Fixing rubber gimbal dampers....

[Good time Charlie]

I appreciate your response.


I appreciate your response Good Time Charlie, but I'm a photographer, not a mechanic. Of course there will be issues with drones and I've done my best to educate myself about things I am able to do and unable to do. I have not had any issues with a gimbal on any of my other drones. Why should dampeners be an issue at all when I don't crash or have hard landings. Engineers call that a design flaw. Before I called Yuneec, I made a few queries on line. This is absolutely not an isolated incident. It's fairly common. They were no help whatsoever. I'm thankful to the guy who posted the Youtube video above. I was having no luck squishing the ends of the dampener and squeezing them into the holes. Finally, you seem to be critical because replacing dampeners is one of the first things to learn. That's simply not true. That's your opinion. I suspect you are far more skilled than me working on your drone, that wouldn't be hard to do, because I don't have many talents in that area. But for you and another post-writer to imply my experiences are not legit because I SHOULD be able to do something that I can't do defeats the purpose of the board. I'm not an expert. I'm on this board to learn. That shouldn't be criticized, or at least I don't think it should.

My reaction was a little knee jerk but here's a little analogy to the the way I see it.

If you go out in the garage and your new car has a flat tire, then you drive the car without repairing the tire and things get worse, that's not a manufacturer error. Maybe, maybe, the original flat was. But any problems that arise from not fixing it before driving are on the owner.

As far as maintenance of our sUAS's... any tool requires understanding of how it works and how it should be maintained. Especially a tool that costs as much as our drones. Another analogy...Lots of folks use air power tools. Most require a drop of oil before or after use. Some don't. It's up to the owner to know which. Many people don't understand this and gripe about poor manufacturing when their $600 Dewalt nailer craps out in 4 months. Same goes for drones.

These are expensive tools. We need to learn how to care for them properly if we expect proper performance and longevity. No need to be an engineer or techie guru. Basics are usually enough.

 

[PatR]

If you’re qualified to change a lens on a DSLR or roll a booger between your fingers you should be able to handle insertion of a damper ball.

You don’t “need” another pin, there are alternative methods of achieving the same results. Personally, I use, and have for many years, a loose loop of Dacron fishing line. The word loose is important as a tight loop severely restricts vibration dampening.

Something to consider, most photographers inspect their equipment before going to a shoot. Lenses and sensors clean, f stop and focus rings functioning correctly, batteries charged, SD card or film, remote shutter and flash controls functioning? Pilots do similar before they fly. The good ones tend to learn as much as they can before they buy new equipment to minimize transition time, understand functionality as much as possible prior to acquisition, and establish suitability of product for the application.

 

[Fred Garvin]

.....change a lens on a DSLR or roll a booger between your fingers.....

Be very careful doing these things simultaneously....image sensors and booger’s don’t mix well.

 

[Mrgs1]

Changing a 600mm F4 requires strength and patience.

 

[Fred Garvin]

Changing a 600mm F4 requires strength and patience.

Leave it on the tripod and remove the camera.....

 

[Mrgs1]

Leave it on the tripod and remove the camera.....

Actually when I'm out in the wilds, I can rest it on my bag and take the camera off.

 

[PatR]

It could be worse. Try installing new dampers in one of these. Much too complicated for us photographers.