Mavic 2 pro - water crash

[Robbsayers]

Hi, first post.

So I was out flying my mavic 2 pro on Saturday, when it hit a tree and backflipped into some water. It was only submerged for 3 seconds and when i got it out I turned it straight off and removed the battery. Nothing seemed to have stopped working at the time.



Straight away i dried it off and then put it in my footwell of my car with heat blasting at it for two hours straight whilst i drove home. When i checked it I could only see a little bit of condensation in one of the bottom sensors. Then I put it in a muslin cloth and placed it in a box with rice and have had it in my airing cupboard for the past three days.

So my question is, has anyone else had a mavic 2 pro submerged and it still work? Im trying to claim it under warranty as i bought it from a second hand supplier less than 3 months ago and the obstacle avoidance should have kicked in, but didnt, but so far ive not had any luck with that.

Heres some pictures of how its looking so far. Im going to leave it a full week just incase.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

mavic 2 pro when it hit a tree and backflipped into some water . . . . . the obstacle avoidance should have kicked in, but didnt,

Not a good first post to make, but welcome to the forum.

So it was flown into a tree . . .
Trees and OA.
A lot depends on the tree.
If the foliage was dense / think, yes it will pick it up quite well.
If it was 'twiggy', with little or no leaves, or fine leaves, then OA does not work very well at all . . . like electrical cables, thin antenna, etc, OA won't usually pick it up.

The water thing.
Fresh or salt ?
How long submerged ?

If salt it might be done for, unless rinsed immediately through with fresh distilled water, then preferably rinsed again with isopropyl alcohol to displace all moisture, and dried in a warm spot.
Not sure I could trust a drone that's been submerged for any time in salt water, or even heavy brackish water.

If fresh, many have dried them out and found they fly fine again, but for how long ?
Not sure if wet through you could really trust again, but I guess with enough testing in a safe environment for a while, you might be able to gradually build confidence in it.

The battery should be safely disposed of, but for interest did it fry ?
Does an led(s) light up if you press the power button briefly ?

Hopefully any short circuit won't have damaged any circuitry in the drone.

Good luck with it.

 

[Robbsayers]

Not a good first post to make, but welcome to the forum.

So it was flown into a tree . . .
Trees and OA.
A lot depends on the tree.
If the foliage was dense / think, yes it will pick it up quite well.
If it was 'twiggy', with little or no leaves, or fine leaves, then OA does not work very well at all . . . like electrical cables, thin antenna, etc, OA won't usually pick it up.

The water thing.
Fresh or salt ?
How long submerged ?

If salt it might be done for, unless rinsed immediately through with fresh distilled water, then preferably rinsed again with isopropyl alcohol to displace all moisture, and dried in a warm spot.
Not sure I could trust a drone that's been submerged for any time in salt water, or even heavy brackish water.

If fresh, many have dried them out and found they fly fine again, but for how long ?
Not sure if wet through you could really trust again, but I guess with enough testing in a safe environment for a while, you might be able to gradually build confidence in it.

The battery should be safely disposed of, but for interest did it fry ?
Does an led(s) light up if you press the power button briefly ?

Hopefully any short circuit won't have damaged any circuitry in the drone.

Good luck with it.

Thanks for your response. No not a great first post at all. Yeah it was twiggy more than any foliage.

It was fresh water and from the footage, it was under water for 3 seconds in total.

The battery still lights up when i press the button and hasnt fried, so im hoping thats a good sign.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Welcome to the Baptism of the Mavic 2

As someone that flys the Mavic 2 in the Rain with the Wet Suit and lands in the Water there is a good chance that you should be Ok,

With the exception of the Battery . Although the Battery may be lighting up , its more important that the Battery Still be Able to Dis Charge or will start swelling on you and be compromised.

Considering how brief the dunk was in Fresh water, the ESC module may still be good , that is the first to go when fully submerged and will most likely require a board change with it if sent to DJI .

