Flying your drone in the rain; waterproof vs water resistant

[Former Member]

In the past, if the weather even looked like it was going to rain, I didnt fly my drone. It was not worth the risk to the delicate electronics inside to experiment. That said, I will be buying and paying for a product being advertised as making my drone waterproof for my brand new Mavic 2 and doing complete testing. After the test I will give a full independent review of the product and post it here. I am very skeptical of the ability of any product that says a person can fly a drone in the rain and not damage the drone, unless the drone itself is waterproof. Any aftermarket product made for a drone will not make the drone water proof, simply water resistant. Timex watches, back in the day, were touted as being water resistant. I tested mine under the kitchen faucet. It leaked and I never was able to get the water bubble out from inside after that, but it kept on ticking. In the 80's, Casio came out with the Gshock which was really waterproof, and I went scuba diving with mine numerous times without a problem or leak. I will be testing the water resistance of this product.

I own Phantom 4 Pros, Mavics, and Mavic 2 zoom and Pro.

1. I will install the product on the drone and then fly it in the rain for 5 minutes.
2. When it gets back, I will completely disassemble the drone and see if water did actually get into the interior of the drone or any components.
3. After disassembly and inspection, I will post a review here.
4. If any water is present in the interior of the drone, or the drone crashed caused by water getting into the interior and making the drone malfunction, I will be sure to follow up with the manufacturer of the "waterproof" at to why their product didnt stop pouring water from getting inside the drone, as is their claim.

Until I have completed testing, I still wont fly my drone in the rain. Yesterday, there was a light mist, and after 10 minutes of flight time, the drone came back soaked with water on the top and props. I disassembled it, dried it out, and flew it again this morning. Anyone who accidentally flies in the rain should at least dry their drone out for a few days before flying it again.

More to come.

 

[Former Member]

Now that sounds interesting Rob I’ll look forward to your full review. Would be great flying in the rain, less grounded days

With all the rain we have been getting here, I would like to know as well.

 

[dirkclod]

 

[BD0G]

This is going to be good! You are the perfect candidate to test this product !

If the product fails you have the resources to resurrect a flooded Mavic 2.

Although as it currently stands the cost in parts and time would be solely your responsibility as I imagine there is no warranty stated or implied should the bird experience water ingress.

Manufacturer could always state that the user improperly applied thier "solution" and that is what led to water intrusion.

 

[Former Member]

This is going to be good! You are the perfect candidate to test this product !

If the product fails you have the resources to resurrect a flooded Mavic 2.

Although as it currently stands the cost in parts and time would be solely your responsibility as I imagine there is no warranty stated or implied should the bird experience water ingress.

Manufacturer could always state that the user improperly applied thier "solution" and that is what led to water intrusion.

Great point! This manufacturer says that there is no guarantee that water wont get in and that some of the vents are left open so the drone can breathe. If the drone crashes or gets wet, it's on the Mavic owners dime to get it repaired.

Also, if water does get in, I will estimate the cost of to get it repaired.

I will sell the product after I evaluate and review it. Since the company doesn't offer a money back guarantee, or any type of compensation if your drone is damaged, I do this experiment with only the forum members here befitting by it. At that point, the buyer of my used product will go into the purchase of my used product with his/her eyes open as to whether it really works or not.

 

[Mavic Ray]

As soon as I read this I started researching water proofing drone and all the stuff I saw was disassembling the drone and applying Corrosion X or Silicone Conformal Coating. Sounds like you found something that protects from the outer body of the drone.

 

[Former Member]

As soon as I read this I started researching water proofing drone and all the stuff I saw was disassembling the drone and applying Corrosion X or Silicone Conformal Coating. Sounds like you found something that protects from the outer body of the drone.

Yes, it might protect the outer body, but so would a skin, and skins are available in thousands of designs from companies like @Wrapgrade

 

[Mossiback]

Perhaps you could just hover a few feet above something soft and use a gentle spray from your hose. It would be easier to control the test and be less catastrophic if something does fail.

 

[Mavic Ray]

I actually have the wrapgrade and I dont feel it helps with waterproofing. You need something that can get into the seems and joints. The wrap just covers the impermeable plastic housing anyways. One of the problem areas I see is the camera body and the lens and like you said the vents.

 

[DanMan32]

From the numerous success of recovering from water, I'd say the boards are water resistant with costings on them.
Usually electronics with surface mount semiconductor components are toast when they get wet if there's no coating on them to protect them.

 

[AnotherMavicPilot]

Many thanks Thunderdrones for doing this, an independent review is exactly what a product like this needs!

So far we've only got the companies word that this works, we need real people to test this!

Again thanks Thunderdrones

 

[Former Member]

Perhaps you could just hover a few feet above something soft and use a gentle spray from your hose. It would be easier to control the test and be less catastrophic if something does fail.

Good suggestion. I would like to do a real world test to replicate the affects of flying in a real rain storm. Of course it would be LOS, low altitude, in a controlled environment. Hovering would not really reproduce the effects of forward flight which is where most of the rain would be coming from through the vents.

 

[AnotherMavicPilot]

Perhaps you could just hover a few feet above something soft and use a gentle spray from your hose. It would be easier to control the test and be less catastrophic if something does fail.

No No NO - We've seen hover tests - We wanna see it flying in the rain!

Edit: noticed your reply above mine, you know the crack

 

[Former Member]

I actually have the wrapgrade and I dont feel it helps with waterproofing. You need something that can get into the seems and joints. The wrap just covers the impermeable plastic housing anyways. One of the problem areas I see is the camera body and the lens and like you said the vents.

I have had a few @Wrapgrade skins and they really do get into the seams, and in any case better than nothing. The wrap also protects from scrapes, and if the skin gets scraped, you can just buy another one.

 

[Mossiback]

No No NO - We've seen hover tests - We wanna see it flying in the rain!

... I would like to do a real world test to replicate the affects of flying in a real rain storm...

I agree completely. I should have included in my suggestion that it be a phase one test. Once it passes that then try water from different angles. Since movement is relative, I would think that a stationary drone and water sprayed onto it at angle would be fairly close to a drone moving through falling water. After passing these tests, then fly in real life situations. My thoughts are more from a safety concern and a less-damaged Mavic if it does not work as advertised.

 

[AnotherMavicPilot]

I agree completely. I should have included in my suggestion that it be a phase one test. Once it passes that then try water from different angles. Since movement is relative, I would think that a stationary drone and water sprayed onto it at angle would be fairly close to a drone moving through falling water. After passing these tests, then fly in real life situations. My thoughts are more from a safety concern and a less-damaged Mavic if it does not work as advertised.

That's a fair comment, thank you for clarifying what you meant.

 

[BD0G]

I should be doing this experiment as well! Since I am fully covered with insurance. If there was water intrusion I would just have Statefarm cut me a check. However this "solution" is not currently offered for the OG Mavic Pro "yet".

Ive got a skin on my Mavic , but I can see that it would not offer much in the way of water protection. It looks pretty nice though.

 

[Mossiback]

What about water on the motors? I know that centrifugal force would fling most of it off but with the sheer number of drops involved the motors would get wet.

 

[AnotherMavicPilot]

What about water on the motors? I know that centrifugal force would fling most of it off but with the sheer number of drops involved the motors would get wet.

The product that this thread is referring to does have motor protection, how well these work is anyone's guess.

Hence the need for such tests Mossiback

 

[Mossiback]

Since we are talking about Mavics in the rain, there is this video. I can't vouch for authenticity and it was a stupid thing to do, but it looks interesting. It does not show a crash landing but I think an "unplanned" landing was not because of water; it just could not fight its way back against the wind.