In the water

[patdig]

Been here in the Philippines for one month. I have been getting some great beach fly over. Disaster struck yesterday on Virgin Island...trying to get the mini back home and hit a high wind, loss of signal, and high interference all at the same time my battery went 20%....only to have it land in 6 inches of water short of dry land by 2 foot. Of course no more working. Battery won't charge eather. Do I send in for repair or buy another. I have 2 weeks left here before back to USA.....I have some vids on my Facebook pat.digeronimo if you would like to check vids.

 

[Saigondroner]

I can’t imagine you getting a repair done that quickly. If you want to fly, you’ll have to buy.

 

[sbonev]

put all in rice...if you haven't tried switching it on after it got wet. in case you tried you probably fried all system and made the damage unrepairable

 

[Dedal]

F... Sorry to hear. Don't give up. Forget the battery, don't even try, it's done. About what to do and try to "save" water damaged drone, I'm sure there are many advice here on the forum, some better then the other. Probably buy a new one. I know: loss of Mini, disappointment, cost and everything, but still, if you like the hobby, try to find a way to get back into it. And, of course: Stay away from wind when flying Mini (actually, every other drone too), not very good at fighting it.

 

[TassieMike]

Been here in the Philippines for one month. I have been getting some great beach fly over. Disaster struck yesterday on Virgin Island...trying to get the mini back home and hit a high wind, loss of signal, and high interference all at the same time my battery went 20%....only to have it land in 6 inches of water short of dry land by 2 foot. Of course no more working. Battery won't charge eather. Do I send in for repair or buy another. I have 2 weeks left here before back to USA.....I have some vids on my Facebook pat.digeronimo if you would like to check vids.

My experience with electronics and seawater is this -- GET the Battery out! It will discharge through the saltwater. Rince like crazy in CLEAN freshwater -- not chlorinated mains -- fresh rainwater is best!
Blowdry with compressed air, rinse, again and again, blow-dry.
Now remove anything you can from the body and rinse the hell out of the quad, again and again till you ache-- each time blow dry!
Tip, you can remove the battery case with a very small screwdriver -- google it I bet you can do the same with the body but google that as well -- get Rinsing

 

[Lastrexking]

My experience with electronics and seawater is this -- GET the Battery out! It will discharge through the saltwater. Rince like crazy in CLEAN freshwater -- not chlorinated mains -- fresh rainwater is best!
Blowdry with compressed air, rinse, again and again, blow-dry.
Now remove anything you can from the body and rinse the hell out of the quad, again and again till you ache-- each time blow dry!
Tip, you can remove the battery case with a very small screwdriver -- google it I bet you can do the same with the body but google that as well -- get Rinsing

Rainwater? Really? Do you know how much dust and particles is in rainwater? That's terrible advice.
If you're going to try and rinse it, use distilled water, and only distilled water.

Good luck.

 

[TassieMike]

Dear Dedal, I forget! We live in Tasmania with about the cleanest rainwater on the Planet, it sells as "Cloud Juice" in NY for like $18 bucks a bottle!
I agree, distilled is best in the rest of the world!

 

[Dedal]

Dear Dedal, I forget! We live in Tasmania with about the cleanest rainwater on the Planet, it sells as "Cloud Juice" in NY for like $18 bucks a bottle!
I agree, distilled is best in the rest of the world!

I'm glad to hear about it, you're lucky to live there. Water is life. Stay well, my friend.

 

[Jet skier]

Been here in the Philippines for one month. I have been getting some great beach fly over. Disaster struck yesterday on Virgin Island...trying to get the mini back home and hit a high wind, loss of signal, and high interference all at the same time my battery went 20%....only to have it land in 6 inches of water short of dry land by 2 foot. Of course no more working. Battery won't charge eather. Do I send in for repair or buy another. I have 2 weeks left here before back to USA.....I have some vids on my Facebook pat.digeronimo if you would like to check vids.

That drone is toast if you like the hobby buy a Mavic two

 

[Gkinghrn]

My experience with electronics and seawater is this -- GET the Battery out! It will discharge through the saltwater. Rince like crazy in CLEAN freshwater -- not chlorinated mains -- fresh rainwater is best!
Blowdry with compressed air, rinse, again and again, blow-dry.
Now remove anything you can from the body and rinse the hell out of the quad, again and again till you ache-- each time blow dry!
Tip, you can remove the battery case with a very small screwdriver -- google it I bet you can do the same with the body but google that as well -- get Rinsing

Then throw it out and buy a new one

the Rice thing is an old wives tale

The salt water will inevitably corrode something over time even if it does start ....

