Greetings from Texas. I have read numerous post about the cgo3 tilt not working and I still haven't figured this out. First off, I bought my Q500 Typhoon used. The cgo3 videos well and takes pictures, and also self rights when flying, but it will not tilt up or down. I was lead to believe it was the camera. I just purchased a brand new cg03, put it on the Q500 yesterday, and still have the same problem. So, I finally pulled out the SteadyGrip and put the new cgo3 camera on it. It works perfect. I then put my older cgo3 camera on the SteadyGrip, and it works perfect as well. I have wastes 300 bucks I believe. My Q500 has the connections under the drone and I have also tried the wire connection with no luck. Any ideas?
CGO3 Camera Won't Tilt On Q500, But Works Fine With The SteadyGrip
- Thread starter BassmanRudy
- Start date
Remove the top shell and check the internal wiring. If all looks good, you likely have a blown transistor in the tilt circuit. (Note these transistors look perfect to the naked eye, even when damaged)
Refer to Attachment 41 (Q500 Series Camera Tilt Transistor) in "Way To Fix Drones project".
Refer to Attachment 41 (Q500 Series Camera Tilt Transistor) in "Way To Fix Drones project".
Ok, I will try that, Thank you. What all is involved in taking off the top shell? I'm a small engine mechanic by trade and have very little knowledge in electronics. I have fixed a few Tv's though, lol
Mainly a whole lot of small screws. Folks often mess up the first time by missing a screw or two, and breaking the drone by trying to force it apart. You have to remove the landing gear and props, but not much else. When you pull the top off, watch for the wire that runs from the GPS in the top shell to the mainboard in the bottom shell. You have to unplug it.
You will also have to remove the battery frame to get good access to the Tilt wire or transistor. Pay special attention to how the battery door is arranged on the battery frame, and it will make it easier to reinstall.
It's not rocket science, but it does require some patience, and a lot of paying attention.
The other common "first time" error is crushing wires, or running screws through wires, during reassembly. Look closely at where the wires are while putting it all back together.
You will also have to remove the battery frame to get good access to the Tilt wire or transistor. Pay special attention to how the battery door is arranged on the battery frame, and it will make it easier to reinstall.
It's not rocket science, but it does require some patience, and a lot of paying attention.
The other common "first time" error is crushing wires, or running screws through wires, during reassembly. Look closely at where the wires are while putting it all back together.
First off, I'd like to shake your hand, and say Thank You for your advice and help! I took it apart last night and checked the wiring and everything checked out. Found the white wire and soldered it in to the spare transistor spot and put it all back together. (Very strange that Yuneec would have this spare transistor on the board. It's like they knew this would happen). I just finished re-binding everything and the camera works PERFECT!! I just wonder how many people have this same issue and bought a new camera, only to find out it still didn't work?? The only thing I did wrong when putting it back together was that I forgot to plug the wire from the top cover, back into the mainboard. Of course I had 3/4 of the screws put back in before I realized it, hahaha. Thanks again for the help!!
Good Job! You are now a Drone Tech. Especially forgetting to plug the GPS back in. I think it is mandatory for all Techs to forget that at least once.
The "Spare" transistor is a legacy from earlier boards in the series. There were as many as four of them on the original Blade 350QX ancestor, but some had a different purpose. The evolution continued until you have the latest version, in which the spare location is exactly that, a duplicate of the first one. There are still some boards out there with two transistors, but the input signal at that location has a different PWM code. On those, you have to physically move the spare transistor to the location of the damaged transistor. More of a pain, but it can recover a board.
And welcome to the Forum. I think you will find it useful for your hobby.
The "Spare" transistor is a legacy from earlier boards in the series. There were as many as four of them on the original Blade 350QX ancestor, but some had a different purpose. The evolution continued until you have the latest version, in which the spare location is exactly that, a duplicate of the first one. There are still some boards out there with two transistors, but the input signal at that location has a different PWM code. On those, you have to physically move the spare transistor to the location of the damaged transistor. More of a pain, but it can recover a board.
And welcome to the Forum. I think you will find it useful for your hobby.
No. It doesn't hurt to calibrate, but it is not necessary for this work. And the camera calibration in the Q500 GUI does not work for the CGo3 anyway. It only works (a little bit) for the CGo2 series.
Greetings from Ireland
Do you have any idea of what the replacement part is for the transistor . I have done some research and from the marking on the transistors it looks like they are 2SC2412K NPN ..Any idea if I'm correct ?
If you can translate the part codes, you are way ahead of me. I called the thing a "gizmo" forever, until one of the other members at least told me it was a transistor.
Are both of them bad on your board?
Are both of them bad on your board?
I'm not really sure if both are bad but I've tried the shifting the wire trick and still no movement . The BR > code on the transistors on mine come back as general purpose NPN transistor, there's quite a few on the board..not sure if I can post links but here it is .https://www.el-component.com/bipolar-transistors/2sc2412-r ... I managed to get 300 on Ebay for €8 ..go figure
.I don't hold out much hope but at 3 cent a piece it's worth a shot . I'll let you know what happens ...
