MAVIC2 PRO took sea water for 30 seconds...won't switch on any more...any repair guy here ?

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I too had a similar experience after flying out over surf, the partial covering by salt water was very brief.
I tried immersion in demineralised water over a period of 24 hours followed by prolonged drying in silica gel dessicant.

This situation has seen aircraft flying again, not guaranteed, but worth a go if the immersion was only slightly more than a splash.
But . . . you missed a very important step between fresh or demineralised water and silica gel, and that is thoroughly rinse through with as pure isopropyl alcohol (99% is best) to disperse all the fresh water.

Personally, if salt water has got inside a drone and you don’t have the fresh water on hand, remove aircraft body covers, and to literally drench out the salt, then it’s be almost impossible to trust the aircraft again in the sky.

The OP left his with salt, dried it, been 2+ weeks, yeah the refurb or 2nd hand aircraft or kit would be the only way to go now.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

oh you mean out of ebay ?

since i want to be able to fly/test the drone before buying, i think i'd prefer more this big craigslist type of website we have in france where people sell/buy and you can do the transaction in person

Yes I use ebay.

 

[dave canada]

hello,
i was at the beach in Panama, and after taking some fantastic island pictures i landed my MAVIC 2 on the beach to get it back...great idea i know but there were not any flat space around to land it other than that small portion of beach...it was right at the moment when a small wave covered the beach


by the time i ran to pick the drone some sea water (and also a bit of sand) had already covered the drone up to the battery...i spent the following 2 hours to shake it , try to dry it by exposing it under the sun etc...up to no avail !

Now it's been 2 weeks and the drone still does not turn on : when i put a battery (fully charged), the battery would switch on briefly but that won't switch on the drone...tried with other batteries and same results.

i guess it's probably the ESC (Electronic Speed Controller) which is burnt unfortunately (even if water only touched the drone for like 20 seconds)...

i called a DJI official repair shop in Paris and they told me they won't repair if the drone has been in cpntact with water (instructions from DJI they said).

Anyone can repair drones here ? i remember there was a guy who was very active on the forum (was living inthe States i think).

i am so pissed, have been a regular drone flyer since 2016 and in the past 4 years, never had a crash...so such very stupid mistake is really making me feel bad

and funny thing is , i always read here and there some people stating their drone was in water for some hours or some days and they put it in rice and the drone resumed flying like nothing happened.

Then mine was in touch with water just briefly and dead !!!

good luck electrolis can pretty much be ruled out but salt water has weird effects kills stuff that sounds just to simple to kill it though

 

[BroomRider]

Salt water + electronics, especially when energized, just aren't a good mix.

Salt water is both corrosive & a conductor of electricity. Add voltage & you can pretty much kiss your unit goodbye.

Even a momentary dunk or splash would likely render any circuits or contacts unreliable at best; even with the immediate remedies mentioned above, a positive outcome would be highly doubtful.

Fresh water, your chances are improved greatly, but removing the voltage source & water ASAP are paramount, regardless.

 

[dave canada]

nothing but bad news sorry to hear that Happy new year

 

[Toorak6]

I always hand catch my M2P and Mini 2 if landing location is hazardous. It's a necessary technique to master, easiest if not placing hand underneath the downward sensors.

Found below some recommendations for waterproofing drones

How To Waterproof A Drone At Home (in 5 Easy Steps)

 

[KONY]

Thanx for the feedback guys

Yeah I understand now how deadly salt water is.

I remember 2 years ago that same drone got caught in a severe sudden rain in Hong Kong during a flight and it took me few minutes to navigate it back from its location and land it...

It was all wet... But there was absolutely no consequences from that exposure to heavy rain.

Anyway.. Good Buy my beloved drone


Happy new year !!

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Thanx for the feedback guys

Yeah I understand now how deadly salt water is.

I remember 2 years ago that same drone got caught in a severe sudden rain in Hong Kong during a flight and it took me few minutes to navigate it back from its location and land it...

It was all wet... But there was absolutely no consequences from that exposure to heavy rain.

Anyway.. Good Buy my beloved drone


Happy new year !!

Uuuum did you mean "Buy" or bye?

If you get another M2P keep the old one for spare plastic parts, though I'd be inclined to dismantle it and wash them.

 

[KONY]

Yeah good bye of course

Yeah for sure I'll keep it in case I need some spare plastic parts for my next MAVIC Pro

 

[BroomRider]

Another side benefit with a dead drone, is being able to dismantle it without worries about ruining it, for the education & experience, especially in being better able to perform the applications of water-resistant procedures & techniques to your future drones.

