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Typical New Forum Guy (I broke my drone) thread

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Drone is a Q500 4K. Flying about 50 ft. elevation, suddenly felt an alert vibration in the transmitter, simultaneously drone rotors went to ground idle rpm. Glanced down and saw something about "Communication Lost" (only saw it for a fraction of a second), then watched it impact on paved surface. Broke two rotors, and most importantly the GC03 separated from the drone.

Started putting things back together, used the patch cord to reconnect the GC03 to the drone, now no gimbal function. Camera communicates with the transmitter, and I can take a still image (haven't tried video, don't see why that won't work), so I know it's getting power from the drone.

Green LED on the camera, no diagnostic beeps. Just nothing from the gimbal. No stabilizing motion, no movement of the camera when I attempt to change the tilt from the transmitter.

What do I need to check next?

Thanks for any help, and have a good one,
Mike
 
The CGo3 camera is actually two things. It is a "camera" and it is a "gimbal" built together as one unit. The camera takes pictures. The gimbal points the camera. Other than the power supply, they share nothing for function. (Picture below)
In your incident, your camera survived. Your gimbal board did not. It is a tale of the "3 black wires" that has been experienced by many of us over the years since the CGo3 was introduced. You can properly remove the remnants of the wires using the instructions linked below. But that probably is not going to help. The gimbal board will likely need to be replaced. And replacement gimbal boards, either from used cameras or purchased new, require calibration. The calibration requires proprietary software. Which means the camera will need to go to a repair shop.
The PDF document in the following post has several attachments related to the CGo3 camera and the Q500 series drone. Not without coincidence, the very first article ever written for it is the one for "Removing the Three Black Wires". See Attachment 1 of Way To Fix Drones project. Other Attachments in the document may be useful if you want to attempt repair of the gimbal board.
I would recommend https://yuneecskins.com/all-products/ols/products/cgo3-camera-repair-estimate-service.
Camera_Gimbal Difference.jpg
 
Welcome to the yuneec pilots forum, the best of the best. Pay close attention to WTFD and his reply. I personally have wrecked 2 camera's,both needed a complicated repair,actually both were from a Typhoon H. I have successfully repaired an H Pro and a Q500+. [total frame replacement] and repairs were successful. BUT the camera's I sent to John at Yuneec skins.I was so very happy with the cameras I received from him on an exchange repair service. Price was reasonable . Contact him,great guy to do business with. Peace KC
 
I came to this forum exactly because of what I found in my initial Google searches. In fact, WTFD has replied to my queries in both Yuneec forums (the other one doesn't seem to generate near the traffic this one does). This drone was a gift, and I don't really want to pay to have the gimbal replaced if I don't have to. So I'm going to give it a shot; I figure I can't kill it any worse than it is.

On a separate point: what about my crash scenario? Does that ring any bells that I need to learn about paying attention to?

Thanks again to both of you for all the help, and have a good one,
Mike
 
I came to this forum exactly because of what I found in my initial Google searches. In fact, WTFD has replied to my queries in both Yuneec forums (the other one doesn't seem to generate near the traffic this one does). This drone was a gift, and I don't really want to pay to have the gimbal replaced if I don't have to. So I'm going to give it a shot; I figure I can't kill it any worse than it is.

On a separate point: what about my crash scenario? Does that ring any bells that I need to learn about paying attention to?

Thanks again to both of you for all the help, and have a good one,
Mike
There was likely something before the communication lost signal such as a low battery alarm. Hopefully there was a SD card in the ST10+ controller under the battery. If so there will be a saved FlightLog. Follow the directions in the Attachment Q500 FlightLog Retrieval (PDF file attached to this post) and attach the resulting zip file in a reply. We should be able to find the cause in the FlightLog files.
 

Attachments

  • Q500 and Chroma Flight Log Retrieval.pdf
    1.3 MB · Views: 12
The vibration on the controller was a low battery warning.
Yup. And coupled with the "Communication Lost" message, it implies voltage was dropping incredibly fast. These brief glimpses into the event suggest a battery that is in such bad condition it might be a fire hazard if stored in the house. The hazard gets worse if it is placed on charge. Especially during the charge.

