E90x bootloop.

[Stephen1988]

Both are workable options.
Taking the motor out on one of the good cameras would be an immediately available option, but risk damage to the working camera.

Posting a couple of pictures from different angles of the potentially damaged motor might be slower waiting on a response from those that have seen the motors. But it would not risk the working unit.

Pardon the accent in the video, my accent is very strong, even my wife didn’t know what I was talking about when I first met her , anyway any questions or something not explained correctly just drop a comment

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[WTFDproject]

Pardon the accent in the video, my accent is very strong, even my wife didn’t know what I was talking about when I first met her , anyway any questions or something not explained correctly just drop a comment

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Once more, a video is worth a million words. I now understand what you meant. When you said lock ring, that is exactly what you meant. I thought you were talking about the snap ring that is still inside the arm in the video.
The video makes it look like the wide gap in the motor is probably normal. If no one confirms by posting, you can confirm by removing the motor from the vertical arm to ensure the magnet and wires are attached normally.

If the motor is, in fact, good, the next "best guess" is to proceed with mounting the e90 camera on the E90x arms, doing a quick calibration on the GUI, and trying the update again.

And the accent is easily understandable. Good job.

 

[Stephen1988]

Once more, a video is worth a million words. I now understand what you meant. When you said lock ring, that is exactly what you meant. I thought you were talking about the snap ring that is still inside the arm in the video.
The video makes it look like the wide gap in the motor is probably normal. If no one confirms by posting, you can confirm by removing the motor from the vertical arm to ensure the magnet and wires are attached normally.

If the motor is, in fact, good, the next "best guess" is to proceed with mounting the e90 camera on the E90x arms, doing a quick calibration on the GUI, and trying the update again.

And the accent is easily understandable. Good job.

Yes good call, I might remove that motor to see. What I’m trying to work out is how the motor knows where to stop when panned forward, it there a decoder built in , something like the decoder chip that is used where the camera meets the gimble arms. This isn’t working on this one as it doesn’t seem to know where forward is when u put the pan switch in top setting. Just speculation again but when it tries to do the handshake for the update and it doesn’t know where forward is could this cause the issue.

It’s nice to see how it all works, it seems clever the way the x connector board attaches to the metal plate and that plate allows the small bit of movement between lock and unlock, hope that came across in the video.
Also the way the locking ring allows the camera to rotate almost 720 degrees is clever bit of engineering, well to me anyway. I could hear the ball bearing rolling about inside and taught there was something loose inside or broken but now it makes sense

How it works​

• You’ve got a rotational joint (the camera mount).
• There are two physical end stops, but they don’t contact directly; instead, a ball bearing in a groove (track)provides the locking and release function.
• The groove is shaped (or has two physical stops) so that after one full turn (≈360°), the ball shifts to the opposite stop, effectively allowing another almost-full rotation before it hits the stop again.
• This gives you ~720° of total rotation without winding cables, but with a mechanical limit to prevent continuous spinning.

 

[WTFDproject]

....... What I’m trying to work out is how the motor knows where to stop when panned forward, it there a decoder built in , something like the decoder chip that is used where the camera meets the gimble arms.....

Yes. It is the same system. Somewhat larger and not the same shape, but the same principal. The magnet should be on the end of the motor shaft you can't see. The encoder and the motor power supply are on a small board under the black cover.
Assuming, of course, it is something similar to the e90. Nothing else has really matched so far.

This is from a C23. It might be of some help, but it is NOT going to be the same. The slip ring will be absent, of course. I have no idea how the OFDM cable is arranged. Or if anything else is different.

 

[Stephen1988]

Yes. It is the same system. Somewhat larger and not the same shape, but the same principal. The magnet should be on the end of the motor shaft. The encoder and the motor power supply are on the small board under the black cover.
Assuming, of course, it is something similar to the e90. Nothing else has really matched so far.

This is from a C23. It might be of some help, but it is NOT going to be the same. The slip ring will be absent, of course. I have no idea how the OFDM cable is arranged. Or if anything else is different.
View attachment 32861

It does indeed have this same looking encoder board underneath that plastic cover. When the cover is removed it is also visible to see how the 30 pin connector splits into 2 directions so I’ll need to upload some pictures of this tomorrow. The also added some slack here on the wire to allow for the rotation, maybe a video would better show this. Up until now my taught process was first update gimble and camera to see would it correct the pan error however I’m now thinking it’s an error with the fact it won’t pan that is causing the update to fail. Technically speaking the pan should function regardless of the update or current firmware, it likely will also not be due to a mismatch in firmware between the other updates and the gimble and camera because if anyone updates these first then they would also not be able to update gimble or camera. The gimble must need that confirmed orientation to allow the handshake to happen as it does reboot the camera on a successful update , this one will continuously reboot perhaps because it’s not seeing that orientation. If the encoder or magnet were to fail would it not do a beeping code? . Also I further inspected the loose black wire at the rear of the motor, it appears that the motor has 3 wires, the black loose bit I’m seeing is a point where they all meet and are joined together. The motor also does function so signal is being sent to the motor.
Another taught process is if the mainboard is fully working but the handshake doesn’t occur due to faulty encoder or magnet, even if I install the board from confirmed working camera the faulty camera still wouldn’t pan, however if I put the mainboard from the faulty camera into the known good e90x then it might perform the update there with everything else functioning.
It could also still be an issue in the faulty e90x with either the camera or its mainboard but would this stop the pan working, also likely.
Definitely feel like some progress is being made or at least my understanding is improving or getting more deluded . Edison famously reframed failure as a learning process, most famously by stating, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work" .
I appreciate all the help and support so far and u joining along in this journey , hopefully it will have some benefit for u and others also. Someone might read this post in 2030 and after all the reading think , well that was a waste of time