Pure, as in, distilled, water is never found in nature; in its pure form, it's relatively benign, & actually more of an insulator than a conductor. Rainwater is fairly clean, & although not without its dangers, is far, far less dangerous than sea/salt water.

I'm sure there's a market for making drones more water-resistant. It's a shame that DJI doesn't make that option available (it being far easier to do during the assembly process, but ofc, DJI wouldn't be selling as many replacement drones). Or that an aftermarket entrepreneur hasn't (afaik) taken advantage of offering that service.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Yeah good bye of course

Yeah for sure I'll keep it in case I need some spare plastic parts for my next MAVIC Pro

In that case dismantle it, you don't want any 'slow corrosion' eating the heads off screws or splitting screw holes etc.
Just watch as many teardown video as you can find before you start, some are better than others.
Aside from keep, wash and dry all the screws you can save, two tips.
1) When trying to remove the front arms, position them at the tipping point between their tendency to spring open and spring shut, this takes the pressure off the pivot and the pivot is then easy to remove/fit. When the pivot is removed take care not to lose the black plastic thrust washer that sits between the top of the arm and the underside of the relevant bit of the drone's body. Also twist the pivot to let it spring back to a less stressed position.
2) The rear arms come-out / go-in in ONLY in one position. There is a lug/rotation-stop on the inner end of the rear arm pivot that, when fitting or removing the arm, slides along a grove in the bore of the female portion of the pivot in the drone. From memory the position is the fully closed/storage position but check videos for that, it might be the fully open/flying position.

 

[KONY]

Ok Thank you for those tips, I'll make sure to take to dismantle it and wash the parts with Clean water
I hope to never have to resort to reach that point of doing some MacGyver's job (the eldest of us will get the reference) on my next drone though lol

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I'm sure there's a market for making drones more water-resistant.

There have been / are what's called waterproof drones on the market.
Even consumer drones, but I see lots of FPV waterproofing videos on YouTube now, literally fly through waterfalls, many splashdowns, even underwater.

I'll make sure to take to dismantle it and wash the parts with Clean water

Be sure to do it quickly if ever salt is concerned, remove covers if able on site and literally dunk drone repeatedly in any fresh water, tank rain water, clean river / stream water, and disperse the salt water completely.

It's very important to do the isopropyl alcohol (99%) similar bath / dunking / rinse soon after, like at home if not too far . . . but the initial fresh water bath is what's really important for salt water incidents.

Once the isopropyl bath liquid evaporates (very fast), there is literally no water left !
But it would be good practice to leave the drone in a warm place to be sure, before testing etc.

Of course any battery immersed is toast, whether fresh or salt, they are prone to shorting.
While you could get lucky with minor immersion or splashing, the battery is generally considered finished if totally wet through to contacts.

Not sure if anyone worried about this has seen @Phantomrain.org wetsuits, they might help with overall protection even the battery.

 

[Dumeinao]

If you are lucky you might be able to pick up a second hand drone that is an unactivated replacement drone, my zoom was and a mini 2 = brand new or DJI refurbished.

I just did that with a Mavic 3 and Mini Pro 3 right before Christmas. I bought them both on eBay. The Mini was unregistered so I was able to activate and buy DJI Care on it.

The Mavic 3 had sensor issues. The seller said it would be fine to send it to DJI to see what the repair cost would be and he would pay it. It also was bound to another account. DJI was able to fix the damage for FREE under warranty
as the unit was activated March 2022. They sent a clean replacement, non activated and fully operational.

I was able to bind it and buy DJI care and all is great. I lucked out.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

I just did that with a Mavic 3 and Mini Pro 3 right before Christmas. I bought them both on eBay. The Mini was unregistered so I was able to activate and buy DJI Care on it.

The Mavic 3 had sensor issues. The seller said it would be fine to send it to DJI to see what the repair cost would be and he would pay it. It also was bound to another account. DJI was able to fix the damage for FREE under warranty
as the unit was activated March 2022. They sent a clean replacement, non activated and fully operational.

I was able to bind it and buy DJI care and all is great. I lucked out.

To whom did DJI send the replacement drone?

Actually, could I suggest that you post a new thread about the repair of the Mavic 3 and how, between you and the original owner, you dealt with the correspondence with DJI etc. etc..

