Flying close to water???

[BossBob]

Imagine, an AI trained on YouTube videos or TicToc’s. It doesn’t bear thinking about.
In the lab’, we always used silica gel. 100g of silica gel can absorb 30g of water vapour.
Without the data, there’s no proof that the drone sensors got confused. No one ever supplies the data. The drone ‘jolted’ tells us nothing about what caused the ‘jolt’ but the data would show if it was a systems error.

 

[MS Coast]

Rice is commonly used as a very effective way of removing moisture from electronics. Check out these videos to see rice in action: Drone in water fix with rice , and Drone water damage fix.

I've done a couple of extensive searches for any evidence that rice is an effective desiccant and came up with nothing serious or scientific, only anecdotal stories and unsupported claims that defy logic.

You can find Youtube videos that claim that the moon landings were faked and that Elvis and Bigfoot appear regularly around the country. If you want to dry out electronics, rely on chemical desiccants and low-temperature heat.

 

[Zbip57]

My brother crashed his DJI spark in fresh water today, because he flew low over water without turning off the sensors!

Did you watch the videos and read what I posted just a couple of posts before yours? The infrared height sensors are designed to prevent the drone from lowering closer than 2ft to any obstacle below it.

The sensors are designed to prevent the drone from an unwanted landing. The sensors will only ever trigger the drone to automatically raise its height, not lower, unless an auto-landing is commanded. Even then, the pilot can abort the auto-landing by pushing up on the control stick.

Disabling the sensors removes that landing protection and only increases the likelihood of your brother crashing his drone when flying low over water.

My brother crashed his DJI spark in fresh water today, because he flew low over water without turning off the sensors!

That may be your opinion, but it is not supported by fact or logic.

Please show otherwise with a demonstration that can be reproduced by anyone else. Or produce the flight data log from your brother's flight so that others can analyze it.

 

[Droning on and on...]

I can only give you one well ment advise: DON'T!
There have been hundreds of pilots who have lost their drones flying over water at low altitudes.
As said before the sensors get confused and this effects the ability to maintain a steady flight level, causing the drone to crash.

Always maintain a safe altitude above a body of water.

Ruud

If your top priority is the safety of your drone, I'd agree.

However, for many of us, the drone is simply a tool that can be put at risk when creative content is also important and a competing priority.

Of course, it's foolish to risk damage or loss of your drone unnecessarily, but that doesn't mean it's unnecessary in all circumstances.

Getting paid $10,000 to for an overall video presentation that includes some water-level shots? That can be obtained with a Mini 4 Pro, for example? Again, just a tool.

Speaking of which, that downward sensors can be disabled on the Mini 4 Pro (or was that the 3 Pro? Both?). I shot some nice footage over the water's edge here in Santa Cruz for the following video, and no one paid me a dime... It was just worth it to me to take the (small) risk.

Peace Seacliff 1

This is "Peace Seacliff 1" by PugAir on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

vimeo.com

 

[Bad Santa]

Rice was being used as a desiccant before I was born. An old-timey kitchen hack was to put rice in salt shakers. Salt is also a desiccant so the old-timey hack suggests that rice is a better desiccant than salt.

Silica gel is even better.

Now, if you put a waterlogged device in silica gel, or rice, and reduced the overall humidity and added a mild heat (say 150°) then you're doing the best you can without adding chemicals.

It was advised to use alcohol. It will displace water as it blends with the water. Don't use rubbing alcohol as it's already 10-40% water. Any evaporation of the alcohol will leave some water molecules behind. The more alcohol molecules per water molecule, the better off you will be.

It should be noted that we're talking about isopropyl alcohol and not booze. Also, alcohol can cause some damage to some plastics. It will also dissolve some chemicals used during manufacturing which could end up moving to places you don't want them, like possibly causing some (minimal) fogging of lenses or possibly getting into moving components. This is a remote possibility but it's still possible.

 

[Daniel Mclean]

And as I said, flying over water or "confused sensors" didn't cause the drone to end up in the water.
The recorded flight data would reveal what actually happened.

I know that people suggest using rice.
It's very inefficient, but the myth persists because of videos like those.

Thanks for your kind advice

 

[Daniel Mclean]

Rice was being used as a desiccant before I was born. An old-timey kitchen hack was to put rice in salt shakers. Salt is also a desiccant so the old-timey hack suggests that rice is a better desiccant than salt.

Silica gel is even better.

Now, if you put a waterlogged device in silica gel, or rice, and reduced the overall humidity and added a mild heat (say 150°) then you're doing the best you can without adding chemicals.

It was advised to use alcohol. It will displace water as it blends with the water. Don't use rubbing alcohol as it's already 10-40% water. Any evaporation of the alcohol will leave some water molecules behind. The more alcohol molecules per water molecule, the better off you will be.

It should be noted that we're talking about isopropyl alcohol and not booze. Also, alcohol can cause some damage to some plastics. It will also dissolve some chemicals used during manufacturing which could end up moving to places you don't want them, like possibly causing some (minimal) fogging of lenses or possibly getting into moving components. This is a remote possibility but it's still possible.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Daniel Mclean]

f your top priority is the safety of your drone, I'd agree.

However, for many of us, the drone is simply a tool that can be put at risk when creative content is also important and a competing priority.

The drone flew over a small baby's paddling pool less than 4 feet in size when it fell - I certainly was not expecting that!

 

[Zbip57]

The drone flew over a small baby's paddling pool less than 4 feet in size when it fell - I certainly was not expecting that!

Here are instructions on how to retrieve the flight log data.
www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

 

[Daniel Mclean]

Here are instructions on how to retrieve the flight log data.
www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

Thanks for that! It's working fine now, so will have to see if it keeps going! Will update on progress.

 

[UAVquadman]

I've done a couple of extensive searches for any evidence that rice is an effective desiccant and came up with nothing serious or scientific, only anecdotal stories and unsupported claims that defy logic.

You can find Youtube videos that claim that the moon landings were faked and that Elvis and Bigfoot appear regularly around the country. If you want to dry out electronics, rely on chemical desiccants and low-temperature heat.

interesting as I have a chemistry background. Anything very dry that can take on water will absorb water to some degree and it's best to take the drone apart instead obviously then go from there.