Autel Evo Nano Gimbal Failure (& How to Fix It)

Many drone pilots were relieved when Autel Robotics introduced the Auetel Evo Nano as part of an expanded camera drone line to compete with DJI, the market leader.

Despite having one of the best small non-DJI cameras on the market, the persistent gimbal issue seems to be a huge drawback for this drone.

That being said, how do you go about resolving faulty gimbals in Autel Evo Nano?

Repairing a malfunctioning Autel Evo Nano gimbal can involve several steps, including adjusting the drone’s camera angle, stabilizing a shaky camera, twisting the gimbal, calibrating the drone, and so on.

We’ve established that gimbal failure in the Autel Evo Nano drones is a common issue, so let’s break it down. Furthermore, we will instruct you on how to resolve the issue.

However, before we delve further into the gimbal failure in Autel Evo Nano drones, let’s simplify matters.

When a gimbal fails, what happens to your shots? #

Gimbals that work flawlessly are essential for any drone operator who wants to capture silky-smooth footage in motion with minimum fuss.

As such, the gimbals on your Autel Robotics drone will keep the camera level in the air. Your camera will remain steady during drone flight thanks to the gimbal’s ability to dampen vibrations and maintain camera steadiness despite the drone’s motion.

» MORE: Are Autel Drones Any Good? (You Might Be Surprised)

But have you ever tried taking photos with your Autel Evo Nano drone, only to discover that they resulted in crooked images that lack a good orientation or are otherwise not what you had envisioned?

High chances are that your drone’s gimbal is faulty!

However, the Evo Nano drones’ gimbal failure—sticky or persistently vibrating gimbals—may prevent you from capturing the quality footage you desire. Let’s dive deeper into the breakdown of the gimbal in Autel Evo Nano drones. You can also check the EVO Lite gimbal failure .

Gimbal failure in Autel Evo Nano drone #

The normal operation of the Autel Evo Nano gimbal is unfortunately lacking, which is a shame given its impressive capabilities.

As far as we know, this is the first drone not made by DJI to receive a perfect score on T3. In addition, it can record 4K videos and take stunning 48-megapixel photos.

With a weight of fewer than 250 grams, it’s portable enough to carry in one’s pocket. And you can fly it practically anywhere even without a license because it’s a sub-250-gram drone.

In light of this, many people were surprised by the drone’s persistent gimbal failure. Our testing and others have revealed that the drone suffers from severe gimbal issues, a major letdown.

When banking right, the gimbal will only keep the camera steady. However, (in most cases- NOT always), when the drone is lying flat or banking to the left, the gimbal becomes unresponsive.

Gimbal hits the table #

Some people, like myself, prefer to put the gimbal through its paces before taking the drone for a spin. Doing so at a table is recommended.

If you power on the drone and let the gimbal finish the initial check, it will crash into the table on the first or second rotation. 

After a few seconds, the drone will begin to slant downward by 15 to 30 degrees while twitching from left to right.

It could fail to readjust when tilting the aircraft to the left or right. The issue still exists despite using the most recent firmware and performing a gimbal calibration. 

In a nutshell, the gimbal will keep on self-checking, but there will be feedback this time.

Lifting and lowering the gimbal wheel could only delay the inevitable. Eventually, you’ll get a warning that the gimbal isn’t ready, which means you can’t take off.

Gimbal is not ready, don’t take off #

Sometimes you won’t be able to take off because you’ll get a message saying your drone isn’t ready.

Many factors could contribute to this issue, but the primary cause is likely the drone’s gimbal not being level during takeoff.

» MORE: Drone Won’t Take Off – How to Fix It (Step-by-Step Guide)

However, if you frequently travel or participate in commercial filming, you may find it challenging to locate a level surface.

If you want to keep the drone’s gimbal from breaking, don’t take it off your palm unless there’s a flat surface nearby. The drone should be launched from the landing pad.

The good news is that the launch will occur even if the drone is slightly skewed.

A gimbal-not-ready error message may still appear. So, it would be best to let the drone fly for at least 30 seconds before turning it off. The drone will never take off if the takeoff button is repeatedly pressed.

To avoid this error in the future, try taking off from a flatter surface and restarting the drone. Avoid starting near metal, like your car’s trunk, and far from any magnetic fields.

