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CGO3+ No homing of the gimbal after crash - Yellow/Red-LED with Error-Beepcode

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Hi Yuneec Pilots,

my name is Wolfgang, I'm from Austria and I just started to fly a Typhoon H.
Unfortunately after some flights, the drone crashed and the cgo3+ got damaged.
Í hope you guys can help me with that.

The obvious damages on the CGO3+ were:
-) A crack in the upper plastic part of the camera casing (which should not be a problem now)
-) The front plastic cover was off and the 5Ghz-antenna smiled at me (I put the cover back on)
-) The camera ball with the arm around it has disconnected from the vertical arm (the 3 screws which connect onto the roll motor)

So I dismantled the camera, to get access to the screw-holes of the roll motor.
Then I screwed in 1 screw, which I have found again, so that the roll motor is connected again. -> see picture
Then for testing reassembling all parts and make a test.

I have uploaded a video about the start-up of the cgo3+ and the behaviour of it.

What I have found:
-) The Wifi-connection to the ST16 is OK and I have a video link
-) The error beep codes looks like it means that there is a problem on the tilt encoder (which would be the one directly on the side of the camera ball where it is mounted)
-) It looks like that the movements of all motors are OK, but in the end position (home position) it is not able to get a good lock in position

Is it possible, that during the disassembling of the camera (to get to the roll motor screws), that I have turned the tilt motor and so the position is now not correct anymore?
I have read some articles about it, where it states that this can be a problem.

Also I need some spare screws for the roll motor to screw in all 3 screws and not just one. Does anybody know the dimension of these screws?

I hope you guys can help me.

Thanks in advance
Wolfgang
 

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Í hope you guys can help me with that.
"Does anybody know the dimension of these screws?"
They are 1.5mm by 3mm round head. There are two of them under each of the "CGO3+" labels on the side of the camera. The screws under the labels only hold the plastic cover for the arm. It would be better to borrow one from each side to secure the roll motor until you can find replacements. The screw holes in the motor may be damaged. Take care when replacing the screws.

"I have uploaded a video about the start-up of the cgo3+ and the behavior of it."
"It looks like that the movements of all motors are OK, but in the end position (home position) it is not able to get a good lock in position"

"The error beep codes looks like it means that there is a problem on the tilt encoder (which would be the one directly on the side of the camera ball where it is mounted)"
"Is it possible, that during the disassembling of the camera (to get to the roll motor screws), that I have turned the tilt motor and so the position is now not correct anymore?"

The Tilt (Pitch) motor position is not the problem. The problem is that the encoder and gimbal board are not communicating.
The possible causes include a broken solder joint at the encoder, a broken (or shorted) wire, or a broken connector at the gimbal board. The dismounted roll motor suggests a broken wire (or wires with insulation damage) may exist, especially in the area near the roll motor. There are three wires on the encoder.
It is also possible the camera ball impacted the gimbal enclosure just above the ball, and damaged the connector for the pitch (tilt) encoder. That connector is near the front of the gimbal board, and is often the first to be damaged if the camera ball gets driven into the round cover over the gimbal board.
 
They are 1.5mm by 3mm round head.
Thank you. I will take the two screws from the side as you suggested.
I wanted to buy a screw set with different sizes, but normally you get 1.0, 1.2, 1.4mm and so on.
So it looks like Yuneec uses here some "special" dimension screws.

The problem is that the encoder and gimbal board are not communicating.
OK understood. I will check the wiring from the connector at the gimbal board to the encoder board.

Thank you very much.
 
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Thank you. I will take the two screws from the side as you suggested.
I wanted to buy a screw set with different sizes, but normally you get 1.0, 1.2, 1.4mm and so on.
So it looks like Yuneec uses here some "special" dimension screws.


OK understood. I will check the wiring from the connector at the gimbal board to the encoder board.

Thank you very much.
"I wanted to buy a screw set with different sizes, but normally you get 1.0, 1.2, 1.4mm and so on."
1.4mm may be correct. I was measuring and it is not likely my measurements are that accurate.

