Crashed and went into sea water - Help please

[MiguelB]

Hi guys,

Well, I crashed my Mavic Pro about 10 days ago and wanted some help now to know what action should I take.

I was flying from a boat on a place closed by high rocky walls here in Koh Phi Phi, Thailand. The drone took off and suddenly it lost the GPS connection going into OPTI mode and after a few seconds to ATTI mode.
The drone then stared to hover and going backwards (I had no control of it) until hit the rocky walls and falling into the sea water.
I jumped into the water and was able to rescue after 30 seconds submerged, took of the battery and came back to the boat. Straight away I saw that the upper shell was broken in the front (close to the sensor) and the gimbal was cracked.

Later that day, I washed the Mavic with fresh water and put in a pot of rice and left it there for over a week.
Three days ago, I tried turning it on and it works! I got the connection with the RC, GPS signal and it says "Ready to Go". The camera won't connect and the app doesn't work too, it says: aircraft disconnected.
I wont try flying it as I am afraid of dropping and causing more problems or hitting someone/building.

During those difficult days of waiting, I was in contact with the store where I bought it (in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) and a DJI service center placed in Bangkok.
The store where I bought is asking me to send the aircraft and they will analyze and report to DJI, the service center doesn't really answer me now, they said in the beginning that I need to send the aircraft and they will have a look as well.

I've been reading a lot here in the forum about similar cases, and would like to hear your thoughts.
I know salty water is a killing to electronics and if the drone ever flies again, it wont be for longer. I also know that DJI does not cover any water damage, plus I don't have Care Refresh.

What should I do?

1 - send it to the store where I bought and let them report to DJI? (DJI support said I can only claim warranty from the country where I bought it) - I am living in Thailand and the store is in Malaysia.

2 - send it to the DJI Service Center in Bangkok and wait for what they have to say.

3 - Try to sell the drone or the parts and get a new one without the control (I have everything from the Fly More Combo)

I really don't know what should I do as wouldn't like to spend more money in something I don't really know it's gonna be fixed or I'll have to spend even more money to fix.

I also made a video from the day I turned it on, showing how the gimbal turns up and down, will upload soon. UPDATE: Here is the video of the drone, when I first turned it on: DJI Mavic Pro - crashed - Streamable

I appreciate all the help here.

Thanks,

Bruno.

 

[ChipDjipro]

Time to buy a new drone.

 

[MiguelB]

new one without the contro

Time to buy a new drone.

****, I bought it 10 days before it happened!! :/

 

[ChipDjipro]

It does suck. There’s not a whole lot you can do. Learn from your mistakes.

 

[Mossiback]

...The drone took off and suddenly it lost the GPS connection going into OPTI mode and after a few seconds to ATTI mode.
The drone then stared to hover and going backwards (I had no control of it) until hit the rocky walls and falling into the sea water...

Post the logs here so they can be analyzed. It is possible the Mavic had a defect that would be covered by DJI. Rare but possible.

 

[MiguelB]

Great! I will try to get the logs from the app and post them here...

Otherwise,
What do you think would be better? Not worth sending it to the store I previously bought it or to the service repair in Bangkok?

Thanks,

Bruno.

 

[genesimmons]

i would prob send it in and get an estimate, if its over 400 prob not worth fixing,keep it for parts, and get a new one, or have dji repair it and hope u get a refurbished one on return, they do that some times i hear,

 

[MiguelB]

Post the logs here so they can be analyzed. It is possible the Mavic had a defect that would be covered by DJI. Rare but possible.

I just tried, but I can't see the log of the crash when I bring it to my mac... Only the flight before! Is there a way to get it?

 

[MiguelB]

i would prob send it in and get an estimate, if its over 400 prob not worth fixing,keep it for parts, and get a new one, or have dji repair it and hope u get a refurbished one on return, they do that some times i hear,

Good point! When you say DJI Repair, you mean to send it to the Service Center in Bangkok and hope that they send a refurbished one back?

 

[MiguelB]

Hi guys,

Finally got the log of the Flight when the Mavic crashed. Here is the link: DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

At some point, it says "Maximum Flight Altitude Reached" but the drone wasn't even at 5 meters in the air.

Can you guys, please, help me on that? I'll then send it to DJI and check with them what can be done.

Thank you so much,

Bruno.

 

[roadkill443]

Sorry about your crash, I have no clue about the logs but there are some very good members on here that will look at them.

