In this post we will be replacing the DJI Mavic Pro camera gimbal ribbon cable. While the DJI Mavic Pro is rapidly becoming one of the most popular drones among enthusiasts and pro’s alike, it’s also among the more difficult drones to work on, and replacement parts are nearly impossible to come by. Despite sporting forward facing obstacle avoidance, the Mavic Pro’s camera is incredibly prone to damage. In fact, nearly all Mavic Pros we see on a daily basis have some type of camera related damage.
In this post we will be removing the gimbal to perform a repair. Gimbal damage can cause some extremely small and fragile connections to become severed resulting in a loss of video, loss of stabilization, or both. This customers Mavic still had a working video feed. We sourced a replacement gimbal ribbon cable to restore the gimbal’s stabilization to factory performance. In this image we have removed the top of the Mavic to reveal the very thin ribbon cable connections.
After removing the screws that secure the gimbal mount as well as the electrical connections, the gimbal can be removed from the aircraft. To separate the gimbal from the mount, we use tweezers to carefully unhook the vibration isolators. The ribbon cable we will be replacing is easily recognized by the white writing.
With the gimbal removed and rotated, the interconnect panel above is visible. Notice the multi-strand cable toward the center left. This is the HDMI ribbon cable which carries the video. Fortunately this cable is intact. These individual strands are nearly impossible to repair if broken.
With the mount separated from the gimbal, the ribbon cable is more easily seen. This cable is approximately six inches in length and has numerous connections which must be routed carefully through various openings. Since all 3 axis of motion rely on this cable, any damage will render your mavic useless. The design leaves much of the cable completely unprotected as it wraps around the lens with slack to allow for unrestricted movement. Pictured here is the end of the cable prior to removal.
With the cover removed, the multi-strand HDMI cable is exposed. Notice the black ribbon cable which wraps around and across before terminating into a silver tab located in the open rectangle. This is just one of several connections which must be carefully handled both during removal and reinstallation of the new ribbon cable. It’s worth mentioning that the HDMI cable can easily be damaged from handling or while reinstalling the covers which can pinch the strands.
With the ribbon cable replaced, we reinstalled the gimbal and reconnected the wires. We powered it up, confirmed the gimbal was operational, and went the extra mile for our customer by updating the firmware. After the update, all sensors were calibrated and the aircraft was test flown. Best of all, the entire repair was completed the same day our customer dropped it off for repair.
For guaranteed repairs in record time contact AerialPixels or visit our Los Angeles location in person. 800-411-9635