If none of the items above correct the problem, let me know. I can take pictures of the normal mounting position of the pitch motor.
Also, it is a good idea to look closely at the small ring magnet on the pitch motor. If it is weak, contaminated or cracked, it can cause the error code.
 
I already have ordered a set with different sizes of screws. If no one of these fits, then I will gladly come back to your offer. Thanks
 
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So, I have checked the 3 wires from the tilt encoder and you were right. One wire was broken in the middle, but the insulation was still on.
I have soldered them together and now after a test, I get a death spin, but without any beeps this time.

Is there a problem with the yaw encoder?

The yaw encoder with the board has never been taken apart from my side.

Here is the video:

Thanks
Wolfgang
 
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Yes it could be an encoder issue. But the gimbal system is a little odd. Problems with one axis (Yaw) are often caused by a problem on another axis. Even though the axis with the actual problem shows no problems at all. I know that sounds confusing, but it makes this stuff hard to figure out using logic.
When Yaw shows a behavior issue, it is often Roll that has the problem, and less often pitch. It may be necessary to check the wiring and magnet condition on each axis.
There are also other possibilities. The original impact may have shifted the alignment of the Yaw magnet or the Yaw encoder. There could be a weak connection under the sealant on the Yaw encoder. An electric surge during the crash may have corrupted the calibration values.
I don't have a fast, conclusive answer. All I can suggest is to check all encoders and wires. If no problems are found, it may be necessary to send the camera to a repair shop.

You had mentioned earlier a concern with pitch motor orientation. It may be beneficial to check that one first. The image below shows the hole in the pitch motor flange that goes towards the top of the camera.
Pitch.jpg
 
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OK thanks.

I have checked the hole, this is in the same orientation like on your photo.
Tomorrow I will check again all cables, encoders and try to measure the resistance of the motors.

Wolfgang
 
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So here are now my test results.

I'm reffering to this picture

Connectors.jpg

-) Cable from Connector A (Pitch motor): 3x 13Ohm
-) Cable from Connector B (Roll motor): 3x 13Ohm
-) Cable from Connector C (Yaw motor): 3x 17Ohm
-) Cable from Connector F (Yaw encoder): Continuity on all 3 wires OK
-) Cable from Connector G (Roll encoder): Continuity on all 3 wires OK
-) Cable from Connector H (Pitch encoder): Continuity on all 3 wires OK
-) Cable from Connector I (Slip ring contacts): Continuity on all 6 wires to the metal tabs on the outside OK

I have checked the magnets on all three motors and they look fine for me
-) No magnet is missing
-) No magnet is shifted or has moved
-) No particles visible

What I have thought:
-) The motors itself can't be mounted in the wrong direction, because the wires need to direct in the correct direction, so it should be OK
-) The encoders itself don't have any moving parts
-) The Encoder magnets on the Pitch- and Roll-motors are just the small cylindrical ones at the end. Maybe they have turned on their own axis?
-) The same could be for the big encoder ring magnet on the Yaw motor
-) The last thing would be that there is a problem with one of the boards (damaged) or as you have written the calibration values have been corrupted in some way

I have appended the pictures of all encoders and motors.

Thank you very much for you ongoing support @WTFDproject

Wolfgang

Edit:
The easiest way would be, if I would be able to read the actual position of each encoder and so that I can test each seperately.
But what I have read, you need a special Yuneec software for it. Also I don't know a Yuneec repair shop in my area.

@h-elsner Are you able to check this?
 

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Hi

After disassembling the CGO completely and checking everything, I reassembled it and thought let's try it again.

