You had a great flight and you landed the Mavic Mini on some dusty or sandy ground. Next time you try to fly the Mavic Mini, you get the “Gimbal stuck” error suddenly. Many DJI drone users (including DJI Mavic Mini) have started to get the “Gimbal stuck” error after that kind of action.
Most of the time, DJI Mavic Mini gimbal stuck error is caused by physical gimbal issues than software issues. Usually, the gimbal stuck error is fixable in by following a few steps. So in this article, let’s see why you are getting DJI Mavic Mini stuck error and what are the steps to fix the gimbal stuck error.
Reasons for DJI Mavic Mini gimbal stuck error.
In most cases, DJI Mavic Mini gimbal stuck error is caused by debris or sand accumulation on the gimbal motors. So if you fly the drone dusty environment (desert, near the sea) or you land the drone in sand or dust often, you could get this error. Besides that, software issues like firmware issues also could cause the gimbal stuck error.
1. Dust/ sand/ debris accumulation.
In most cases, dust/ sand/ debris accumulation on gimbal motors (horizontal movement motor, and vertical movement motor) cause the gimbal stuck error. We are not talking about huge accumulations, it could be just negligible amounts. Those kinds of accumulations would block gimbal movement and the system would detect it and throw the gimbal stuck error.
So if you fly the drone in sandy, dusty environments (desert, near the sea) or just landed the Mavic Mini on the sand, you might get the gimbal stuck error the next time you turn on the aircraft. Also because of Mavic Mini doesn’t have any landing pad, the gimbal is so close to the ground. So there is a huge chance of this kind of situation.
2. Firmware issue.
If you are getting this error because of an aircraft’s software issue, this could be the one. Glitched firmware could malfunction gimbal movement and the system would pick that issue as a gimbal stuck. If you can move the gimbal vertically and horizontally and don’t feel any physical obstacles, there might be a software issue causing this error.
3. Temporary malfunction.
Sometimes this could be just a temporary system error when starting the drone.
4. Faulty/ damaged gimbal unit.
If you have recently crashed your Mavic Mini, then you started to get the gimbal stuck error, it’s fair to suspect that the crash has done some damage to the gimbal.
Also if you are getting the gimbal stuck error on the first flight, (make sure to remove the sponge behind the camera before the flight) the gimbal or the Mavic Mini has some hardware issues.
In both cases, we need to get help from DJI to repair or replace the gimbal or the unit. We would talk about it later.
How to fix DJI Mavic Mini gimbal stuck error.
Now we are done talking causes of the issue and it’s time to troubleshoot the issue. Before that make sure there is nothing blocking the gimbal movements.
Step 1: Restart the aircraft.
As I mentioned before, this could be just a temporary malfunction, so first try restarting the aircraft.
- Place the Mavic Mini on a flat surface and restart it.
- Then wait until the gimbal is set. If you are still getting the gimbal stuck error, move to the next step.
Step 2: Clean the gimbal using an air-blowing pump.
This would clear all the accumulations on gimbal motors. Buy the Mavic Mini cleaning kit from Aliexpress.
- Use an air-blowing pump on the usual Mavic Mini cleaning pack and blow air to all gimbal motors and clear them.
- If the gimbal still feels a little bit tough to move, use an air compressor and clear them. Be careful about the gimbal when blowing high-pressure air.
Step 3: Oil the gimbal motors.
This would ease the gimbal motor movements.
- Use machine oil or cooking oil and apply it to the gimbal motor joints for lubricating motor joints.
Step 4: Update/Refresh the Mavic Mini firmware.
Let’s fix other software issues that could cause the gimbal stuck error. Let’s start with updating the firmware and fixing firmware issues.
- Download and install the DJI Assistant 2 application to the PC.
- Open DJI Assistant 2 application and log in to your DJI account that is connected to the Mavic Mini.
- Then connect the Mavic Mini to the PC using the USB cable.
- Turn on the Mavic Mini. Then click on the Mavic Mini box popped on the DJI Assistant 2 application.
- Then you can find all the previous and latest firmware for the Mavic Mini on the Firmware Update tab.
- Click on the “Upgrade” or “Refresh” button in front of the latest firmware.
- Choose “Start Update”.
- Wait until the firmware is completely downloaded and installed.
- After that, Make sure to follow the same steps connecting the remote controller and update/refresh its firmware too.
Step 5: Calibrate the gimbal.
- Next, we would calibrate the gimbal to make sure it’s calibrated well and working fine.
- Connect the DJI Fly app to Mavic Mini and enter the camera view.
- Tap on the three dots at the right top corner and go to the “Control” menu.
- Scroll down and tap on “Gimbal calibration”.
- Place the Mavic Mini on a flat surface and hit “Auto”. Then let the gimbal get calibrated.
- Wait until the gimbal is calibrated.
- Then go back to the “Control” menu and tap on “Recenter gimbal” to center the gimbal.
Step 6: Checking the final result.
Right now we have done all the steps to fix the gimbal stuck error. It’s time to check the final result.
- Place the Mavic Mini on a flat surface and power on the drone.
- Then connect the phone to the remote controller and power on the remote controller.
- Launch the DJI Fly app and connect to Mavic Mini and enter the camera view.
- Right now you should have no gimbal stuck error. If you still see the gimbal stuck error, move to the next step.
Step 7: Request DJI repair online.
If you’re still getting the gimbal stuck error, this must be caused by a gimbal hardware issue. So they need to be repaired to fix the gimbal stuck error. For that, you can request a repair online from DJI to repair or replace faulty components and fix the issue. I have written a complete article on how you can request a repair from DJI on theDronestop. Check out that article below. It would instruct you step by step process to do that.
Read the Detailed Article: How to get DJI support to repair your DJI unit’s issue.