3 Seconds is not really enough for Full Submersion to take place so you may be ok .

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic 2 in the Pouring Rain and Land on the Water.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I agree with @Phantomrain.org the very short time probably didn’t allow full internal drenching, and you might get lucky here.

Also yes battery, definitely don’t use this again, or maybe if all seems normal only for ground use, updates, adjustments to settings, etc.
Only while actually using it, no charging without full monitoring, very close eye on it for swelling.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Remove the photo with your ID or edit out the ID.

If you get no joy with the seller I would remove the bottom cover ( have a look at some youtubes- it's fairly easy ) and then put the drone and battery in the airing cupboard, above but NOT ON the hotwater tank, for several days or your.

 

[eEridani]

OA and twigs are not compatible. Leafy tree, tree trunk, then most of the time. You can power up the drone and hand hold it in the ready to fly state and listen for the OA to beep at you. Point the drone at things to get a feel for what it can see and what it can't see.

I doubt the 3 second bath hurt any thing. The rice (prefer a good desiccant) should help suck out any residual moisture. Places that foul are the IMU air pressure port and the lenses. So first flight make sure it is tracking altitude correctly.

 

[slozukimc]

Rice is dusty and sticky so it’s not really good for a gimbal. Use a proper dessicant.

Mike

 

[Robbsayers]

Just wanted to update you all and thank you for the comments.

Redwings brief encounter with the water does not seem to have been life threatening and he seems to be flying just fine. Ill take him out this evening and see how he does ourdoors but so far looking good.

I will definitely be investing in a life jacket though and being more aware of trees after this learning curve.

I was also thinking of investing in some prop guards. Has anyone else got these and do they know if they are compatible with the wet suit?

Thanks again everyone

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Good to hear it’s looking promising.

I have similar prop guards for my m1P, and used them once just to test.
Usually I fly much higher away from obstacles.

They work really well with walls, all but small tree trunks, etc.
Fairly useless for fine foliage.

If flying low in forest, close proximity urban environments, or indoors a lot, they would be worth using for some flights, I’m sure.

 

[Robbsayers]

Thanks for the info.

Just took him out and whilst i was weary of flying him, i cant say i noticed anything wrong. Seemed to fly perfectly, no errors, oa worked fine and it tracked altitude well.

Lesson learnt, watch out for trees and large bodies of water.

Looking forward to reading more on this forum now and hopefully share some more positive experiences.

 

[eEridani]

If you were hovering in that latest photo, looks like you could use an IMU and compass calibration. Maybe gimbal cal, too. But otherwise looking good.

Gratz.

pps: Gimbal measures off 0.5 degrees, roll is 7.4 degrees. As others have said, if it was windy that day, probably normal.

 

[zeusfl]

It does not surprise me everything is ok. The Mavic 2 Pro is a Tonka !!!
The only I will do not trust is the battery. I will try using that battery only for firmware updates, transfer photos or videos, or any setting you need to do on the drone—the worse case for short no more than 6FT altitude fly.

As @Phantomrain.org says, the battery is the weakest point. He is the expert working with drowning drones LOL.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

If you were hovering in that latest photo, looks like you could use an IMU and compass calibration. Maybe gimbal cal, too. But otherwise looking good.

Gratz.

I thought it was just a bit of side wind and attitude adjustment going on (??).

 

[NigeConnor]

View attachment 145075

Just wanted to update you all and thank you for the comments.

Redwings brief encounter with the water does not seem to have been life threatening and he seems to be flying just fine. Ill take him out this evening and see how he does ourdoors but so far looking good.

I will definitely be investing in a life jacket though and being more aware of trees after this learning curve.

I was also thinking of investing in some prop guards. Has anyone else got these and do they know if they are compatible with the wet suit?

Thanks again everyone

I have the wet suit and prop guards..its all fine.. personally i never fly without prop guards..they saved a possible crash many times..