Mavic air crashes into sea (salt water), ‘Motor obstructed’ error. Pls advise.. TIA (CLOSED)

[Air_Joe]

Hi guys, im new here. And i know there has been many thread about drone crashing into water.
But i would like to find out , what should i do as i had just crashed my MA into the sea. I was able to retrieve it, however its covered with lots of salt. Beside putting it in the rice bucket, any other good suggestion?
Your input will be deeply appreciated!

Also, i contacted dji on that. What are the chances they will do a replacement. I only got my drone for 1 month.
Incident happened like this,
I was do flying roughly 50metres from me by the coastline using tapfly. However after the cancel the mode, it was hovering there. As i was changing video to photo mode after 5-10 seconds of hovering, screen suddenly turn blank.

Immediately i run over and retrieve it.after study then flight record, it shows a ‘motor obstruction’ warning before it crashed, that is after im flying on my 2nd batt, for 12 mins or so.

Drone is in rice bucket now.
Any chances dji to do a replacement?
Understand that salt water will cause heavy corrosion. Totally devastated now.

 

[Point Zero]

I am not sure if its too late now but I would have washed the drone with fresh water to wash away the salt, then stick it in rice bucket. Hopefully when DJI look at the flight logs and see that you did not fly it into the water and that it was an engine problem then maybe they will replace the drone. You never know you might get lucky!

Plus maybe just maybe the drone will work when it gets dry?

You can always post the flight log here for others to look at and see if they can find the problem.

Good luck dude

 

[Air_Joe]

I am not sure if its too late now but I would have washed the drone with fresh water to wash away the salt, then stick it in rice bucket. Hopefully when DJI look at the flight logs and see that you did not fly it into the water and that it was an engine problem then maybe they will replace the drone. You never know you might get lucky!

Plus maybe just maybe the drone will work when it gets dry?

You can always post the flight log here for others to look at and see if they can find the problem.

Good luck dude

Thks bro for your reply.

What i did immediately was, removed the batt and dry it with a cloth, remove the propellers and shake it as hard as i can to remove thje water inside. Once back home, straight into rice bucket. Now im worried about the salt eating up the circuit inside.
Even if i got lucky and drine still starts, not sure whether how long it will be able to last . Sighhhh.

I have problem exporting the flight log. However dji mentioned they can retrieve it as long i synced it.
I try to do a screen shot here.

 

[Air_Joe]

 

[Point Zero]

That warning might be when the motor went into the water and not what caused it to go into the water? DJI will tell you soon I hope.

 

[Air_Joe]

That warning might be when the motor went into the water and not what caused it to go into the water? DJI will tell you soon I hope.

The flight record shows i was hovering for about 30seconds( guess thats the time i was taking photos), not touching movement at all,
Then error pop up, followed by ‘arrow’ spinning in the logs, thats when it crashed

 

[ac0j]

When the phone went blank, why didnt you just fly the MA back to where you were?
The screen is not controlling the drone at all, just the remote control alone flies the aircraft.

Edit; Your last posts leaves more questions. It may take the logs to see what happened.

 

[Air_Joe]

When the phone went blank, why didnt you just fly the MA back to where you were?
The screen is not controlling the drone at all, just the remote control alone flies the aircraft.

Edit; Your last posts leaves more questions. It may take the logs to see what happened.

I was unable to control anything, when i mention screen went blank. And i also tried tapping on rth to no avai.

 

[ac0j]

Tapping RTH does nothing. You have to push and hold till it activates.
If the logs show all the way to the end of the flight, where did those logs come from? the Mavic, the phone, or the RC?

 

[Mossiback]

You might as well take it out of the rice and soak it in fresh water. It is probably too late but without a fresh water rinse the salt and mineral residue will corrode the electronics so you really need to flush it out. More reading here:
Search results for query: salt water

 

[Air_Joe]

Now my question is, how bad the salt water will damage the drone?
And also, what are the chances dji replacement are?
Normally how long they take for their investigation to complete?

 

[Air_Joe]

Tapping RTH does nothing. You have to push and hold till it activates.

Nothing is responsive at that point of time

 

[Air_Joe]

You might as well take it out of the rice and soak it in fresh water. It is probably too late but without a fresh water rinse the salt and mineral residue will corrode the electronics so you really need to flush it out. More reading here:
Search results for query: salt water

Thanks. Its 230am my place now. Probably do it first thing in the morning.
Thought of open it up to dry the inside, worrybis will dji void the warranty if i open it up?

 

[ac0j]

View attachment 64291

Looking at this screen shot, you were 3.5 meters high, descending at 28 km/h while moving horizontally at around 5 km/h. Something was controlling it, or it would have been hovering.
Motor obstruction happen when it hit the water I bet.

 

[Mossiback]

Now my question is, how bad the salt water will damage the drone?...

Salt water will destroy electronics.

...And also, what are the chances dji replacement are?
Normally how long they take for their investigation to complete?

If you are trying for a warranty replacement it depends on what the logs show. You could try uploading them here for analysis to get a better idea of what happened. If using the Care Refresh exchange option they will ship your replacement as soon as they receive your wreck.

 

[Air_Joe]

Looking at this screen shot, you were 3.5 meters high, descending at 28 km/h while moving horizontally at around 5 km/h. Something was controlling it, or it would have been hovering.
Motor obstruction happen when it hit the water I bet.

Thats the moment when it was spinning.
If u notice , i wasnt moving anything on the controller, or rather unable to.

 

[ac0j]

again, it will have to be figured out with the logs if even possible. maybe @sar104 or @msinger can give some insight.

 

[Air_Joe]

Salt water will destroy electronics.

If you are trying for a warranty replacement it depends on what the logs show. You could try uploading them here for analysis to get a better idea of what happened. If using the Care Refresh exchange option they will ship your replacement as soon as they receive your wreck.

I have tried, cant even save the log to my phone. Google abt it, but most need a pc to do it.
I just got my MA for a month, not sure whether im covered with care.
Dji will only do a replacement once they receive the drone back?

 

[Air_Joe]

again, it will have to be figured out with the logs if even possible. maybe @sar104 or @msinger can give some insight.

Yeah bro, having difficult retrieving it. However i did a screen recording on my phone after playing it from dji go4. Tried loading it in here , however was unable to do so.

 

[ac0j]

Yeah bro, having difficult retrieving it. However i did a screen recording on my phone after playing it from dji go4. Tried loading it in here , however was unable to do so.

There is a way to do it, someone will be along to post a link on how to do it shortly..
I summoned the experts!