Water recovery

ludeman · Jan 11, 2017

So I plan to capture a lot of footage this summer while fishing offshore. In the unfortunate case that there's an incident and the Mavic goes for a swim I've purchased a water bouy. The question now is where to you guys think is the best place to mount it? I was thinking zip tied on top of the battery facing backwards like in the picture. That way I can get a zip tie around the body and through the ring on the buoy and then another through the rear landing gear and around the buoy body. Obviously for each battery change the ties would need to be cut and redone. What do you guys think?

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Robbyg · Jan 11, 2017

If I was going to mount it I would use the two lifting rings at the bottom of the Mavic. Have you watched the video on Amazon about this product? I just cannot imagine how you would find something the size of a champagne cork unless the drone crashed within very close visual range.

ludeman · Jan 11, 2017

This isn't the getter back system. We're sometimes fishing in 6000' of water, a 100' string definitely isn't going to cut it. Check out the water-buoy site. This actually releases a high strength balloon within seconds of getting wet and it's also lit. Site says will lift 1kg which is around 2.2lbs so I don't see an issue with it keeping the Mavic afloat. I considered mounting underneath to the rings but thought about the props maybe getting in the way but now that I think about it the balloon should just push them out of the way.

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CCDD · Jan 11, 2017

I've seen a number of threads on all of the DJI Forums in regards to use of some sort of flotation and or recovery devices. 99% of my flying is over water although not from a boat however, in the unlikely event of a crash, I would have no method of reaching my bird. After nearly 500 flights with a P3P, Inspire and now a Mavic, i've experienced only one incident which was determined to be a mechanical failure with DJI offering full replacement, never asking to see my P3P which was lost due to a crash into water.

ludeman · Jan 11, 2017

Robbyg said:
If I was going to mount it I would use the two lifting rings at the bottom of the Mavic. Have you watched the video on Amazon about this product? I just cannot imagine how you would find something the size of a champagne cork unless the drone crashed within very close visual range.

Also an issue with mounting on the bottom would be covering the sensors.

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stratos · Jan 11, 2017

I was thinking of getting my drone water proofed. THere was a company that dissembles electronic products and put a coating on the circuit boards to make it water resistant. If not mistaken was about 200 or so . I might do it and also get a floating device of some sort

RAFALE · Jan 11, 2017

Mavic's electronic board as already a conformal coating on the composants no need to do more coating to waterproof

Andrew F · Jan 12, 2017

stratos said:
I was thinking of getting my drone water proofed. THere was a company that dissembles electronic products and put a coating on the circuit boards to make it water resistant. If not mistaken was about 200 or so . I might do it and also get a floating device of some sort

Won't work on motors.

stratos · Jan 12, 2017

Andrew F said:
Won't work on motors.

Why?

Andrew F · Jan 12, 2017

stratos said:
Why?

Because they move and create friction. That waterproofing is great for solid state, but not moving parts. Unless its something I'm not familiar with.

integlikewhoa · Jan 12, 2017

Have you done any tests with it? When I researched using it i was convinced it would not save my drone as it doesn't have enough lift. Some real life videos also pointed out some other flaws about depth of water and buoyancy.

Let me know what you have or do find in your research.

andynormancx · Jan 12, 2017

The brushless motors used in drones will actually run underwater.

However, anything other that non pure water isn't going to do them much good, especially sea water.

RAFALE · Jan 12, 2017

Motors do not suffer from water
I do sometimes wash out the dirt with the waterhose on my racers never had a problem.
Motors are friction less

ludeman · Jan 12, 2017

integlikewhoa said:
Have you done any tests with it? When I researched using it i was convinced it would not save my drone as it doesn't have enough lift. Some real life videos also pointed out some other flaws about depth of water and buoyancy.

Let me know what you have or do find in your research.

Well for one his video is kinda flawed. He's trying to lift almost 3lbs with something that's rated for 2.2. I get the depth is going to have a factor but even in 2' of water I don't see it being able to lift a phantom. A better test would have been to use two water buoys. I may look into that myself as lifting 1.6lbs with two rated at 4.4 together shouldn't be a problem.

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LivinLarge · Jan 12, 2017

The Water buoy will not inflate at all if the Mavic sinks fast enough to depth over 9 feet. That is the failure of this device.

JLane · Jan 12, 2017

ludeman said:
Also an issue with mounting on the bottom would be covering the sensors.

I figure that if I'm flying over water, not having VPS is not an issue. In fact, I believe DJI recommends switching it off for low flight over water. Since VPS is only really useful for low flight, and since they recommend disabling it for low flight over water, I don't see a problem having it disabled for the whole flight; it's not gonna do anything useful, anyway. That's just my own train of thought, though. Unless I'm missing something.

integlikewhoa · Jan 12, 2017

ludeman said:
Well for one his video is kinda flawed. He's trying to lift almost 3lbs with something that's rated for 2.2. I get the depth is going to have a factor but even in 2' of water I don't see it being able to lift a phantom. A better test would have been to use two water buoys. I may look into that myself as lifting 1.6lbs with two rated at 4.4 together shouldn't be a problem.

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Well, if you think it works then go fo it. But every video i have seen (and I have not seen them all) including the one the other user just posted doesnt seem to show that these have enough lifting power for more then a pair of keys at waist high water.

You need to over test your saftey device to esure it will work. Testing only excatly the weight of the quad at only 1ft of water is not going to prove that it will lift the mavic in a real world situation.

You have already said your somtimes in 6000ft of water. If this take a while to inflate and 10ft is to much for it. Good luck at more then that.

I think youll be better off with some removable pontoons so the quad will float from the start. No need to relay on any device. And a pool noodle is cheaper too.

This has been covered in another thread already.
There was also 4 foam balls put on the tips of the landing gear which allowed it to land on water and float there. There was a video on that too. But i think that approach would probley come off in a crash.

Robbyg · Jan 12, 2017

Duh when I did my precious post I was talking about the GetterBack device.

As I said the GetterBack is fine if your drone crashes very close by, but would be really hard to find if you had to search for it in the ocean with waves etc.

IMHO what we need is a Hybrid of the Water Buoy and the GetterBack. A Cartridge that shots out from the holder on a tethered line and as it spools out and rises a balloon inflates. The device needs to be made properly so that the Cartridge and balloon deploy and make it to the surface before a 1.5Kg Drone can sink to more than 80ft. If that is done then the drone is safe even it if crashes in 6000ft of water.

integlikewhoa · Jan 12, 2017

Robbyg said:
IMHO what we need is a Hybrid of the Water Buoy and the GetterBack. A Cartridge that shots out from the holder on a tethered line and as it spools out and rises a balloon inflates. The device needs to be made properly so that the Cartridge and balloon deploy and make it to the surface before a 1.5Kg Drone can sink to more than 80ft. If that is done then the drone is safe even it if crashes in 6000ft of water.

But that doesn't exist, and simply mounting the two together probley won't work as by the time the GetterBack deploys the mavic can be well below 80ft as I seen videos and test where it took more then 10 min to deploy. Here's one that said 12:45 sec not until deploy but rather until it reached the surface. but I think you get the point.

I guess someone needs to test how fast the mavic sinks to get more data for us.

I still say some floats like in this thread
Mavic water recovery system
are probley the best way for a few reasons:

The drone doesn't have to sink for it to work.
The Drone will be more visible fully above water or even if upside down to see the noodles then just a tiny cap.
There is no delay for it to come up.
No other requirements needed for deployment that may fail.
Cheaper
Still easy to remove or strap on if your going over water.