Mavic Air has gone Swimming!

[SirBob]

It's my first ever post here and a dead 4 week old Mavic Air is the reason!
I was doing some very slow low level flying over a river yesterday in Tripod mode and when I got to the end of my shot, I left the Air Hovering and moved myself to where I could see the drone more clearly so I could fly out into the open again.. By the time I had moved a round a tree (1-2 seconds max) it had begun to drift to the left and whilst I did try to correct it, it was either to already too late or just slowed down by the Tripod mode setting, it clipped a branch and flipped over into the river. The water wasn't even deep enough to cover the camera, but all 4 motors were submerged and I now have 4 ESC warnings.
I'm kind of willing to accept I was pushing my luck with my piloting skills but I've never noticed drift like it before so was hoping someone could look at my log (attached) and tell me it's not may fault and that I should be speaking to DJI!!! Hopefully thinking I know but have to ask!

Whilst I'm here has anyone got any experience of what this may cost to repair? I maxed out everything to buy the Air and am worried what it's going to cost me now!!

 

[Former Member]

Whilst I'm here has anyone got any experience of what this may cost to repair? I maxed out everything to buy the Air and am worried what it's going to cost me now!!

If it needs a new ESC board, then maybe $200 just for the board installed.

 

[SirBob]

It's my first ever post here and a dead 4 week old Mavic Air is the reason!
I was doing some very slow low level flying over a river yesterday in Tripod mode and when I got to the end of my shot, I left the Air Hovering and moved myself to where I could see the drone more clearly so I could fly out into the open again.. By the time I had moved a round a tree (1-2 seconds max) it had begun to drift to the left and whilst I did try to correct it, it was either to already too late or just slowed down by the Tripod mode setting, it clipped a branch and flipped over into the river. The water wasn't even deep enough to cover the camera, but all 4 motors were submerged and I now have 4 ESC warnings.
I'm kind of willing to accept I was pushing my luck with my piloting skills but I've never noticed drift like it before so was hoping someone could look at my log (attached) and tell me it's not may fault and that I should be speaking to DJI!!! Hopefully thinking I know but have to ask!

Whilst I'm here has anyone got any experience of what this may cost to repair? I maxed out everything to buy the Air and am worried what it's going to cost me now!!

Ok so just a little update. After 4 days in rice the ESC warnings are all gone and only the invalid battery one remains. This is on all batteries not just the one that went swimming. Anybody have any suggestions? I’m aware I need to be careful with still flying this but hoping that the fact it was less of than an inch of water means I may get away with it!!

 

[Former Member]

If the ESC warning are gone, then maybe the ESC lived. I would still keep it close for the next bunch of flights.

Which battery error are you getting?

 

[SirBob]

If the ESC warning are gone, then maybe the ESC lived. I would still keep it close for the next bunch of flights.

Which battery error are you getting?

Thanks for replying again.

This is the error I get, any ideas? Could it just be dirty contacts?

 

[Former Member]

Can you check that all your metal contacts on the battery and drone are corrosion free? I think that the drone isnt able to get a good data reading from the battery. I can see that battery level is not being displayed as "N/A."

Worst case is that the internal circuit board got damaged, which might require a new battery.

 

[sar104]

It's my first ever post here and a dead 4 week old Mavic Air is the reason!
I was doing some very slow low level flying over a river yesterday in Tripod mode and when I got to the end of my shot, I left the Air Hovering and moved myself to where I could see the drone more clearly so I could fly out into the open again.. By the time I had moved a round a tree (1-2 seconds max) it had begun to drift to the left and whilst I did try to correct it, it was either to already too late or just slowed down by the Tripod mode setting, it clipped a branch and flipped over into the river. The water wasn't even deep enough to cover the camera, but all 4 motors were submerged and I now have 4 ESC warnings.
I'm kind of willing to accept I was pushing my luck with my piloting skills but I've never noticed drift like it before so was hoping someone could look at my log (attached) and tell me it's not may fault and that I should be speaking to DJI!!! Hopefully thinking I know but have to ask!

Whilst I'm here has anyone got any experience of what this may cost to repair? I maxed out everything to buy the Air and am worried what it's going to cost me now!!

As far as I can see from the logs you were just too close to the tree. There was very little recorded motion at the end of the flight, less than one meter - possibly some indication of slight left drift in the differentiated GPS location data. Especially in areas with tree cover you cannot expect very tight positional holding.

 

[SirBob]

As far as I can see from the logs you were just too close to the tree. There was very little recorded motion at the end of the flight, less than one meter - possibly some indication of slight left drift in the differentiated GPS location data. Especially in areas with tree cover you cannot expect very tight positional holding.

View attachment 70475

Thanks Sar.
Knew it was wishful thinking but had to ask!! Can I ask what software you use to see the data and produce the charts. Definitely something I’d like to know more about.
Thanks again.

 

[John Kyte]

Everyone crashes their birds, like you I thought I was a better pilot and just touched a small branch and in slow motion I watched my Spark tumbling to the water below. I feel your pain ??

 

[sar104]

Thanks Sar.
Knew it was wishful thinking but had to ask!! Can I ask what software you use to see the data and produce the charts. Definitely something I’d like to know more about.
Thanks again.

The txt logs are converted using TXTlogToCSVtool. The DAT files are converted using DatCon. The data are processed and displayed with Wavemetrics Igor Pro.