Crashed in ocean Waikiki - recovered after 30 minutes..

[stevedevereux]

Once it hits salt water it's game over, no matter how dry you get it. The salt water causes corrosive short circuiting on the board.

See my recent post "Mavic 2m under the sea - survived".

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

On multiple occasions, I had flown Mavic Pro in rain for 10-20 mins a time. Afterward the drone is kept powered on until battery dies. Never had an issue afterward.

That's certainly up to the individual to decide to do, I see no reason to fly in rain or adverse wind etc.
Do you film in that and what sort of results, any footage posted on here anywhere ?
Interested.

I did see that thread about the fella waterproofed his Mavic as best possible and flew during Harvey aftermath.

See my recent post "Mavic 2m under the sea - survived".

Good to see another post about survival, but you have to ask, for how long ?

I hope all of your drowned birds fly forever, but it'd be hard to trust them.

Did the batteries survive ?

 

[stevedevereux]

I did not try to recharge the battery, disposed of it properly. After having had the Mavic checked out by a DJI authorised repair shop, I'm happy to keep flying it. Now it's 6 months later and no problems have surfaced. The main thing for me was using alcohol to flush out the salt water giving me time to get it to the repair shop for a full diagnostic and check out without further damage from corrosion etc.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Maybe they're tougher than an autos wiring etc, or the insurance co's are too worried about future liability if a drowned car has an electronic issue and causes a crash or fire.

 

[Oyvindhh]

As others have stated – salt water is very bad. If the mavic drowns in salt water I would personally disconnect the battery, disassemble, rinse the whole thing in fresh water (or alcohol as suggested above) and let it dry for a week or so.
Turning it on before it has completely dried up with salt water leftovers will kill the electronics. Very common mistake after drowning a mobile phone or similar is turning it on too soon. Let it completely dry (days!) before testing.

 

[fiberdude]

@Oyvindhh ：Please keep in perspective that this is a case where Mavic only dipped slightly into the water (maybe only being splashed upon), and was able to RTH successfully to the RC without any visible problem. So why not keep flying? Using the heat generated to dry the quad is the most logical way.

 

[Oyvindhh]

Sorry. My reply was to Skrems, not you
I would agree that drying the unit quickly could be better after a brief minor dip.

 

[fiberdude]

@MAvic_South_Oz
On many busy trips, flying in rainy weather is unavoidable, and sometimes even preferred because of the unique scenery (see this clip shot in rain - Dropbox - Bucegi_2017.mp4).

 

[Haloweenhamster]

“I took it home, rinsed it, put in in a bucket of rice for a couple of days”

That's the wrong move, @kenwae -- instead, you should have kept the drone flying for as long as the batteries allowed, and if insufficient batteries to bring it in the air, at least kept the drone powered on so that heat generated can help dry it up.

Both will kill your mavic

you will end up with boards looking like this

 

[kenwae]

wow so it touched down in water and then took off itself and returned home. thats amazing in itself!

Yes, I was quite amazed. When it did return, it was wet all over so it did get drenched; my guess is once it hit the water and connection was lost, momentum kept it going down a bit before it went up and home. Unlike the original poster, it did not go into surf, which would have toppled it over and taken it down; the water was fairly calm. As for not doing the rinse and rice routine, but keep it flying, that's an interesting idea; but, still, there was salt water in there and even if it did dry out, the corrosion would have occurred over time. With fresh water, such as rain, I will use this approach of keeping it on until the battery is drained....

 

[Ebonicus]

Isn't it better to just leave downward sensors on when flying over water?

I have been flying continuously over water, and close to it,
so I read about it before doing so. I read it is not good, and I have to agree with the reasoning.

The downward vision sensors are sonar, they pass right thru water, and perceive the land to be the bottom of the lake in shallow clear water or rivers. Also the transparency of water and reflection or motion of the surface causes positioning issues over the ocean or moving lake water. There are also videos of the Mavictaking control and just landing in the water when downward sensors are on, the drone thinks you are within landing range so landing protocol starts without your control.

I don't want that to happen so I never use sensors over water. Just remember to turn them back ON prior to landing near you,
so that you don't slam your Mavic into the ground. You can also hand land, or land VERY slowly, keeping in mind that tilting the quad near the ground creates undesirable air turbulence, and the props can hit the ground much quicker than you expect. I advise tripod mode if you are not really sensitive on the sticks yet.

Regards.

 

[black_magic100]

I have been flying continuously over water, and close to it,
so I read about it before doing so. I read it is not good, and I have to agree with the reasoning.

The downward vision sensors are sonar, they pass right thru water, and perceive the land to be the bottom of the lake in shallow clear water or rivers. Also the transparency of water and reflection or motion of the surface causes positioning issues over the ocean or moving lake water. There are also videos of the Mavictaking control and just landing in the water when downward sensors are on, the drone thinks you are within landing range so landing protocol starts without your control.

I don't want that to happen so I never use sensors over water. Just remember to turn them back ON prior to landing near you,
so that you don't slam your Mavic into the ground. You can also hand land, or land VERY slowly, keeping in mind that tilting the quad near the ground creates undesirable air turbulence, and the props can hit the ground much quicker than you expect. I advise tripod mode if you are not really sensitive on the sticks yet.

Regards.

Ed ricker did a video where he kept them on and it slowly lowered, but he never really had to grab the controller. When he turned them off and let it hover he had to quickly grab the controller because it was going to land in the water. Granted that was only while hovering, but it contradicts what you are saying. I honestly have no idea what the right answer here is. If you turn off the sensors I don't see why it would still go towards the water but it does.

 

[Ebonicus]

When sensors are off, it does not hoover as accurately. So yes, you have to watch everything when flying over water.

What I have not seen, is somebody with sensors off, and the vehicle tries to auto land in water.
That ONLY happens with sensors on, per youtube videos I have seen.

Either method, if you drop altitude over water, you can go straight into the water.

 

[Ebonicus]

The main thing for me was using alcohol to flush...

Must have for any RC hobbyist....works on mud, sand, saltwater etc. harmless to electronics.
Not sure what it will do to sonar sensors or cameras, but it is better than salt water corrosion for sure.

 

[effjaye]

@MAvic_South_Oz
On many busy trips, flying in rainy weather is unavoidable, and sometimes even preferred because of the unique scenery (see this clip shot in rain - Dropbox - Bucegi_2017.mp4).

I really like the music in your vid.

See my recent post "Mavic 2m under the sea - survived".

 

[fiberdude]

@effjaye : Thank you for your appreciation. The sound track in the clip is "Sleep Away" by Bob Acri.

 

[ScubaBob]

Operator error - I will post a link to cached video tonight. Basically I was in front of a couple of surfers and pulling back to stay in front. I started to lower the drone and went too low as a wave hit it. I should not have gone that low.

Same thing happened to a friend in Cancun. He was videoing surfers and wasn't watching wave heights (which are not always the same) and a large one came and took his drone under, never to surface again.

 

[ScubaBob]

“I took it home, rinsed it, put in in a bucket of rice for a couple of days”

That's the wrong move, @kenwae -- instead, you should have kept the drone flying for as long as the batteries allowed, and if insufficient batteries to bring it in the air, at least kept the drone powered on so that heat generated can help dry it up.

Good suggestion.

 

[shb]

on the rc there's a clearance display that tells you exactly how high you are over the ground or water. it's like a radio altimeter. you should look at that when you're flying so low.

 

[black_magic100]

Same thing happened to a friend in Cancun. He was videoing surfers and wasn't watching wave heights (which are not always the same) and a large one came and took his drone under, never to surface again.

How low was he flying? I am going to cancun next week lol. I'm scared now!