But straight away I see only 4 satellites, the normal recommendation is at least 10 if not more. I also see no mention of home point being set, if this is the case theres a chance it tried to return to home to some unknown point. In this case straight into a cliff. I could be completely wrong i'm not too familiar with the logs.
Good Luck

 

[genesimmons]

Good point! When you say DJI Repair, you mean to send it to the Service Center in Bangkok and hope that they send a refurbished one back?

yes what ever the closest repair place is to u, they should give u a quote, if its more than half the price of a new one may not be worth it, but they may send u a refurb back

 

[Marko9219]

I want to know how it lost GPS if:
1-Home point was set.
2-Adequate number of GPS satellites were locked in (10 or more) before launch.
3-It was launched and flown in the open sky, with a good sky view.

This doesn't make any sense at all if these precautions were taken before this launch. If indeed all those conditions were met, then this has to be a slam-dunk warranty action, right?

 

[Simmo]

No GPS Health gained at all. Only 4 sats. That is the problem.
You did have control and the log shows your stick inputs. I think in full atti mode the AC drifted and you panicked slightly.
Your stick inputs where never very smooth, and very erratic as it was about to hit the wall.
Sorry for your crash mate.

 

[MiguelB]

No GPS Health gained at all. Only 4 sats. That is the problem.
You did have control and the log shows your stick inputs. I think in full atti mode the AC drifted and you panicked slightly.
Your stick inputs where never very smooth, and very erratic as it was about to hit the wall.
Sorry for your crash mate.
View attachment 35090

Yes, I had control till some point! Couldn't control it anymore when it went in ATTI mode.

I sent the logs to DJI, should I expect any good news? Do you think I should try sending it to the repair center, even though it went into salty water...

This the the video of the drone when I first turned on after over a week on rice: DJI Mavic Pro - crashed - Streamable

Thanks.

 

[MiguelB]

Hi guys, that's the video of the drone when I turned on. This was after a week on a pot of rice: DJI Mavic Pro - crashed - Streamable

Should I still try sending it to repair center?

 

[Simmo]

Personally I would never trust it again and send it back for replacement.
Please let us know what DJI say about your logs.

 

[Gypsyflyboy]

Had a similar situation. Was flying off of my home boat dock, which is in an airport traffic area. I went through the airport traffic exception process by going to the GEOAPP and putting my controller number in.
I was able to takeoff from the dock shortly after takeoff it said max alt reached (about 10 feet) new home point set LANDING. I put in full up throttle the drone continued to decend into the water.
Sent the drone to DJI they decided it was pilot error even though the flight records show full up throttle. They said that I had inadequite GPS coverage ever though the map shows exactly where the drone was at all times. Don’t understand how that works.
In my opinion this is a DJI data base clitch if GPS coverage is so critacle for a safe flight, why do they let you take off? Also why can’t the pilot control the drone? This is a real liability issue for DJI and the pilot. What if the drone had come down and hit something or even worse someone. Same idea as, it will not let you take off in restricted airspace unless you get an excepton. After much back and forth with DJI they replaced the drone and battery for $585.

 

[ve3lbq]

I want to know how it lost GPS if:
1-Home point was set.
2-Adequate number of GPS satellites were locked in (10 or more) before launch.
3-It was launched and flown in the open sky, with a good sky view.

This doesn't make any sense at all if these precautions were taken before this launch. If indeed all those conditions were met, then this has to be a slam-dunk warranty action, right?

I flew my Mavic around Phi Phi from a boat not long time ago and I remember I had a fewer "satellites" locked even there was an open sky and nothing but water around. Fortunately, everything went well. This and other observations done by others confirmed that GPS signals coming from a land, not from the sky. The further away you are from the coast line the less GPS signal you get. Try to experiment in cities vs very remote areas and you will see. Phi Phi should have ground station so do other islands but reception due to the distance could be week in some areas especially if it is close to rock walls that attenuates signals coming from opposite direction necessary for triangulation etc. At that moment Mavic mind may decide to switch to another mode being unable to "decode" week GPS.

 

[hoggdoc]

I flew my Mavic around Phi Phi from a boat not long time ago and I remember I had a fewer "satellites" locked even there was an open sky and nothing but water around. Fortunately, everything went well. This and other observations done by others confirmed that GPS signals coming from a land, not from the sky. The further away you are from the coast line the less GPS signal you get. Try to experiment in cities vs very remote areas and you will see. Phi Phi should have ground station so do other islands but reception due to the distance could be week in some areas especially if it is close to rock walls that attenuates signals coming from opposite direction necessary for triangulation etc. At that moment Mavic mind may decide to switch to another mode being unable to "decode" week GPS.

No that is totally wrong, there is no ground based GPS. Here is how GPS works:

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a network of about 30 satellites orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 20,000 km. ... Once it has information on how far away at least three satellites are, your GPS receiver can pinpoint your location using a process called trilateration.