Solo gimbal noise/vibration

jjs357 · Sep 2, 2015

I just did the calibrations -- both level and compass -- and there is no change for me to the gimbal motor noise/vibration. If I pick up the Solo with the gimbal on, the vibration seems to lessen significantly. The gimbal control on the camera seems to work fine as does the record button. I guess I need to take the Solo up in the air and see what video results I get.

I also reported video feed glitches to the app with the gimbal. I can report that if I revert the mod I made to the hostapd.conf file (discussed elsewhere in this forum), this glitchiness seems to be gone. Again, this was a just a bench test -- no actual flying involved. I need the channel mod part of this to fly in my wifi-congested local park, so maybe I will just leave that part of the mod in place and try again.

I will report back my flight results. I also want to re-install the gimbal one more time to make sure nothing is rubbing. This video has a technique I might try: .

Pretty drastic though in that you remove the battery tray and compass compartment to see the gimbal from the opposite direction.

Earldgrayjr · Sep 2, 2015

jjs357 said:
I just did the calibrations -- both level and compass -- and there is no change for me to the gimbal motor noise/vibration. If I pick up the Solo with the gimbal on, the vibration seems to lessen significantly. The gimbal control on the camera seems to work fine as does the record button. I guess I need to take the Solo up in the air and see what video results I get.

I also reported video feed glitches to the app with the gimbal. I can report that if I revert the mod I made to the hostapd.conf file (discussed elsewhere in this forum), this glitchiness seems to be gone. Again, this was a just a bench test -- no actual flying involved. I need the channel mod part of this to fly in my wifi-congested local park, so maybe I will just leave that part of the mod in place and try again.

I will report back my flight results. I also want to re-install the gimbal one more time to make sure nothing is rubbing. This video has a technique I might try:

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.

Pretty drastic though in that you remove the battery tray and compass compartment to see the gimbal from the opposite direction.

Yes. That is worth a try though, at least to see if the vibration is coming through and how. In my case though, I did it as instructed, and it works. I may take it apart again just so I know how and why. I don't remeber if you had, but I would start a ticket also, just to get that logged.

Raybro · Sep 2, 2015

As long as it works like it should, personally I would deal with the noise....as long as I have waited for it, and still waiting.

My ZenMuse makes lots of noise, always has.

jjs357 · Sep 2, 2015

I did the Solo gimbal cable mod shown in the video I linked to. Seems to have greatly lessened gimbal noise and vibration on the bench. In the process, I stressed the HDMI cable too much and it unplugged from the socket beneath the main Solo circuit board. So I had to read up on how to get access to the underside of the circuit board but in the end was successful in re-connecting the HDMI cable. Put everything back together, did a bench test but by then it was too dark to fly! Hopefully I will have some time for real gimbal flights tomorrow.

SoloMio · Sep 3, 2015

jjs357 said:
I did the Solo gimbal cable mod shown in the video I linked to. Seems to have greatly lessened gimbal noise and vibration on the bench. In the process, I stressed the HDMI cable too much and it unplugged from the socket beneath the main Solo circuit board. So I had to read up on how to get access to the underside of the circuit board but in the end was successful in re-connecting the HDMI cable. Put everything back together, did a bench test but by then it was too dark to fly! Hopefully I will have some time for real gimbal flights tomorrow.

I can also verify this (Nate's technique above) has worked for me on the bench. Will test footage in the morning. Before I could not do a LEVEL calibration with the gimbal installed. Now no problem, gimbal stays level throughout calibration where it never would previously.

I have tried many different ways of looping the connectors and cables and thought I had a technique for sure. WRONG! The only sure way to know for "buzz of death" seems to be to take the battery tray and gps off to actually see if there is any touching or pulling tension from the cables on the gimbal dampening system. If the yaw motor (top or side to side pan) is just slightly not centered it will not calibrate correctly and vibrate.

Mine makes no or very little noise at all now sitting level. This is a little trickier method so be very careful putting any undo stress on the hdmi or hero bus connectors on the gimbal control board when putting things back together though.

Sampson · Sep 3, 2015

SoloMio said:
I can also verify this (Nate's technique above) has worked for me on the bench. Will test footage in the morning. Before I could not do a LEVEL calibration with the gimbal installed. Now no problem, gimbal stays level throughout calibration where it never would previously.

I have tried many different ways of looping the connectors and cables and thought I had a technique for sure. WRONG! The only sure way to know for "buzz of death" seems to be to take the battery tray and gps off to actually see if there is any touching or pulling tension from the cables on the gimbal dampening system. If the yaw motor (top or side to side pan) is just slightly not centered it will not calibrate correctly and vibrate.

Mine makes no or very little noise at all now sitting level. This is a little trickier method so be very careful putting any undo stress on the hdmi or hero bus connectors on the gimbal control board when putting things back together though.