 

[WTFDproject]

So the magnet is in the right place and strong?
Yes, it should beep if the encoder is not sensing anything. Surely, they would not have deleted that feature.

 

[Stephen1988]

So the magnet is in the right place and strong?
Yes, it should beep if the encoder is not sensing anything. Surely, they would not have deleted that feature.

This will be my next item to check, the motor is screwed in from the bottom and access to the screws is through that black plastic I removed to view the encoder. I’m not sure will it be possible to remove these screws without having to also remove the camera to give clearance for the screwdriver

 

[WTFDproject]

I can't find it in the earlier posts. Did you ever just copy the update files to the SD card manually and try the update without the controller/USB input?

This will be my next item to check, the motor is screwed in from the bottom and access to the screws is through that black plastic I removed to view the encoder. I’m not sure will it be possible to remove these screws without having to also remove the camera to give clearance for the screwdriver

If the magnet and snap ring are in place, the magnet seems strong, and the wires are intact, there is probably no real value in removing the motor at this point.

 

[WTFDproject]

Swapping parts seems the next option.

Swapping the camera seems a good option since you have an e90 that may work.
The e90 may not allow update due to firmware blocks installed by Yuneec. I don't know either way.
If it will calibrate, it will only confirm the issue is in the camera, and likely the camera ribbons.

The boards in the rear arm would be easier to swap, but I think the only other boards you have are the ones in the healthy e90x units?

 

[Stephen1988]

I can't find it in the earlier posts. Did you ever just copy the update files to the SD card manually and try the update without the controller/USB input?

If the magnet and snap ring are in place, the magnet seems strong, and the wires are intact, there is probably no real value in removing the motor at this point.

Yes so when I update the other cameras I then first tried putting the sd card in the faulty camera first without forming. This should have all the files it needed to perform the update but it also gave the same result. Maybe there still would be some value in formatting then adding the firmware via pc and re installing it in the camera. In order to view the magnet and its strength would I first need to remove the motor

 

[Stephen1988]

Swapping parts seems the next option.

Swapping the camera seems a good option since you have an e90 that may work.
The e90 may not allow update due to firmware blocks installed by Yuneec. I don't know either way.
If it will calibrate, it will only confirm the issue is in the camera, and likely the camera ribbons.

The boards in the rear arm would be easier to swap, but I think the only other boards you have are the ones in the healthy e90x units?

Yes exactly these boards could be changed in a matter of minutes but I don’t have spare ones , just the 2 working e90x cameras. I really don’t need this faulty unit but the repair process is all part of the hobby and it further improves my knowledge for likely future events. The e90x is actually more simple to get access to these boards than the c23 or e90. On them 2 cameras u need to remove the mount on top to get access to 2 screws that hold the plastic cover on the back of the arm, in this camera even though there is treaded holes for them screws there is none present at least in all my units , it likely yuneec used the same arms as the older models but felt it not necessary to add these screws .

 

[WTFDproject]

......Maybe there still would be some value in formatting then adding the firmware via pc and re installing it in the camera. In order to view the magnet and its strength would I first need to remove the motor

"...Maybe there still would be some value in formatting then adding the firmware via pc and re installing it in the camera."
This is a source of H520e firmware. It may or may not be the latest, but it will work for your test.
".H520e (5-17-25)( May be latest)"

"In order to view the magnet and its strength would I first need to remove the motor"
You can split the unit at the role joint much easier than removing the camera from the arms. It would serve two purposes. It will allow access to inspect the magnet, and it will be an opportunity to split the spare e90 at the location and swap components to see if the problem follows the camera/horizontal arms or if it stays with the vertical arm and mount. Swapping at the roll joint checks all the vulnerable ribbons. Be sure the ribbons are the same between the two variants before trying to attach.

