DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

Mavic mini crashed in water

naturalasg

New Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2021
Messages
2
Reactions
1
Age
23
Location
australia
I crashed a mavic mini in a creek over a year ago. Found it three days later still in water. Pulled it all apart to remove all the mud and cleaned it. Have not done anything else with it since.
The SD card had the footage from the day and there is a file from the last video I was recording when it crashed but it is not visible.
Now I’m getting into fixing things and would like to know if it could be possible to revive? I’ve read lots of posts saying they are basically dead but thoughts on getting new boards and what not?
I’m assuming new battery, gps and power board kind of situation but I can’t find much info on what would have blown etc.
any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated
 
I crashed a mavic mini in a creek over a year ago. Found it three days later still in water. Pulled it all apart to remove all the mud and cleaned it. Have not done anything else with it since.
The SD card had the footage from the day and there is a file from the last video I was recording when it crashed but it is not visible.
Now I’m getting into fixing things and would like to know if it could be possible to revive? I’ve read lots of posts saying they are basically dead but thoughts on getting new boards and what not?
I’m assuming new battery, gps and power board kind of situation but I can’t find much info on what would have blown etc.
any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated
Considering this all happened over a year ago, I’d probably just buy a mini 2 and try to sell this one for parts on eBay.
 
The camera and gimbal are paired to one or more of the boards in the drone. Change one of the paired components and the other/s need re-pairing, that requires special software and perhaps equipment.

The corrupted file on the memory card can sometimes be fixed by putting the card back in the drone and booting the drone but, as I suspect what constitues the drone is now toast, I would guess the chance of that happening is remote. I do not know if another device can repair the damaged file but there may be software that can. I recollect I have tried VLC but without success.

I would suspect the camera is toast.

CHECK everything for corrosion, I have a Mavic 2 that was in the sea for several days and corrosion DESTROYED every circuit boards and nearly all the light-metal fittings. Fresh water might not have been so vicious but..........
Check the motors feel smooth etc. etc.

The above said I doubt you have anything to lose by reconnecting everthing, expect perhaps the battery, and seeing if it will power up. Though I would do it outside just in case anything goes up in smoke.

But I suspect you will be looking for another drone.
 
The drone is toast, but post the video of the wreck if the SD card is still ok, That would be interesting to see.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Land on the Water.
 
If you were diligent in cleaning a year ago - distilled or fairly low TDS water - and dried the thing thoroughly before putting it to bed; I'd try charging up the batteries and then powering up the drone. You have nothing to lose. And if you did the above, about the only parts that would be toast is the camera and/or gimbal: a new gimbal and camera might be pretty cheap compared to a new drone kit. Second thing to be suspect would be motor bearings, again, four motors, not horribly expensive.
 
If you really wanted to give it a go, start with a New ECM module board and the mother board, and go from there , everything else might be in tact if you did rinse it as suggested above. We know from our testing the ECM module is the weakest link under water.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mini in the Rain and land on the Water.
 
DJI told me the IMU is not happy when it gets wet ... probably the barometer port. Of course I'm assuming the IMU DJI uses has the barometer integrated into it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Phantomrain.org
If you want to recover it rather than getting a new one, use the DJIrepair service. They will give you a quote, and you can decide what to do when you get a$ figure. Repairing water damage piecemeal is very unlikely to yield a reliable drone.
 
Welcome to the forum, from Chicago the Windy City.
Sorry about your water crash, would like to know the circumstances of the crash.
And, repairing a water damaged drone is not a good outcome.
 
Welcome to the forum, from Chicago the Windy City.
Sorry about your water crash, would like to know the circumstances of the crash.
And, repairing a water damaged drone is not a good outcome.
It was completely my fault, flying through a creek crossing and turned too sharp and clipped a branch on a tree. Was being a bit too confident and on sports mode
 
  • Like
Reactions: SpitFire
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
130,600
Messages
1,554,274
Members
159,605
Latest member
petravka