It would be a good idea to evaluate the condition of all the batteries and store them appropriately. Outside somewhere safe is good if you are uncertain.
If you need to dispose of them, they can be totally discharged by placing them in a bucket of salt water for a couple of days.

I assume the batteries came with the drone. Do you know how old they are and how they had been stored?
 
Hi i'd batteries 6 years old, in bad condition. The same message was on the screen, the voltage was quickly low, with alarms i could land the typhoon, and save the drone. I think some series of batteries give more services in new build today, not in first stocks one. Time is to change your batterie.
 
New fliers and fliers unfamiliar with yuneec. Do yourself a favor . Use the magnifier top right next to history and search Q500 manual. All the info you need is there. Make yourself a list of questions and find the answers. Main issues would be ,,,battery care,,,calibrations,,,gps acquiring ,,,gui on pc,,,how to use it, and watch lots of you tube vids,,but careful not all the tube dudes know everything. Get into your transmitter,st10 and check how your controls are working,,,do the pots need cleaning etc. Also make sure your transmitter is in mode 2 and you are familiar with this mode.Good luck,we all studied a ton but still on this forum I learn new stuff everyday. Peace, KC
 
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To all,

First off, sorry for the delay in responding, our internet service was down all yesterday until after we went to bed.

7cyclops, thanks for aiming me towards the history function; I'll be working my way through that as much as possible. I did a reasonable amount of generic google searching, but nothing like learning from other's experiences.

WTFD, I wasn't able to establish coms with my ST-10 via a known microUSB data cable with any of my work computers; I'm going to continue to try that on my home laptop later today. As an alternate method, I decided to try a flight with each of my two Yuneec batteries, essentially hovering around 4 ft, just enough to get the craft stable and low enough (also flying over grass) to not suffer any damage in case of a sudden failure. First flight was full duration, probably 15 minutes (GCo3 wasn't installed). Battery voltage (according to the ST-10 display) slowly degraded, giving me an alert at 10.6v. The drone LEDs started flashing at 10.5v and I landed.

Flight with the second battery lasted 58 seconds, low battery alert came on and voltage display was blank.

So now I know (or at least a good feeling) about what happened and what battery pack caused the problem.

I still need to figure out how to download the flight data from the ST-10's SD card (I checked and it's there). And then of course get the CGo3 fixed.

And then, strange as this sounds, I've got to figure out what I want to do with this bird.

Thanks for all the help, and have a good one,
Mike
 
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I still need to figure out how to download the flight data from the ST-10's SD card (I checked and it's there). And then of course get the CGo3 fixed.
Did you try the method in the PDF attached to post #5 of this thread?
 
Maybe there is no SD card in the ST10. This may be the reason why it cannot be connected to PC. Only the filesystem of the SD card is enabled to see it via USB.
The SD card should be in the slot under the battery of the ST10.

br HE
 
Did you try the method in the PDF attached to post #5 of this thread?
Yes, I did. I hit a wall when the ST-10 wouldn't connect to any of three different computers. I'm using a verified micro USB data cable, and I believe it's connected to the ST-10 because the charge light is flashing. I've verified there is an SD card mounted in the ST-10.

I get this error message:

1648941229904.png
 
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Do any of your computers have an SD card reader? You will need the adapter for the micro SD to SD.

What version of Windows have you tried this with? I know Win7 Pro and Win10 Pro both work with the ST10+.
 
Question: I'm about to start testing the voltages on the gimbal card, but one thing I haven't found is the source voltage. I'm *guessing* it's 9v, based on the voltage at the + pin. Is that correct?

On the subject of the failed battery, what's the best way to replace it? OEM? 3rd party? Rebuild the original?

Thanks for your help, and have a good one,
Mike
 
The input (source) voltage is the battery voltage depending on how it is charged. It should be around 12V.

CGO3_Kabel2.JPG
Be careful, it is the full battery power there without fuse. A shortcut may burn your house down.

br HE
 
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The input (source) voltage is the battery voltage depending on how it is charged. It should be around 12V.

View attachment 27871
Be careful, it is the full battery power there without fuse. A shortcut may burn your house down.

br HE
Thanks for the info. Power will be from a voltage & current limited power supply. I'll get the voltages recorded and let y'all know what I find.

Have a good one,
Mike
 

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