Warning to all X5 owners

[seanmclean]

TROLL...
tra la la la la, la la, la, la

I'm sorry, how does that make me a troll? You provided a very specific recommendation on how the durability of the X5 could be improved. I'd like to know how you came to that conclusion, and the specifications of the X3 and X5 gimbal materials that you reviewed.

I'm not sure you know what a troll is, but you should.

 

[Ruckusman]

take one of each apart and learn for yourself - you want to hang crap on others observations with no information of your own to contribute, that's how you acquire that information - learn by doing - all too easy

 

[seanmclean]

take one of each apart and learn for yourself - you want to hang crap on others observations with no information of your own to contribute, that's how you acquire that information - learn by doing - all too easy

Unfortunately, it isn't that easy. You can't just look at something and decide whether or not it is strong enough, or that a mere 30g of additional material would substantially improve it. I'm not, and have not, said that I know the information I'm asking about - you did. Seems pretty obvious that you shouldn't spout off about data you don't have.

Simple fact is, fly it competently and its more than robust enough. It wasn't designed to be slammed down during a landing, that is abuse.

 

[ianwood]

Another post complaining about the cost of the X5, which is priced so reasonably it isn't even funny.

I would agree if only it didn't have so many fixable flaws. As always, DJI comes up with a great idea, builds parts of it exceptionally well and then they royally screw up the rest. Your X5 won't be very valuable either if it takes a little too much turbulence and decides some day to free itself of the Inspire. There's enough mass there that a hard landing won't be needed to make it happen.

And yes, I'm not a metallurgist but it doesn't take a rocket scientist either to see that a few locations could have used a less brittle metal to lessen the likelihood of stress fatigue and fracture.

DJI did what they always do which is cheap out where it counts and in the process diminishing what could be an amazing product and making it into an OK one until it falls apart.

 

[damoncooper]

Hmmmmm....... I wonder if these broken/damaged X3/X5/X5R gimbals are coming from bad piloting skills or people using that stupid auto land feature?
I own two Inspires and have had no reason ever to land at anything other than a gentle touchdown even in very windy conditions.
I have also NEVER used the auto take off or auto land gimmick nor do I ever intend to.
As stated by @seanmclean - gimbals are and always have been very delicate pieces of equipment.
Would people be bleating if they had a $5,000 gimbal and an Alexa with a $30,000 prime stuck on the front hanging from the bottom of their aircraft that didn't fair well in a crash/heavy landing? (Well they would probably be crying at the $$$ involved)
Guys, if you are using the daft auto land or landing at anything more than a very gentle controlled touchdown you are doing it wrong and you can expect some damage.

What he said.

 

[slim.slamma]

I have also NEVER used the auto take off or auto land gimmick nor do I ever intend to.
As stated by @seanmclean - gimbals are and always have been very delicate
Guys, if you are using the daft auto land or landing at anything more than a very gentle controlled touchdown you are doing it wrong and you can expect some damage.

10;4

 

[RaptorMan]

That would be true, but for the fact that the gimbal is suspended by 4 rubber vibration dampeners that absorb a reasonable shock and stretch out the deceleration over time,
so 10 g's would be a "heavy landing" indeed!

Not disputing the fact that the gimbal might be a little under-built, or could use a different more robust material. Yes, you're right, weight is critical, and every gram saved results in increased endurance. It's a trade-off, and now that WE KNOW THAT THE GIMBAL IS DELICATE, it's incumbent on the operators to try their best to get a smooth landing.

Since the elongation of the rubber mounts will have very little effect on reducing the total momentum I doubt very much that the rubber mounts would reduce the felt impulse by more than ten percent. That is, the rubber mounts will do little to protect the gimbal unless the speed of impact is very low.

And, given the fact that many folks have had damage to there gimbal at even modest impact speeds tells me my analysis is reasonable.


Brian

 

[seanmclean]

The gimbal should not be subjected to any impact speeds, let alone modest ones.

 

[ianwood]

My gimbals get most of their abuse in between flights. They go onto production carts that have no suspension and get bounced around. We end up having to carry the drone separately because the gimbal just looks like it's about to snap. And do I really need to take my gimbal off every time I want to transport it without worrying my car's suspension is too stiff and LA's roads too crappy?

I certainly don't have to do this with the big rigs. Billet aluminum and carbon fiber gimbals that are engineered properly. You can drop them from 20 feet and they'd be fine.

Have you ever seen a Movi 15 carrying 10lbs of camera attached to a vehicle while off roading? It's violent! Obviously, it's in an entirely different class but there are many gimbals that can take the abuse. It's mostly only DJI's crappy magnesium based alloys that can't take it.

If they want to wear the "Pro" moniker they should quit designing these things to last about a year if you're lucky.