If you persist, the gimbal message may not go away for several more minutes, and adjusting the calibration settings won’t help.

Gimbal tilt after months of use #

In rare cases, you might make it through the first couple months of use without ever needing to repair the gimbal.

You’ll have a great time with the drone, but it will break down on you sooner than later. Simply put, the gimbal’s horizontal axis could begin to slant after flying for certain flight hours.

A video distortion typically begins with a minor degree, then grows to unacceptable proportions with each passing frame.

There’s always the chance that the drone will drift off in one direction, with only the gimbal sticks keeping it in place. Your drone may malfunction soon.

Always check for sensor errors to prevent a crash caused by a faulty gimbal. These malfunctions could indicate that the drone’s gimbal isn’t working properly or is extremely unstable.

It would help if you safeguarded your pigeon before it suffered a mechanical failure and crashed into a nearby structure or the ground.

Stabilize the camera #

In most cases, the hardware in question is the cause of the camera shake when flying a drone.

According to Autel, this is because of gimbal vibration or a problem with the drone’s propellers, both of which cause the camera to shake. New blades should be installed if the old ones have any nicks or scrapes.

However, if the drone camera is experiencing gimbal vibration, you can take it to an Autel-authorized service center for maintenance.

Getting in touch with Autel and having them direct you is also possible.

Adjust the drone camera angle #

Avoiding horizontal alignment issues requires recalibration of the drone on a horizontal plane, which is necessary if the camera angle needs to be corrected.

However, any metal or electronic equipment must be avoided while calibrating the drone. If you want to manually adjust the drone’s horizontal camera alignment, turning on gridlines and adjusting the gimbal roll can help.

Keep in mind that when the drone’s live transmission feed is suddenly cut off due to weak signals or magnetic interference, the drone will freeze.

Therefore, recalibrating the drone’s compass and avoiding areas with high magnetic interference will fix the frozen camera.

Twist the gimbal #

Gimbal problems on your Autel Evo Nano drone could be caused by a rubber damper that is too sticky.

If this happens, give the gimbal a light twist and take your drone for a spin to see if the issue has been fixed.

Alternatively, you can manually adjust the gimbal’s position along each axis until the issue is fixed.

Gimbal calibration guide #

If the gimbal on your drone is malfunctioning, you may want to try calibrating it.

To calibrate your Autel Evo Nano gimbal, Autel recommends the following gimbal calibration steps.

1. To begin, attach the remote to your phone and press and hold the power button on the remote for two seconds.
2. Take off the cover on the gimbal.
3. Press and hold the power button for two to three seconds to start the aircraft.
4. Activate the Autel Sky App.
5. When the drone icon turns blue, select Start.
6. Go to the image transmission interface, click Setting in the upper right corner.
7. And then select Control > Gimbal Calibration > Auto Calibration.
8. While the gimbal is calibrating automatically, it will rotate. Hold the aircraft steady until the app confirms the calibration was successful before turning off the aircraft or the remote controller.

Be sure to repeat this process three times on a flat surface.

» Read More: Autel EVO II Gimbal Failure (& How to Fix It)

Return the drone to the vendor #

If the gimbal failure persists after attempting the aforementioned troubleshooting steps, don’t be afraid to send your drone back to the store from which you purchased it or the manufacturer.

If your Autel product breaks down within its warranty period, the company will assist you in fixing it or providing a replacement.

When customers first started contacting Autel with these issues, the company responded by asking for the return of any potentially defective drones. They acknowledged that there were problems with the gimbal and either replaced it or promised to address the issue in a future firmware update.

However, unless you take the initiative to fix the issue yourself, as shown in the following section, this problem appears to be persistent.

Do the above solutions work for other Autel Evo drones? #

There’s no assurance that any of the fixes mentioned above will work for every model of the Autel drone. But you can rest easy knowing that they’re compatible with the vast majority of Autel drone models.

If you’re still having issues with your gimbal, try implementing at least two of the suggestions above.

If you can’t fix the gimbal on your own, you should send the drone back to the store from which you purchased it so it can be inspected, repaired, or replaced.

We anticipate that Autel will address these concerns and release subsequent generations of the Autel Evo Nano and its siblings with stable gimbals.