I'll definitely try this tomorrow and, fingers crossed, will hopefully have a third confirmed fix!

Earldgrayjr · Sep 3, 2015

jjs357 said:
I did the Solo gimbal cable mod shown in the video I linked to. Seems to have greatly lessened gimbal noise and vibration on the bench. In the process, I stressed the HDMI cable too much and it unplugged from the socket beneath the main Solo circuit board. So I had to read up on how to get access to the underside of the circuit board but in the end was successful in re-connecting the HDMI cable. Put everything back together, did a bench test but by then it was too dark to fly! Hopefully I will have some time for real gimbal flights tomorrow.

SoloMio, Sampson, jjs357, Good luck!!! Doesn't stop raining long enough to fly lately here

So even though I am working fine, I may take mine apart just to see the cabling in detail.... It's an illness

Sampson · Sep 4, 2015

Confirmed this worked for me as well! What a relief to not have to deal with the RMA process. I just made sure that no cables were touching the gimbal in any way using the routing in Nate's video and adding a couple zip ties. Gimbal runs smooth as silk... Thanks all!

Earldgrayjr · Sep 4, 2015

Sampson said:
Confirmed this worked for me as well! What a relief to not have to deal with the RMA process. I just made sure that no cables were touching the gimbal in any way using the routing in Nate's video and adding a couple zip ties. Gimbal runs smooth as silk... Thanks all!

Great news! Mine just got bricked by the update

. Sigh...

Sampson · Sep 4, 2015

Earldgrayjr said:
Great news! Mine just got bricked by the update . Sigh...

Noooo! My update went well and have been waiting to implement the config. file mod until after this wave of upcoming updates passes. If it's still needed after that, then I'll do it but for now I want to minimize mods during the warranty period. Not sure if your bricking had to do with that or not? I have faith you will bring er back to life! Good luck!

Earldgrayjr · Sep 4, 2015

Sampson said:
Noooo! My update went well and have been waiting to implement the config. file mod until after this wave of upcoming updates passes. If it's still needed after that, then I'll do it but for now I want to minimize mods during the warranty period. Not sure if your bricking had to do with that or not? I have faith you will bring er back to life! Good luck!

Actually this one I reverted back (just in case) but it doesn't appear that the update effects the hostapd. Something different, that I guess could be a coincidence in timing. Tried very thing I know and started a ticket. Called and talked to first line support (late last night which was cool) but they couldn't get past no SSID and no ability to reset the controller. Will try to talk to an engineer today. Hopefully results in an alternate reset, and doesn't result in an RMA

bheiland · Sep 5, 2015

Sampson said:
So here's the first of a couple terrible demos of my bad gimbal.

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My gimbal sounds just like this, sometimes worse.

Sampson · Sep 5, 2015

bheiland said:
My gimbal sounds just like this, sometimes worse.

I really suggest carefully trying out the re routing of the HDMI cable in the video shared by jjs357 earlier in this thread. Just make sure the cables are not touching the gimbal dampers anywhere. This may take some finagling, zip ties and patience.
My hunch is that during startup/calibration, the motor(s) had pressure on them and wouldn't allow for an accurate calibration to 0 on each axis. The motors were then fighting to get to what they are told is zero creating access noise etc.

RichWest · Sep 20, 2015

I can confirm a bad gimbal install will create a buzzing noise. Mine was between 20-80 degrees tilt. It appears the gimbal control cable was in a bind and pulling at the gimbal support for my install mistake. Once the tension was released the gimbal centered properly.

Going from the top does allow both the HDMI and gimbal control cable to be placed easily and float within the open space. I bent the gimbal control cable to loop away and down to the board.

Curious why 3DR choose SOLID wire versus stranded for the gimbal control cable? Stranded wire (or more flexible wires) would seem a better choice to isolate the two points related to vibration. I think the HDMI could stand to be a little more flexible as well.

Looking forward to going out in the morning to test fly. Thanks for the post within this thread that helped me solve my problem.

Lamda · Sep 20, 2015

Unfortunately, my gimbal also has vibrations. Roughy centered around 45 degrees pitch. I've stick calibrated, routed the hdmi under the motherboard screw and checked cables from above but still I get vibration when the camera is pitched.

I logged a ticket Friday evening and they responded this Saturday afternoon asking for serial numbers for my Solo and controller. Will see what they come up with.

It's been raining almost constantly since Friday, so no flight testing to see how bad it affects video in the air.

