankle). I don't foresee any issues. Now it's a matter if I did more damaged to the quad itself than I have found.
QUOTE="John O'
I have the exact same problem. Your photos are identical to mine. My drone did not fine a tree all by itself though, it had help. It came into contact with a hawk that apparently does not approve of drones. The attack put the drone in the top of a 100 foot pine tree. That was back on February 6. I have been unable to locate the drone with binoculars or an extensive ground searching for about a week. I than started finding pieces of prop. Last night we had a severe storm with wind 60 mph gusts that finally made the tree give up the aircraft. I went searching today and found more prop, the 4k camera and gimbal, and the drone in the top of a 12 foot tree which I was able to convince to give up my aircraft.
I have the same problem as mentioned here (identical) where the wires and trace from the circuit board came off. I'm glad someone is able to provide the pinout and I will make the same repair to the back of the connector. This appears to be a common problem. perhaps Yuneec should consider making the cables breakaway to prevent them from getting ripped off the board if the camera separates.
I will also say thanks to George for providing the pinout. I was contemplating all my options for board / pigtail replacement. This will make it a relatively easy fix.
John O'
I have the exact same problem. Your photos are identical to mine. My drone did not fine a tree all by itself though, it had help. It came into contact with a hawk that apparently does not approve of drones. The attack put the drone in the top of a 100 foot pine tree. That was back on February 6. I have been unable to locate the drone with binoculars or an extensive ground searching for about a week. I than started finding pieces of prop. Last night we had a severe storm with wind 60 mph gusts that finally made the tree give up the aircraft. I went searching today and found more prop, the 4k camera and gimbal, and the drone in the top of a 12 foot tree which I was able to convince to give up my aircraft.
I have the same problem as mentioned here (identical) where the wires and trace from the circuit board came off. I'm glad someone is able to provide the pinout and I will make the same repair to the back of the connector. This appears to be a common problem. perhaps Yuneec should consider making the cables breakaway to prevent them from getting ripped off the board if the camera separates.
I will also say thanks to George for providing the pinout. I was contemplating all my options for board / pigtail replacement. This will make it a relatively easy fix.
John O'
Soldering on the back of the pigtail plug is a bit of a challenge, but I have bad eyes, and probably not the best equipment to do it.
I have yet to take a test flight since the repair. Unless I find a Sherpa, it will probably be 2 or more months before that happens (broken leg/ankle). I don't foresee any issues. Now it's a matter if I did more damaged to the quad itself than I have found.
[/QUOTE]
I have yet to take a test flight since the repair. Unless I find a Sherpa, it will probably be 2 or more months before that happens (broken leg/ankle). [/QUOTE]
Follow me mode.
I have yet to take a test flight since the repair. Unless I find a Sherpa, it will probably be 2 or more months before that happens (broken leg/ankle). [/QUOTE]
Follow me mode.
It's the whole carrying the drone out of the apartment to my truck, then setting it up. Crutches suck!
Heal up! Maybe splurge on the simulator. Or, wait, I know! Wheelchair with a wagon to haul the stuff, attached with a rope to get to the flying spot. 
Mend quickly...
Mend quickly...
As far as I can tell, the contacts have no function for the Typhoon 4k because they don't match anything on the mount or the "steadicam" handle for terrestrial. The pigtail that you use to connect the camera and the drone or the steadicam seems to be the essential connection. A Texas whirlwind on a clear windless day slammed me into a tree yesterday (great video from inside a whirlwind!) and the 3 black wires from the base tore away from the circuit board when the dampers separated in the crash....just like all the other stories here. I brought it home and pouted for a day then took another look at it and realized the contacts on the base have no bearing on communications, camera connections, GPS, or gimbal. I put everything back together and everything works fine. I wonder if the contacts are for another Typhoon model or some future build....?
Did you read all the posts in this thread?
The contacts on the gimbal that mate up with the belly of the Q500 mount do the exact same thing as the pigtail. It supplies power, ground and tilt signal to the gimbal. All other gimbal and camera functions are self contained in the gimbal. It's a redundancy, You can do both, one, or the other. I prefer to have the mount working as designed, and the pigtail in my case as a backup if I have another "incident" while flying.
That's good to hear. I was going to wait until tomorrow to call service in California but I feel all warm and fuzzy now after a day of pouting. I have a DJI that I've never crashed and the new Typhoon that I've flown several dozen times with no problem....but that mini Texas Twister got me. I think I'm eventually going to post the video from inside the whirlwind on Vimeo. Thank you for your reply and confirmation that I'm not crazy.
After re-reading your post Sticks, I went back and took the camera off the drone and, sure enough, there are no corresponding contacts to the camera on the drone body. I can only assume that the contacts of the camera mount are for another Yuneec model. As it turns out, the pigtail is the ONLY contact with the power supply/tilt/etc. I have the new 4k model and instead of a redundancy, the contacts other than the pigtail have no function whatsoever....no matching contacts on the drone body or steadicam handle. Guess I'll buy an extra pigtail for the possible eventual need after the next epic crash....again, thank you for your reply.
I tore the same wires away from the gimble. Now the camera will not tilt up and down....the camera still works but no longer tilts at all....can this be explained????
I truly can't explain that. As I mentioned in the previous statement, the 3 black wires that separated when the drone crashed came off the camera's circuit board but the pigtail connection, though it came off, remained intact. Reattaching those made all camera functions work. The brass contact connections that DID tear off have no bearing on the 4k model from what I can tell since there's no matching contacts on the drone body anyway. Is your drone the Typhoon 4k?
Hi Richard,
On my Q500 4K the three contacts do make up to contacts on the bottom of the drone and also the Steadicam. The camera was working fine before the incident without the pigtail attached. Apparently the pigtail is the way the camera used to make up to the drone and Steadicam. Yuneec added the contacts so an exposed pigtail would not be necessary. Excellent idea on their part. Less to get snagged or pulled off. However, since the gimbal has the dampers which also (probably unintentionally) work as crash protection the 3 wires everyone appears to be ripping off should have been on a plug that's easily pulled apart / breakaway rather than soldered to the board. That would / should eliminate the whole problem.
John O'
Hmmmm....I just checked a 4th time John. No matching contacts on my drone/steadicam. I don't know if I have an earlier version of the 4k or not (I've only had it a couple of months). I'll give 'em a call sometime and post their answer.
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I had this happen and sent the camera back in the Yuneec in Ontario. THey said 11.99 for repair plus shipping cost. That included some broken plastic parts on the camera. They were very responsive and say a 3-week turn around on repairs right now.
WOW, that is cheap for the repair. I fixed mine last night. I soldered all 3 wires back onto the cameras circuit board. I was going to rewire the whole harness and make it break away contacts to prevent this from repeating should I experience another "unfortunate event". It was late and I was tired so I took the lazy way out and just re-soldered them.
All in all it went pretty easy and only took me about 5 minutes after a 20 minute prep to dig out all my stuff to do it.
I did take the PWM lead and solder it to the back of the far right contact looking at the jack from the back. rather than the board because that would have required my rebuilding the ripped off trace that goes from the surface mount component over to the PWM pad.
I powered up the Q500 and tested the camera after the repair and it appears to be working fine. Today I took it out for live run and it worked flawlessly. I did not try it on the steadygrip, I don't have a device that is new enough to load the app. My cell phone I use as a phone, I TALK on it.
Still, 11.99 is a great deal if you don't have the tools, patience, or experience working with and soldering very small components. The camera and gimbal are too expensive to be taking chances with if your not comfortable doing it.
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