DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

Drone in a tree, then in freshwater... why

No, the Confirm button I mentioned was on a page full of disclaimers related with a possible restricted area, and this was 2-3 minutes before the accident. What you say of forced RTH due to low battery, though, makes great sense. The RC beeped for RTH right when I was trying to land the bird manually in front of me.
 
No, the Confirm button I mentioned was on a page full of disclaimers related with a possible restricted area, and this was 2-3 minutes before the accident. What you say of forced RTH due to low battery, though, makes great sense. The RC beeped for RTH right when I was trying to land the bird manually in front of me.
When it tries to force that, the phone gives the pilot the opportunity to cancel before RTH kicks in. You have 10 seconds to the prompt on the phone or it activates. After activating it can still be cancelled. Pushing the pause button, or toggling the sport mode switch will cancel RTH.
 
With two seconds more of time I would have hit the Pause button, aborted the forced RTH and forced the bird down to ground manually. But the branch was there too soon...
 
With two seconds more of time I would have hit the Pause button, aborted the forced RTH and forced the bird down to ground manually. But the branch was there too soon...
You live and you learn. Never ignore the phone even if it's annoying you with messages. They make the difference between safe flights and crashes. ;) I hope your drone does come out alive and well but you said it smoked out of the gimbal? If so, that might need replacing.
 
Anyway, yes it smoked white from the gimbal. Needs a garage. How long and how much... who knows? I live in Italy: does it go back to China or do they fix them also in Holland? Anyone knows?
 
Anyway, yes it smoked white from the gimbal. Needs a garage. How long and how much... who knows? I live in Italy: does it go back to China or do they fix them also in Holland? Anyone knows?
DJI likely has an in-country service center. Can't tell you how long the turnaround time is. The US service centers have the worst turn around time. Before sending it in, I would confirm it actually is broken. If we're dealing with the gimbal it could be as high as $300. @Thunderdrones can provide better pricing information.
 
Good morning folks, after one night in a bucket of rice, some improvements were noticed.
The drone is alive. Motors are all spinning OK, at full speed. (yesterday they did not)
The RC now connects to the bird (yesterday it did not)
The camera works and records regularly. Also the autofocus motor works regularly and quickly.
Even the digital zoom works (it never did before, even at 1080p, resolution at which it should have worked...)

The only missing function is the gimbal. Camera won't move, even for the standard testing cycle at the start up.
In fact the DJI GO 4 app says "Gimbal motor overloaded", "Gimbal Obstructed", asks to check if the protection is still on, etc.

At an early attempt to start it up, yesterday after the accident (after the hairdryer treatment) a plummet of white smoke came out from the gimbal joints. I probably short circuited the brushless motor(s) controlling the movement. Should have done the rice tratment before trying to start it. But it looked dry, after the prolonged hot air blow received. **** happens...

@Thunderdrones ... can you copy me? Any ballpark figure for the replacement or repairwork of a gimbal motor? Thanks...
 
You can't wait one week not knowing what happened to your baby... I spent last evening watching YouTube videos of people that drowned their Mavics and recovered them (even after days underwater) with 1-2 max 3 days of rice treatment, of course after a proper freshwater rinsing. These testimonials look incredible to me, but it seems that this bird can stand anything.
Unfortunately I did not do the drying procedure before starting it up, relying on the fact that the gimbal had been blown with an hairdryer for 8-10 minutes. Thanks for your comment.
 
As an Electrician with 20 years experience behind me, i don't care what YouTube videos say. Once you let the smoke out, you cannot put it back in. And blowing on electronics with a hair dryer for 10 minutes... did next to nothing...
 
At an early attempt to start it up, yesterday after the accident (after the hairdryer treatment) a plummet of white smoke came out from the gimbal joints. I probably short circuited the brushless motor(s) controlling the movement. Should have done the rice tratment before trying to start it. But it looked dry, after the prolonged hot air blow received. **** happens...

@Thunderdrones ... can you copy me? Any ballpark figure for the replacement or repairwork of a gimbal motor? Thanks...

Yes it's at least your ribbon cable and possibly your gimbal motor assembly. Sent you a PM.
 
DJI likely has an in-country service center. Can't tell you how long the turnaround time is. The US service centers have the worst turn around time. Before sending it in, I would confirm it actually is broken. If we're dealing with the gimbal it could be as high as $300. @Thunderdrones can provide better pricing information.

Yep, found the only Italian Service Centre for DJI... 45 km from my home! Hope they can fix it quick.
Though luck, but it could have been much worse.
By the way, I succeeded in connecting the drone to DJI Assistant 2 and download flight data. What is the Flight Data section of the page supposed to show me? It downloads the DAT file I tell it, then... what? I only get a blank page with a grid... what else should I see?
How can I visualize something like this (DJI Phantom & Mavic Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com) on my own?
 
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
130,593
Messages
1,554,203
Members
159,598
Latest member
fast54