No Power to Camera/Camera and Gimbal Dead

[Big Al]

Well, after three months of great flying my camera finally took a dump and stopped working. After more than two hours of research trying to figure out the cause I finally gave up and called tech support this morning.

I tried to the following without any success:

1. Detach gimbal and reattach (four times)
2. Tried to bind the drone and controller over three times (camera not showing up to bind obviously)
3. Total reboot with removal of drone battery (six times)

After speaking with tech support today, super friendly, they advised me to ship the drone and controller back to inspect. The sad part was the camera went out during a gig last evening and there goes that client. (Project deadline is Monday.) I am hoping that Yuneec will get my machine back to me ASAP as I have three more projects in the next two weeks and do not want to hand these over to competitors. Yuneec did quote me a 14-day turnaround, so I am trying to be optimistic.

Anyway, hopefully this might help someone out in the future as well.

Cheers!

 

[Steve Carr]

Well, after three months of great flying my camera finally took a dump and stopped working. After more than two hours of research trying to figure out the cause I finally gave up and called tech support this morning.

I tried to the following without any success:

1. Detach gimbal and reattach (four times)
2. Tried to bind the drone and controller over three times (camera not showing up to bind obviously)
3. Total reboot with removal of drone battery (six times)

After speaking with tech support today, super friendly, they advised me to ship the drone and controller back to inspect. The sad part was the camera went out during a gig last evening and there goes that client. (Project deadline is Monday.) I am hoping that Yuneec will get my machine back to me ASAP as I have three more projects in the next two weeks and do not want to hand these over to competitors. Yuneec did quote me a 14-day turnaround, so I am trying to be optimistic.

Anyway, hopefully this might help someone out in the future as well.

Cheers!

Sad day indeed. Did the camera show signs of powering on or did it just stay limp?

You may have to make daily checks on the progress and remind them of the urgency. A 14 day turn around sounds very optimistic indeed. Best of luck Big Al.

 

[JCFlippen]

I think that when you are doing paid work you need a backup machine in the car. I have a very busy Pro pilot friend who has 3 complete set ups of some sort available at any one time!

 

[Big Al]

Sad day indeed. Did the camera show signs of powering on or did it just stay limp?

You may have to make daily checks on the progress and remind them of the urgency. A 14 day turn around sounds very optimistic indeed. Best of luck Big Al.

In mid-flight it just went dead. I figured it had lost connection, but the machine was only about 200 feet out and about 50 feet in the air. I've never seen anything like it, or for that matter heard anything like this.

Good idea! I think I will follow-up with them on a regular basis to see how the progress is going. They seem to be on the mark right now, so that's a good thing!

 

[Big Al]

I think that when you are doing paid work you need a backup machine in the car. I have a very busy Pro pilot friend who has 3 complete set ups of some sort available at any one time!

I agree, and when the finances allow it I will for sure have a stand-by ready to go.

 

[Mickeyboo]

I agree with JC...you've got to have more than one machine if you want to do this professionally, not only might you have lost a client but these sorts of stories (even though it's not your fault) hit the street and other potential clients will be less than inclined to want to hire you. Technology is a wonderful thing but we are beholden to its whims and therefore MUST ALWAYS HAVE REDUNDANCY. I've got 3 H's and 5 gimbal / cameras and right now I only have one working camera because of lens changes, waiting for lens changes and a crash.

 

[JulesTEO]

I see you already sent your camera for repair, but here's something similar that happened to me:

After I was done changing my broken gimbal mount the camera was no longer working.

It turns out that when I was reinstalling the rubber dampers, just by moving the parts around, one of the solder points on the small board with the contacts had broke. These cables are very tight and fragile when in comes to dissassembling, and just by pulling a bit too hard you can pluck them.

As you can see the white cable, precisely the PWR, had disconnected. I just had to get my soldering iron and resolder.

I don't see a reason why this would happen out of nowhere because once installed the cables fold and there's no tension, (perhaps a faulty soldering during manufacture?), but anyway, there's no way to tell if this is what happened until you remove the dampers, then the back cover on the mount and check. It is definitely a weak point.

I hope you get your camera back soon!

 

[Big Al]

I agree with JC...you've got to have more than one machine if you want to do this professionally, not only might you have lost a client but these sorts of stories (even though it's not your fault) hit the street and other potential clients will be less than inclined to want to hire you. Technology is a wonderful thing but we are beholden to its whims and therefore MUST ALWAYS HAVE REDUNDANCY. I've got 3 H's and 5 gimbal / cameras and right now I only have one working camera because of lens changes, waiting for lens changes and a crash.

I am happy for you Mickey, and as I stated previously I plan on adding to my inventory in the future. No use of keeping to twist the knife, right?

 

[Big Al]

I see you already sent your camera for repair, but here's something similar that happened to me:

After I was done changing my broken gimbal mount the camera was no longer working.

It turns out that when I was reinstalling the rubber dampers, just by moving the parts around, one of the solder points on the small board with the contacts had broke. These cables are very tight and fragile when in comes to dissassembling, and just by pulling a bit too hard you can pluck them.

As you can see the white cable, precisely the PWR, had disconnected. I just had to get my soldering iron and resolder.

I don't see a reason why this would happen out of nowhere because once installed the cables fold and there's no tension, (perhaps a faulty soldering during manufacture?), but anyway, there's no way to tell if this is what happened until you remove the dampers, then the back cover on the mount and check. It is definitely a weak point.

I hope you get your camera back soon!

Great photos! Thank you! I was a little hesitant to dissemble my marching, as my soldering skills are minimal at best. However, my fair guess is one of these connectors might have somehow vibrated loose during my flight. Just curious how this would've happened. Nonetheless, I'm sure it'll be a quick fix by Yuneec and I'm anxious to get my drone back in the air again.