 

[Wanbli]

Been here in the Philippines for one month. I have been getting some great beach fly over. Disaster struck yesterday on Virgin Island...trying to get the mini back home and hit a high wind, loss of signal, and high interference all at the same time my battery went 20%....only to have it land in 6 inches of water short of dry land by 2 foot. Of course no more working. Battery won't charge eather. Do I send in for repair or buy another. I have 2 weeks left here before back to USA.....I have some vids on my Facebook pat.digeronimo if you would like to check vids.

I have a Refurbished Mavic Pro Kit for sale on eBay (DJI Mavic Pro 4K Video Camera Quadcopter Drone Kit in Excellent Condition | eBay) Great Drone!

 

[E90RAW]

1. Salt Water + Electronics= BAD!!!
2. DJI Care Refresh?
3. Instead of Mini buy M2P. More stable and can handle wind better. better photos!

 

[Starving Artist]

Had the same happen to me. Fresh water creek. Stupid pilot error. Have researched around a little and spoke to several drone technicians and have come to the conclusion that the drone is D.O.A.. Corrosion seems to be the big culprit with the longevity of a water damaged drone. Might be able to get it up and working but may have issues shortly after. No guarantees. I have since purchased a new one and have moved on. Will probably use the water damaged MM as a lab rat and test dummy.

 

[Skiiingwonderz]

I'm surprised by these responses. From what I've read elsewhere, DJI issues free replacement Mavic Minis if you're able to recover the damaged one and send it to them...

 

[Thomas B]

I'm surprised by these responses. From what I've read elsewhere, DJI issues free replacement Mavic Minis if you're able to recover the damaged one and send it to them...

Devil is in the details though

 

[Starving Artist]

I'm surprised by these responses. From what I've read elsewhere, DJI issues free replacement Mavic Minis if you're able to recover the damaged one and send it to them...

Only if you have the DJI Care Refresh and meet the specificities of the agreement. Water damage is listed as one of the reasons they will replace. But you have to been abiding by the DJI specifications and not doing something outside the realm of the drones capabilities. My brother just had a MM replaced through the DJI Care Refresh program and had no problems. $40 fee for first replacement and $45 for the second, a one year plan that can be extended for another year if both replacements have not been used. Not sure of the cost of the extensio.

 

[E90RAW]

Only if you have the DJI Care Refresh and meet the specificities of the agreement. Water damage is listed as one of the reasons they will replace. But you have to been abiding by the DJI specifications and not doing something outside the realm of the drones capabilities. My brother just had a MM replaced through the DJI Care Refresh program and had no problems. $40 fee for first replacement and $45 for the second, a one year plan that can be extended for another year if both replacements have not been used. Not sure of the cost of the extensio.

It goes up slightly each use. I returned my M2Z and it cost $110 for the first. (The second would be $138). You are spot on about the agreement and the extension. The policy is VERY liberal. Its states "if you drop it by accident" covered. The only downside is you have to have your drone for return. So water=BAD as you usually cant get it back. You check off a box that states it is not a warranty issue. If NO than they don't check the logs. They sent me a brand new M2Z, but that may not be the case every-time.

 

[Skiiingwonderz]

Only if you have the DJI Care Refresh and meet the specificities of the agreement. Water damage is listed as one of the reasons they will replace. But you have to been abiding by the DJI specifications and not doing something outside the realm of the drones capabilities. My brother just had a MM replaced through the DJI Care Refresh program and had no problems. $40 fee for first replacement and $45 for the second, a one year plan that can be extended for another year if both replacements have not been used. Not sure of the cost of the extensio.

Several people on the DJI support forum had their MM replaced for free without DJI Care Refresh. But like Thomas said, it’s probably decided on a case by case basis with the most heavily weighted factor being whether it was a DJI malfunction or pilot error...

 

[Starving Artist]

Several people on the DJI support forum had their MM replaced for free without DJI Care Refresh. But like Thomas said, it’s probably decided on a case by case basis with the most heavily weighted factor being whether it was a DJI malfunction or pilot error...

Sure that’s the factory warranty which will only cover if the drone malfunctions due to unforeseen reasons. Not pilot error or weather related incidents ie: wind. The original posters problem probably would not be covered under DJI warranty.

 

[patdig]

Thank you all for your input. I will return to DJI for repair when I get back State side. I'm sure they will be able to repair. I purchased it on Feb 1,...for the trip here. I think it was a combination of the drone and I panicked seeing all the alerts at one time.