Here is what I have seen:
-) The death spin of the yaw axis is still there
-) The video feed of the camera is functioning without problems
-) After letting some time pass, the death spin was stopping in a random position
-) With the ST16 I can move the camera up and down as normal (pitch)
-) The roll position of the camera was not in the middle, so it was not vertically straight
-) If I switch on the manual movement of the yaw axis on the ST16, then in the clockwise direction nothing was happening
But in the counter-clockwise direction the roll position was moving now slowly to the correct straight position.
That was interesting, because normally the yaw axis should move, but maybe it is not able to move, if the roll position is not correct before that
-) After the roll position was in the correct position, I could lift the Typhoon on one side and the roll axis was automatically moving with it.
So the roll function is there with the auto-levelling.
-) At this point pitch and roll was working, but yaw never worked.
If I push manually the gimbal in the yaw direction, then it also feels like that it isn't powered anymore and has shut down.

I assume the gimbal stopped the powering of the yaw motor, because it could not reach the correct position.

Is this in any case helpful for you to help me?

Thanks
Wolfgang
 
Hallo Wolfgang

spinning yaw may also have to do something with the serial connection between drone and camera/gimbal. Please check also Rx/Tx from drone to gimbal board and the 3-wire UART connection to cam.

Tilt works via PWM for compatibility but also via UART messages, I think for automated flight modes.

And yes, we don't have access to gimbal settings, the SW is Yuneec only, nothing leaked as far as I know. There is no way to calibrate gimbal for us (the so called gimbal calibration is only to find the end-points of the movement).

br HE
 
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Hello

I have checked the cable from the connector I -> Continuity on all 6 wires to the metal tabs on the outside are OK
The other cables from the connectors D, E, J looks visually good.

I wonder if this helps:

I fear, that my possibilities are now very restricted caused by the bad diagnostic options of the CGO.

You have written, that you have some screws from defective CGO's at home.
So do you repair CGO's? What do you do when you have such a problem?
Or to whom can I send this CGO for repair?

The last option would then be to buy a used/rather new CGO3+.
 
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Another option for me would also be, if the yaw axis can be disabled.
I don't need it for my hobby photos and I can turn the Typhoon itself to move the camera.
 
So do you repair CGO's? What do you do when you have such a problem?
Or to whom can I send this CGO for repair?
I have a friend in Switzerland who is generous enough to give me parts from defective drones. So, I got 4 CGO3+ from crashed drones to repair mine. I was lucky enough to get mine working again taking mechanical parts from the other. That's all.

Now I have left a CGO3+ with gimbal that has strong vibrations and I could not get it working. Still here to do tests.
Another CGO3+ is fix attached to my Typhoon H Thunderbird without gimbal. It's not a good idea anyway to have a gimbal when you want to fly looping or rolls.
In another one I have connected the (unused) USB 5V rail to the 5V rail of the camera to use it as stand-alone cam supplied via micro USB. This one I sent back to my friend.
The last one I have killed during my tests and tinkering. The WiFi board is gone, only some spare parts left.

I didn't have the spinning problem. It's hard to say what to do.

I don't believe that someone repairs the gimbal here in Europe. I think Yuneec service will only exchange the camera.

Gruß HE
 
Another option for me would also be, if the yaw axis can be disabled.
I don't need it for my hobby photos and I can turn the Typhoon itself to move the camera.
The Yaw axis can be disabled by unplugging the Yaw Motor. You will need to fix the rear arm in place by some means. A large spot of Hot Glue at the junction of the rear arm will probably work.
Disable Yaw.jpg
 
Another CGO3+ is fix attached to my Typhoon H Thunderbird without gimbal.
Can you tell me a little bit more what you have done here exactly?
Did you disconnect all of the axis?
Is the controllerboard of the gimbal still used or completely elimanted and just forwarding the power from the Typhoon to the camera?
How does the camera LED and indication behave?


The Yaw axis can be disabled by unplugging the Yaw Motor.
So, if this is possible with fixing/disabling one axis, do I just need to disconnect the motor or also the encoder of this axis?
Probably just the motor, because otherwise it well beep an encoder error code again.
If I just disconnect the motor, doesn't the controller sense an error because he is not getting to the correct position of the axis?


Now it's getting very interesting for me and I have hope again...

Thanks to both of you
 

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