Gimbal acting weird - is it salvageable?

[averagejoe805]

Im new, please go easy & pretend I don't know anything - cause I basically don't. My gimbal points up to the underside of the drone and is unresponsive to the controller. The led on the back of the gimbal randomly switches between breathing green and breathing red lights. Even when green, its unresponsive. It will also sometimes shake. It gets extremely hot - i now have a blister from where I touched the metal semicircle that sticks out to left of the gopro. It does transmit video feed - damn thing just won't move up or down. Also, it does seem to stabilize the camera ok if I move the solo around by hand.

My troubleshooting steps so far:
1. Unscrew/unplug it all and reinstalled it making sure cabling was out of way
2. factory reset of the controller and the solo & then updating all. (had gimbal attached during process)
3. level calibration (had to remove gimbal for success. Error with Gimbal attached when placing on left side, repeated many times)
4. compas calibration
5. sticks calibration per these instructions: http://thepaperfile.com/public/3dr/calibration.sticks.mac.pdf

System Info screen shows versions:
App 2.4.3
solo 2.4.2
autopilot 1.3.1
gimbal 1.3.6
controller 2.4.2
controller firmware 1.2.11

Backstory: Cousin has a solo and loves it, so I recently bought this one on craigslist (solo, backpack, prop guards, extra battery, extra props, lighting kit, & gimbal all for $200). Seller said he had a rollover on landing which broke 2 props, otherwise never crashed. Cosmetically everything is perfect and it flies fine, at least for my short test flight where I just had it hover 6 feet of ground and land. If I wanted to fly without a camera, id use my little Hubsan trainer. The point of this quad to me was the videography.

Are there any other diagnostics or troubleshooting steps I can do? I sent a request a couple days ago via the app and included the last few flight logs but haven't heard back yet. Ive searched the threads and can't seem to find similar gimbal behavior. If you have any suggestions or think its just toast, please let me know.

 

[just_bruce]

Sounds like the On-board IMU is hosed. And/or the encoder on the pitch/tilt axis is shot/sending bad values to the on-on-board controller.

 

[Maddog]

I think the problem is in the gimbal- you will probably need to get another one to find out. (Never hurts to have a spare if I'm wrong. I know, the prices have gotten high).
I'm not sure but I don't think 3DR will warranty anything not purchased from an authorized reseller.

 

[averagejoe805]

Thanks for the replies! Looks like I'm shopping for a gimbal. Used eBay gimbals worth trying or stick to new?

 

[Thomannjf]

I recommend you go new. Every time I try to save a buck on Solo it cost me ten. That being said, if you go used make sure it is a refurb that you can return.

 

[Maddog]

I recommend you go new. Every time I try to save a buck on Solo it cost me ten. That being said, if you go used make sure it is a refurb that you can return.

I second that!!

 

[Saijin_Naib]

I have a NIB Solo Gimbal if you're US-Based and interested. Send me a PM if you'd like.

 

[averagejoe805]

I have a NIB Solo Gimbal if you're US-Based and interested. Send me a PM if you'd like.

sent

 

[Ralph E. Johnson]

Just bought a refurbished drone which flies very nicely but I can't get power to the gimbal. I get a picture but the gimbal just flops around. I have tried other gimbals I have that work on my other Solo but when put on the refurbished one will not stabilize. Just flops around.