 

[seanmclean]

My gimbals get most of their abuse in between flights. They go onto production carts that have no suspension and get bounced around. We end up having to carry the drone separately because the gimbal just looks like it's about to snap. And do I really need to take my gimbal off every time I want to transport it without worrying my car's suspension is too stiff and LA's roads too crappy?

I certainly don't have to do this with the big rigs. Billet aluminum and carbon fiber gimbals that are engineered properly. You can drop them from 20 feet and they'd be fine.

Have you ever seen a Movi 15 carrying 10lbs of camera attached to a vehicle while off roading? It's violent! Obviously, it's in an entirely different class but there are many gimbals that can take the abuse. It's mostly only DJI's crappy magnesium based alloys that can't take it.

If they want to wear the "Pro" moniker they should quit designing these things to last about a year if you're lucky.

How much do one of those gimbals cost?

 

[Phatzo]

How much do one of those gimbals cost?

a movi 15 about 12k...

we have two flightheads from filmotechnic. one flighthead 5 and the compact. magnesium body and a cost of about 300k... no extras.
they are strudy and take a lot of sh!@ like rigged to my jeep front or quad or anything else you wish and can hold about 50-60 kg i think is the whole rig with a 24-290 lens on an alexa but even those can brake and bend... they are brittle and fragile as also a realy prcice piece of tech...
the X5 or X5R and even the X3 are fragile and precision tech in my opinion and should be treated that way
cheers
Martin

 

[ianwood]

How much do one of those gimbals cost?

My Gremsy H3 gimbals are $1,300 each. Billet and carbon fiber. Tough as nails. They take everything from a Sony RX100IV up to a Sony A7Sii. DJI could learn a lot from them.

 

[x5yo]

Did over 100 flights on mine no probs, if people can't land smoothly or fly without crashing, then they're not flying safely or competently and maybe its not the worse thing in the world if these 'pilots' are discouraged.

Way I see it, no matter what DJI do, chances are if you do not land properly, you really do risk damaging it. If I crash with a helmet on, there are no guarantees. Putting a bigger helmet on does not really change that.

 

[slim.slamma]

Did over 100 flights on mine no probs, if people can't land smoothly or fly without crashing, then they're not flying safely or competently and maybe its not the worse thing in the worse if these pilots are marginalised.

100% correct but junk is junk. Poorly made
Handle with extreme care, fraglie. But it works we get that. Photography wise
Average member has 6 months before crashing.
I'm 15 month's in not a scratch!

 

[slim.slamma]

Some people will experiment with drugs and justify using it junk is junk no matter who's selling it. Just say no to junk

 

[dronealps]

Just had this happen to our X5, after a very small crash landing (which was a drone malfunction rather than pilot error). Very worrying how easy the gimbal broke and definitely not living up to the "built to last" claim on the DJI site. First email was sent to DJI today and I will update here how they respond.

Update: DJI claim that the crash was due to extremely low voltage and therefore pilot error. I have sent the X5 to them today for repair, so we shall see what happens next. I'll probably start another thread about low voltage issues as it is slightly off-topic here.

 

[greyman]

So do they realy repair gimbals with a brocken YAW achs?
Mine was brocken today and they asked me to send it to repair.

Anyone knows what it will cost?

 

[Ruckusman]

Others will be able to chime in with their repair costs, however at the shop where I worked, before I resigned, the gimbals that went back for repair cost approximately $350 AUD.

 

[Roar Edvin]

Hi, Flying in the forest friday 13th is not a good idea:/ I made a error and hit a branch and the inspire flipped over and fall about 1m in the forest floor. The x5 got knocked of the with pices of the
vibration board. The yaw motor came loose. All my fault so no blame to DJI from my side. Know this is fragile and that any crash leads to repairs. Just hope to get it repaired. Anyone had success to get their repaired in Europe?

 

[AllanM]

Hi, Flying in the forest friday 13th is not a good idea:/ I made a error and hit a branch and the inspire flipped over and fall about 1m in the forest floor. The x5 got knocked of the with pices of the
vibration board. The yaw motor came loose. All my fault so no blame to DJI from my side. Know this is fragile and that any crash leads to repairs. Just hope to get it repaired. Anyone had success to get their repaired in Europe?
View attachment 8498

Snap....today.. <) pun intended. My fault, chasing wakeboarder round a slight corner, tree jumped out. Aircraft fine. Lucky it landed (or crashed into, more precisely) and stayed in the tree and didn't fall to the water below... Yes, my lucky day!!
Interested in replies for UK / Europe fixes.

In the mean time I've ordered new Pro from EpicTV Shop for £2,601, and immediately got 5% credit (£130 cash credit) so got a free TB47 to boot.