C23 gimbal bricked after firmware update

[Frontier]

Hello,

A friend of mine has an H Plus with the following issue: the C23 gimbal does not respond to any commands and does not initialize when the drone is powered on.
The camera and FPV view work fine, the aircraft is flying fine without the camera attached.
I've tried to revive the gimbal by flashing the gimbal.yuneec gimbal fix file from SD card (from the WTFD project) and the firmware does not get installed: when powering the drone, there is a single beep, the C23 led is solid PINK (initially), then it is solid RED and then it keeps flashing GREEN without the gimbal working (attached gimbal log file).
The same thing happens if I try to flash also the autopilot from the recovery files (attaching the file also). The only firmware that installs fine is the camera firmware (firmware.bin), which is deleted from the SD Card.

From the autopilot update log file is evident that the bootloader is not working, thus both autopilot and gimbal updates fail.
Any ideas how this can be fixed?

Many thanks in advance for your help.

 

[DoomMeister]

Was the gimbal working before trying to install a firmware update?

 

[Frontier]

Was the gimbal working before trying to install a firmware update?

It was working erratically.
Upon initialization, sometimes it would level but would start oscillating or spining on the yaw axis after 6-7 minutes of being stationary (with or without the remote controller connected).
That's the reason I used the gimbal fix firmware to fix it, but now it does not boot at all.
Is it possible to reflash it somehow?

 

[Vaklin]

The problem probably was in the ribbon. After an unsuccessful update due to the poor connection between the camera and the gimbal, this is the result.

Again to appeal - do not try to update the firmware when the device doesn't work properly. First, do troubleshooting.

 

[DoomMeister]

I’m not an expert on the C23/E90, but this is sounding like an issue with one or more of the flexible printed circuits inside the housing. They carry power and data signals. The data is via I2C bus and susceptible to excessive resistance which can happen from transport without the gimbal lock installed, doing compass calibration without the lock installed (only install after initialization and ready to calibrate compass), crash or hard landing, or the violent jerking of the gimbal when the home points are not being sensed.

This could also have started with a magnet on one of the gimbal axes degrading which is a known issue.

It is very likely this needs to be sent in for repair

@WTFDproject has more experience with the C23 and can maybe offer better advice.

 

[Frontier]

The problem probably was in the ribbon. After an unsuccessful update due to the poor connection between the camera and the gimbal, this is the result.

Again to appeal - do not try to update the firmware when the device doesn't work properly. First, do troubleshooting.

I've checked the ribbon cable - the one on the back of the C23 gimbal "arm" and all sockets were seated properly prior to update.
Is it possible now to unbrick it somehow?

 

[Frontier]

I’m not an expert on the C23/E90, but this is sounding like and issue with one or more of the flexible printed circuits inside the housing. They carry power and data signals. The data is via I2C bus and susceptible to excessive resistance which can happen from transport without the gimbal lock installed, doing compass calibration without the lock installed (only install after initialization and ready to calibrate compass), crash or hard landing, or the violent jerking of the gimbal when the home points are not being sensed.

This could also have started with a magnet on one of the gimbal axes degrading which is a known issue.

It is very likely this needs to be sent in for repair

@WTFDproject has more experience with the C23 and can maybe offer better advice.

Prior to flash, I've checked the ribbon cable (I had a similar experience back then) and could not find any issues with it, everything was seated properly.
Let's hope there is a way to "force" flashing otherwise I'd have to sent it for repair somewhere in Europe.

 

[WTFDproject]

I've checked the ribbon cable - the one on the back of the C23 gimbal "arm" and all sockets were seated properly prior to update.
Is it possible now to unbrick it somehow?

A couple of points:

• The cable most visible on the back of the C23 gimbal "arm" is associated with the roll encoder and motor. It has pretty much zero chance of being involved. The more vulnerable cables are deeper.
• The most common "physical damage" sites are the 90-degree elbows (there are two ribbons) beside the roll motor and the 90-degree elbow deep under the left camera hub.
• Connector corrosion can occur anywhere between the SD card reader and the WIFI board.
• The difference in resistance (or whatever the ribbon issue is) cannot be detected by a multi-meter.
• The problem may be other issues, such as corrosion inside the SD card reader or a failing gimbal board.
• There are two boards inside the camera ball that can lead to all symptoms you see. Other individual internal components can lead to different parts of the problem.
• You may have more than one issue now. Firmware repair may be required after the original problem is corrected. It may become difficult to distinguish between hardware related symptoms and symptoms related to firmware that was damaged by the failed updates.
• Firmware is not going to fix this.

As @DoomMeister and @Vaklin have said, the overwhelming likelihood is ribbon (flexible circuit) damage. The camera needs to be sent to a competent repair shop. These things are far more difficult to work with than the previous Yuneec cameras.

 

[Frontier]

Update to the issue.

I've sent the camera to Yuneec GmbH back in late April and up until now, there was no report from them.
Today, they've contacted me via phone stating that they cannot repair the camera - the technician told me that he worked over 15 hours on it - due to part unavailability.
I've asked if they have any refurbished C23 available that I could buy and I'm waiting for their answer (probably not).

I am in Chios Greece and the camera is currently in Germany.
Is it possible to repair the camera somewhere in EU or it is going to the trash?

 

[WTFDproject]

Update to the issue.

Today, they've contacted me via phone stating that they cannot repair the camera - the technician told me that he worked over 15 hours on it - due to part unavailability.

Did they tell you what part was unavailable?
Was it more than one part?

 

[Frontier]

Did they tell you what part was unavailable?
Was it more than one part?

The technician did not speak English very well but he did not mention which spare parts they do not have; he just said that the C23 is no longer manufactured and they have no spare parts, so he is sending it back unrepaired without any charges.

 

[Frontier]

Update to the case: received the camera today with a broken UV lens (the UV lens was intact when I've sent it to Yuneec GmbH).
Yuneec has already closed my ticket, so now I am left with a non-working C23 camera with a broken UV lens.

Any C23 camera for sale in EU?