Del · Sep 22, 2015

I installed my Gimbal last night when I got home from work around midnight..I was up till 3am installing it and then testing the gimbal with all its function on my Coffe Table in the house ! The installation went well with no issues ...I even took off the battery tray to Make sure that there was no cables touching the Yaw Motor ...but did notice the Yaw motor was very close or even touching the side of the Mother Board..the cables are really Stiff and I notice the Gimbal Cable was forcing the Yaw motor to rub agains the mother board! So I just push the Cable the Opposite way to relieve the pressure ! The Yaw motor looked more center after that and away from the mother board with good clearance!
I put everything back together and powered everything up!
Everything looked good...had No funny Gimbal flopping of any sort!
Had live feed from the GoPro ! The gimbal responded very well with the manual tilt control ! I even played and set the ( automatic Tilt Control)
Then after I was satisfied that the installation And the testing of the gimbal on my coffee table was fine ... And then I proceeded to do My compass and Level calibration to make sure that it was up to par for good Measure !

I havint done any test yet in the field with the Gimbal!
Hoping to get out tomorrow flying To fully test the gimbal and hoping everything goes well !

So far ..So Good

Fly Safe
Fly Smart
Fly 3DR

Cabinetworks · Sep 24, 2015

Sampson said:
I received my gimbal last night and installed it per the instructions. I kept all cables clear of contact with the gimbal. Everything looked good. I powered up on my coffee table, watched the gimbal do a bit of a calibration dance and was pleased to see it stabilize at 90 degrees.
About 5 seconds later I heard a whirring noise coming from the gimbal at the same 90 degree angle. With the noise was a considerable amount of vibration. I played with pitching the gimbal down to zero and back up to 90. The vibration/noise smoothed out at varying angles through the pitch.
I power cycled everything and did it again. This time the noise/vibration occurred somewhere between 75-30 degrees but was smooth at 90.
I emailed 3DR in which they replied and told me to power cycle on an even surface without touching the gimbal (which I had already done).
I looked through FB and forums to try to find fixes for this to no avail so I am reaching out through this thread. Any suggestion or is anyone also having this problem?

I received my Gimbal 9/15 and had the same issue. I also was getting an error message on the transmitter. It said to contact 3DR. I did, and they sent me a link to calibrate the controls. It took the transmitter into DOS mode and I entered the command and moved all the control sticks and camera controls in the front. This fixed the error message however it did not fix the noise in the gimbal. I was also experiencing the gimbal would tremble slightly then recover. I had two different times the gimbal totally looked like it lost power and drop out altogether. One time it recovered shortly after and the second time it was just inches from landing. They also asked that I do the two Calibrations thru the App. This did not solve the issue. I send links to the videos and worked with 3DR support. I received a FedEx return label and they are replacing the gimbal. Just mailed it in 9/22 Not sure how long it is going to take for the replacement. 3DR support said no longer than 2 weeks and I should see tracking info from their China warehouse. I told them I was not happy with their timeline after waiting as long as I had to get the gimbal in the first place (4/15) They set up shipping to be overnight and are going to try to fast track it. Have not as yet heard back. Hope that helps!

RichWest · Sep 24, 2015

Cabinetworks said:
I told them I was not happy with their timeline after waiting as long as I had to get the gimbal in the first place (4/15) They set up shipping to be overnight and are going to try to fast track it. Have not as yet heard back. Hope that helps!

Unfortunately, I believe your install was the issue as you described the symptoms. Did you not read Sampson's followup to his issue?

Sampson said:
I really suggest carefully trying out the re routing of the HDMI cable in the video shared by jjs357 earlier in this thread. Just make sure the cables are not touching the gimbal dampers anywhere. This may take some finagling, zip ties and patience.
My hunch is that during startup/calibration, the motor(s) had pressure on them and wouldn't allow for an accurate calibration to 0 on each axis. The motors were then fighting to get to what they are told is zero creating access noise etc.

Cabinetworks · Sep 24, 2015

RichWest said:
Unfortunately, I believe your install was the issue as you described the symptoms. Did you not read Sampson's followup to his issue?

No I did not see that. However I did follow all the directions and the install Video supplied thru the app. I felt the install was correct. The noise from the gimbal was not all the time nor was the gimbal always in the same location when I heard the noise. It would at times on a flat table while testing the gimbal be rock solid and with no input from me it would start to hum and give a very slight vibration then become rock solid and quiet. I will try the wire tie solution when the next one comes. Thanks for the post!

Flybirdman · Sep 26, 2015

Out of the (undamaged) box, my gimbal has a bad vibration when sitting on a level surface and not moving as well. When I move the Solo (exercising the gimbal) the vibration ceases. In flight, the gimbal randomly rolls left to full deflection and the red gimbal indicator illuminates. The gimbal then resets to centered at approximately a 45° tilt angle (regardless of the angle I had it at). I also have the degraded video feed - pixellated and choppy - that I didn't have with the hard mount (Hero4 Silver).