DIY Mavic Air 2 Gimbal Replacement

After a nasty collision with a tree we're going through the process of easily replacing the gimbal.
Make sure to subscribe for the follow-up video of how to re-calibrate the gimbal using your computer
Tools needed:
1/16th Hex bit
T5 Torx bit
Needle-nose tweezers
Mavic Air 2: amzn.to/3qG9FOv
Replacement Gimbal: amzn.to/3eJHqZP
Precision Repair Kit: amzn.to/3mPKaJu
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[@philjensen5151]

I really appreciate you taking the time to put this together. I just scrubbed my gimbal pretty hard using the Air 2 to help launch a pull line for an antenna.

[@JoeMartinMVC]

I’m glad I could help out. That’s actually similar to how mine got damaged, I was trying to get an antenna unstuck from a tree and collided with a branch.

[@427060]

Thanks for this guide! I replaced the cable after my image looked bizarre due to a collision which pulled on the cable turned the camera body too far. It turns out that I simply had the overexposure warning on.

[@JoeMartinMVC]

Well at least that's an easy fix. =)

[@rockymtndrone]

Informative and good video!

[@JoeMartinMVC]

Thank you. I was surprised at how easy it was to swap out the gimbal, I was expecting it to take more than ten minutes.

[@itgoesup3975]

Thank you! I just got my Air 2 in the mail and didn’t notice the obstacle directly above when taking off for the first time 😢 I’m going to try and fix it myself using your video. This is drone 3 and crash 3. 2/3 were my fault one wasn’t. Sigh

[@JoeMartinMVC]

Oh that's rough. I crashed mine trying to get something out of a tree, so I feel your pain. Let me know if you end up having any questions during the process.

[@itgoesup3975]

@@JoeMartinMVC Thank you tbh seeing how much that freaking gimbal costs I’m buying an entirely new air 2 and selling that one or keeping it for parts for the brand new one (which I’m 💯 getting DJI care Refresh on…only $80)

[@JoeMartinMVC]

@@itgoesup3975 Haha, I can't say I blame you. I considered doing the same thing when I broke mine.

[@renatodioses3680]

Hello, excellent video, one question, I replaced the gimbal of my Air 2, but keeping the same original camera, after doing all the steps you indicate, the gimbal is centered and everything is fine, but when I start the drone, the camera starts to vibrate, in the recordings it is noticeable that the camera vibrates too much, what could I do?

[@JoeMartinMVC]

That's where the next video comes in for calibrating the gimbal: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m4GmdmCAnNaGo6c

[@glennalan]

Great video thank you! I also had an unfortunate incident.😩

[@JoeMartinMVC]

I'm glad I was able to help out. It seems not to be a matter of IF we'll have an incident, just a matter of when. Thankfully they're easy enough to fix. Albeit expensive.

[@Toys4boysDrdrone]

how you do to the drone recognize the new gimbal?

[@JoeMartinMVC]

The drone should automatically be recognized, but will likely give an IMU error, but still work. Is the camera not working at all after replacement?

[@Toys4boysDrdrone]

@@JoeMartinMVC ok thanks, no but i have the idea to change the gimbal for a new one 👍🏻.

[@eduardongc]

Hello, very good video, I have a big doubt, I want to know if you know where exactly the compass is located in the Mavic Air 2, I had a similar doubt with the compass of the Mavic Air v1 and after investigating more than 6 I was able to confirm that it was located in the main board, that is, it is integrated with the board. Do you know if the same thing happens with the Mavic Air 2 version? Thank you

[@JoeMartinMVC]

I'm sorry but I can't say that I know where the compass is located.

[@trevorwaters9586]

Hey I recently replaced the gimbal system on my drone (kept old camera and replaced the gimbal housing) and am getting an error stuck 40002 message and low ambient light (camera screen stays blank). is there an additional step i need to take in order to get the craft to recognize the new system?

[@JoeMartinMVC]

Out of curiosity, are you able to manually move the gimbal now even with the error, or does the gimbal not move at all? You should be able to tell it to move in the app under Calibrate. As for the low light error, if it's not showing anything on the screen, that makes me think the cable going to the camera got damaged. Those wires are extremely thin and easily damaged.

[@rodrigoprado7333]

Hi, nice video, i did everything you did but the new camera is asking for activation and aways give me the same error 0xffd. Can you help me with that? thank you.

[@JoeMartinMVC]

I had gotten the error on an iPhone at one point, but it went away after updating my drone. If you're already on the latest firmware for the drone already you could try reflashing the firmware with the tool from drone-hacks.com.

[@stevemcgowan3017]

hi .my mavic 2 he crash camera was still working before gimball change changed lead flex too but then camera not work after even tried old lead which had lost one connector but still no camera any ideas ?

[@JoeMartinMVC]

That would make me think that either the main board is damaged, or the flex cable is not fully seated on to the main board, causing it to not connect and communicate.

[@stevemcgowan3017]

@@JoeMartinMVC i didnt touch main board apart from pluging leads in we checked to make sure well seated..i may have got some thermal paste on board would that affect the chips?did clean it with alcohol after

[@Ali-jt3ps]

how do u fix the error after installation?

[@JoeMartinMVC]

Sadly we don't have the tools currently to clear the errors. It requires a DJI tool that requires server authentication to use, and we don't have access to that.

[@zhangsai7608]

would u take videos by mavic in the future

[@JoeMartinMVC]

I'd love to do more videos with the drone, but I need to find more places to take it. I've got a couple of videos up on the channel and need to edit a few flights that I've done.

[@joseespinoza93]

Mine did the same thing. Phone notification closed my phone. Open it back up. Crashed.

[@JoeMartinMVC]

I wish I could blame the drone on mine... But I was intentionally doing something dumb that I knew ran the risk of it coming in contact with a branch. lol