Sounds like you have the skill and tools to do micro soldering. Referring again to (what is now) Attachment 51(Q500 Series Camera Tilt Transistor) of Way To Fix Drones project, it should be noted that shifting the white wire does not work on all versions of the board. On most boards, both transistors get the same signal from the processor. But on some versions of the board, only the original transistor gets the signal. That's why guidance was also provided to move the second transistor to the physical location of the original if simply moving the wire does not work.
If you have an Oscilloscope, you can check the signals to see if they are the same on your board.
If you have an Oscilloscope, you can check the signals to see if they are the same on your board.
I had exactly this problem, followed the thread and having opened the case and seen the white wire I knew exactly what I needed to do, I did check the WTDProject PDF, and again this was a massive help. Why do they use so many screws in the Q500? That in itself takes 30 minutes do undo them all! Anyway unsoldering and resoldering was simple, reassembly was simple enough and to my delight, it worked and I now have tilt.
I guess at the design stage, an engineer created two circuits that had exactly the same output, this makes sense given that you can have 2 different connection methods from the gimbal to the drone, they should've kept the separate instead of being cheap and using 1 cable. Additionally, if they used the gimbal pins that ensure it doesn't come apart, this would have saved a great deal of pain.
Anyway, that's all in the past, following this thread has saved me hundreds in parts and labor. Big thank you!
I guess at the design stage, an engineer created two circuits that had exactly the same output, this makes sense given that you can have 2 different connection methods from the gimbal to the drone, they should've kept the separate instead of being cheap and using 1 cable. Additionally, if they used the gimbal pins that ensure it doesn't come apart, this would have saved a great deal of pain.
Anyway, that's all in the past, following this thread has saved me hundreds in parts and labor. Big thank you!
Sorry lads ,didn't have a lot of time to try these transistors out but I can now confirm that they are 2SC2412K NPN transistors . As I said above I managed to get 300 of these o Eb@y for a measly €8 . I replaced both on my faulty board and Gimbal control has been returned
It's a really easy job with a hot air station @460 degrees ,just use plenty of flux and captan tape to keep the heat from straying to other components on the board . Hope this is of some help .Brendan
UMMM I'm experiencing this problem as well! I've read that the gimbal camera motor might be jammed? Not sure. Lmao can I call you?
Matt,
This thread is three years old. Most folks involved in the thread have not been back since about then.
The problem could be in the camera, in the drone, or in the controller.
If your camera is easy to move by hand, it is not a jammed motor.
If the tilt works on another drone or on a steady grip, the problem is not in the camera at all.
If the issue is in the Drone, the bad transistor is common on Q500. If the shell has recently been removed, you might also have a crushed wire. And you might have a stuck contact spring on the camera mount plate.
If the issue is in the controller, it may be corrosion on the tilt slider pot.
It will help if you can provide some information:
What is the current status of the camera/gimbal (dead, stabilized or slack)?
Are any beep codes sounding?
Has anything happened between the last time the gimbal worked and the first time it did not. Things like long storage, crash/rough landings, firmware updates, repairs, modifications, replacements or anything else you can think of.
This thread is three years old. Most folks involved in the thread have not been back since about then.
The problem could be in the camera, in the drone, or in the controller.
If your camera is easy to move by hand, it is not a jammed motor.
If the tilt works on another drone or on a steady grip, the problem is not in the camera at all.
If the issue is in the Drone, the bad transistor is common on Q500. If the shell has recently been removed, you might also have a crushed wire. And you might have a stuck contact spring on the camera mount plate.
If the issue is in the controller, it may be corrosion on the tilt slider pot.
It will help if you can provide some information:
What is the current status of the camera/gimbal (dead, stabilized or slack)?
Are any beep codes sounding?
Has anything happened between the last time the gimbal worked and the first time it did not. Things like long storage, crash/rough landings, firmware updates, repairs, modifications, replacements or anything else you can think of.
I will try the Camera connected to the handheld tonight and check if it tilts. It was in long storage for a fair bit of time until my father gifted the drone to me because I kept making comments of him not flying it. He charged the batteries and we went outside so i could get a tutorial. Started up everything worked and we took off. The second in the air the battery showed in red and we brought it town and changed it to the second battery. Take two we sent it up then all of a sudden it quits and drops out of the air hitting our driveway. the drone was maybe 40ft up. We fixed the drone and started it up next day. lifted just fine ( we lifted it 4ft this time to see if everything functions)... it all functioned but the tilt.
Havnt noticed beeping codes. Will check tonight when i check the hand held.
Matt
Havnt noticed beeping codes. Will check tonight when i check the hand held.
Matt
Okay so I put the camera on the handheld and it does not move. The Gimble functions but tilt does not
Assuming you pushed the little button beside the scroll wheel, that pretty much says it's a camera problem. And since the camera has been powered up since the crash, things are looking bad. You can check these things:
- Did you try both states on the button beside the steady grip thumbwheel?
- Have you checked the camera mount contacts? The contact springs work the same as CGo3+, just not as many of them. See Stuck Mount Contacts.pdf
- You can look at the status of the "three black wires" that provide power and control from the drone. See CG03 Removing the Three Black Wires.pdf .