 

[Stephen1988]

The magnet I could see when the encoder was removed , it’s 99 percent clean, maybe a few specs of dust or perhaps metal but I’ll clean it to make sure. The magnet also seems strong , the spring clip is in place. I tested the strength with a paterclip. There is areas where it’s not as strong but this is likely where the poles change if I’m understanding how the magnet works. One thing I’m not certain about and how to check is if it is lined up correctly, if it wasn’t wound it just point the camera a bit off forward when the pan switch is in its top position or would it not function at all like what my camera is currently doing. Another test I’d like to do later is disconnecting the wire to the encoder completely to see will it give that audible beeping code like the e90 or c23

 

[Stephen1988]

"...Maybe there still would be some value in formatting then adding the firmware via pc and re installing it in the camera."
This is a source of H520e firmware. It may or may not be the latest, but it will work for your test.
".H520e (5-17-25)( May be latest)"

"In order to view the magnet and its strength would I first need to remove the motor"
You can split the unit at the role joint much easier than removing the camera from the arms. It would serve two purposes. It will allow access to inspect the magnet, and it will be an opportunity to split the spare e90 at the location and swap components to see if the problem follows the camera/horizontal arms or if it stays with the vertical arm and mount. Swapping at the roll joint checks all the vulnerable ribbons. Be sure the ribbons are the same between the two variants before trying to attach.

Thanks for the link , definitely worth testing this . We will see how this goes

 

[WTFDproject]

...... The e90x is actually more simple to get access to these boards than the c23 or e90. On them 2 cameras u need to remove the mount on top to get access to 2 screws that hold the plastic cover on the back of the arm, in this camera even though there is treaded holes for them screws there is none present at least in all my units , it likely yuneec used the same arms as the older models but felt it not necessary to add these screws .

The screws are missing on most C23 and E90 cameras I have seen also. But for those that have them, Yuneec provided an easy access. There is a hole in the lower half of the C23/E90 mount that can be aligned over either screw. The top half of the mount pushes aside to allow room for a screwdriver to reach through and remove the screws.
Then throw them away. No need to repeat the error of whoever installed them in the first place.

 

[Stephen1988]

The screws are missing on most C23 and E90 cameras I have seen also. But for those that have them, Yuneec provided an easy access. There is a hole in the lower half of the C23/E90 mount that can be aligned over either screw. The top half of the mount pushes aside to allow room for a screwdriver to reach through and remove the screws.
Then throw them away. No need to repeat the error of whoever installed them in the first place.
View attachment 32862

Well that’s clever, I wish I knew this before . I love the fact u then throw them away . That’s the one thing with these repairs , u always find a few extra screws after reassembly and just hope for the best

 

[WTFDproject]

The magnet I could see when the encoder was removed , it’s 99 percent clean, maybe a few specs of dust or perhaps metal but I’ll clean it to make sure. The magnet also seems strong , the spring clip is in place. I tested the strength with a paterclip. There is areas where it’s not as strong but this is likely where the poles change if I’m understanding how the magnet works. One thing I’m not certain about and how to check is if it is lined up correctly, if it wasn’t wound it just point the camera a bit off forward when the pan switch is in its top position or would it not function at all like what my camera is currently doing. Another test I’d like to do later is disconnecting the wire to the encoder completely to see will it give that audible beeping code like the e90 or c23

The magnet sounds like it is in normal shape. It is normal to be weaker between the two poles.
There is no check for proper alignment because there is no proper mechanical alignment. The calibration process allows you to choose whatever magnet position is present when the camera faces forward as the "front". The system does not care if "North" "South" or anywhere between is actually pointing forward. It just accepts what you tell it.

 

[WTFDproject]

The magnet I could see when the encoder was removed , it’s 99 percent clean, maybe a few specs of dust or perhaps metal but I’ll clean it to make sure.

Keep this thought in mind if you ever get around to swapping components. If the problem follows the vertical arm/mount component, the possible metal you saw would become important.

 

[Stephen1988]

Keep this thought in mind if you ever get around to swapping components. If the problem follows the vertical arm/mount component, the possible metal you saw would become important.

Yes I will, this will be likely be one of the next things to test after firmware via sd card . It will be interesting to see if ribbon and camera are the same

 

[MobileTechSpecialists]

Yes this could be very likely , I’m thinking if one wire breaks on the ribbon it would partially work depending on what that wire is used for. I’m also suspicious of that wire between the x connector and mainboard , I took off the x connector and added one from a working camera incase it was a bent pin or dirty connector but still same result. The cable connected to this that runs into the camera looks the same as the 30pin connector from the gimble mount to the ofdm module , I’m curious if there is any sort of slip ring in there but with 30 wires and the limited movement of the e90x it may just be a cable , even a small amount of movement could make this a potential fail point. It’s very difficult to find and pictures or information online and I suspect most of the documented pictures about yuneec were added by members here on yuneecpilots. I’m just looking for an excuse to open it to fulfil my curiosity but being a bit cautious as I’m famous for taking things apart that never needed opened in the first place, my motto is if it not broken fix it till it is . From taking apart the e10t and how delicate things are in these units I’m being a bit more cautious this time . My score sheet after these kind of things most often looks like this , electronics 1, me 0 , ziplock bags 5

Also trying to find parts for this 30min x connector, but the h600 is 30pin->usbc

If anyone has any parts, or sources to get these parts please let me know. The longevity of some of these enterprise level models is dependent on the availability of replacement parts, which are scarce. Sometimes impossible to find, some aren’t even listed on google.