Turnigy 9xr Pro Gimbal Replacement

Well, I went and did it.  After 3d printing some gimbal covers for my transmitter (9xr Pro) I eventually dropped it on the floor and broke a gimbal.  I didn't notice at first that a gimbal was broken.  I found out the hard way.....trying to fly my quadcopter.  Control was so bad I performed a controlled crash ( I lost it ) into a bush, see video here: https://youtu.be/Q5FOA63PeVs

Hobby King used to offer replacement gimbals that would work in this transmitter, however they have been discontinued.  After some research I discovered that with some modifications the stock gimbals from a taranis will work.  This post is about my experience doing the mod and getting everything to work. 

I will post a series of photos that will show the work that was done and include the final product.

This is what the stock taranis gimbal looks like.

This is what the stock 9xr Pro gimbal looks like.  Notice the differences, location of screw holes and elevation of screw holes relative to the face of the gimbal.  This is where the modification will happen.

Stock gimbal still in place Mode 2 Throttle and Yaw gimbal

Stock gimbal still in place Mode 2 Pitch and Roll

The 9xr Pro gimbal screw holes are further apart than the taranis holes, hence the need to modify.  Cut the outer holes off the taranis gimbal on each corner

Grind down the top surface of each corner at the holes that are left.  There is what looks like two layers of plastic, you want to grind down the top layer completely.

This photo shows the top layer ground down to the second layer.  Second layer is hollow so you'll see it when you get to it

Another look at the first layer gone

The screw holes that are left are also too deep for the 9xr Pro screws and the ones that come with the gimbal are unusable so you have to cut some off the bottom of the screw hole or you can try and find longer ones, if you do you can skip to the bottom.  I cut mine even with the horizontal plastic that is between two screw holes on every side of the gimbal.

Here is another look, see the clean untouched plastic between the corners, that's the level you want to cut too.

Now you want to cut some of the screw hole out at about 45 degrees in each corner, don't cut out too much.

Pre-install the two screws near the center of the transmitter, these two are the most difficult to get in, leave enough height to slide the taranis gimbal underneath.

Now install the gimbal by sliding it underneath the two screws you just installed, add the two screws toward the outside of the case.  Once positioned the gimbal will be held in by the 4 screws however some may be halfway on depending how you position it.  This one appears to be completely in the hole which leaves the other side only about half way.  Either way once all the screws are tightened down they will hold and the gimbal will not move.

Photo of another mounting screw.

Photo of opposite side (pre-installed screw), see how the screw only makes use of half of the hole but the screw is still covering plastic holding in the gimbal

Now you will need to remove the wires from the 9xr Pro gimbals that you took out, need to reuse all four JST connectors.

Gimbal fully installed.  Notice colors of the wires on the taranis gimbal does not match up with the wire colors or order of the 9xr Pro gimbals.

Other side, the vertical wire group barely reaches, you'll need to break loose some of the yellow stuff covering the wires so that you can get the green harness where it needs to go also.

When it comes to the wire order, if the colors on your taranis gimbal are the same the order shown in these last two photos should work.

The three pins for the JST connector should read the following with a meter from left to right, 0v, +/- 0.5v, 3v.  If your sticks are reversed you will need to swap two of the wires, which ones I can't tell you it's just a matter of trial and error.  After you connect everything put the cover back on and plug in the battery, don't screw in the cover because if something is wrong you'll need to get back in their.

Turn on the radio, on the main screen you should see a depiction of two gimbals, move the sticks to confirm correct directions.  If all is correct, don't worry if the sticks don't show full movement on the screen.  Now hold down the menu button to bring up the options.  Go to radio set up and perform the calibration.  I recommend performing the calibration with the front chrome looking plastic cover on the front removed because the sticks will hit it in the corners.  Once calibration is complete and sticks move fine you can secure the covers.

You may also need to trim the chrome cover depending on how high the sticks go.  I had to trim two tabs around the opening for both sticks before putting it back on.

Good luck