I bought a second hand Mini 2 that still had care refresh on it and I have often wondered how things would actually proceed if I ever needed to use it, fortunately I never did but I think it should be a reasonably similar situation to the warranty repair of your Mavic 3.
Others might find your experience useful.

 

[Dumeinao]

To whom did DJI send the replacement drone?

Actually, could I suggest that you post a new thread about the repair of the Mavic 3 and how, between you and the original owner, you dealt with the correspondence with DJI etc. etc..

I bought a second hand Mini 2 that still had care refresh on it and I have often wondered how things would actually proceed if I ever needed to use it, fortunately I never did but I think it should be a reasonably similar situation to the warranty repair of your Mavic 3.
Others might find your experience useful.

Ok so in my case it was 2 different eBay sellers who had been on the platform for a long time. I have no idea how either of them got the drones, but when you look on eBay, it seems to be a cottage industry with many different sellers having drones of varying conditions for sale.

For the Mavic 3, it was advertised as *mint and unfortunately was not. The body and all mechanics were in great shape (powered on, camera worked, drone would pair with my remote, and would do firmware updates). But it had 2 issues. The first was that that the fan would not come on and the drone would shut down quickly for thermal. The other issue was the vision sensors were not working.

I got a great price on the drone and I'm technical, and also had a 30 day return policy. I was going to return it but decided do open it to see what the problem with the fan was. My hunch was correct. The fan was not plugged into the socket. It was obvious someone had been messing around inside. Also the thermal paste was all dried out. So, I used some Artic Silver on it, and plugged it in correctly. It spun right up and thermal issue fixed.

But the drone was still bound to another account and the sensors offline. I contracted DJI support and sent them screenshots of the issue. They told me I would need to send the drone in for service. I didn't know at the time that the drone was still under warranty from the day it had been activated.

I sent it in, and they listed the problems and said it would be fixed for free. They then sent me another drone unit (no battery or anything) but did include the props and a gimble protector harness. When I powered it on, it was unbound, and I was able to activate it and buy DJI care on it. Happy camper.

The Mini Pro 3 was a bit different. This one was listed as "parts only" BUT, it still had the stickers on the camera and the seller had reached out to DJI support and he included a screen shot of the chat that verified the drone had never been activated.

He didn't have a battery or controller to test with, so he was selling it as is, BUT, no returns, so it was a bit of a gamble.

Fortunately that worked out also. I bought a battery on Amazon and they both arrived on the same day. Once I charged it it up a bit, I powered it on and all was well.

I think both the sellers just deal in return merchandise. It could have been a clearing house for Best Buy or something similar.

I was truly blown away though by the DJI support for the Mavic. Its encouraging that if you can get the serial number of a unit before you buy it to check the activation page, or have a return deal with an eBay seller, you could really score a phenomenal deal.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Cheers.
A point, with regards to the Mavic 3, if the ebay rules in the USA are the same as the ebay rules in the UK then, if the Mavic 3 was listed as "used", "new" or possibly "refurbished" then you would have been entitled to open a "not as described " and return the drone to the seller, at their expense, for a full refund including the original shipping charge. I.e. the seller ends up "out of pocket".
The return MUST be via trackable means and the seller can send you a prepaid carriage label.
I made the mistake of once, and only once, paying the return carriage myself and it took quite a while to get the money for that from the seller.
Also with something sold as "used" etc. "returns not accepted" in the advert carries NO WEIGHT with eBay, if push comes to shove eBay stand by their T&C and the seller would be obliged to accept the return of a not as described item.
For items sold as "parts" etc. "no returns" is, I think, at the discretion of the seller and that is fair enough.

 

[idbDan]

This situation has seen aircraft flying again, not guaranteed, but worth a go if the immersion was only slightly more than a splash.
But . . . you missed a very important step between fresh or demineralised water and silica gel, and that is thoroughly rinse through with as pure isopropyl alcohol (99% is best) to disperse all the fresh water.

Personally, if salt water has got inside a drone and you don’t have the fresh water on hand, remove aircraft body covers, and to literally drench out the salt, then it’s be almost impossible to trust the aircraft again in the sky.

The OP left his with salt, dried it, been 2+ weeks, yeah the refurb or 2nd hand aircraft or kit would be the only way to go now.

I agree 99% Iso alcohol is the rinse you need. But even if you get to it quickly and pull the battery, the odds of "0" shorts is greater than winning the lotto.

Having an ultrasonic cleaner helps immensely. A 10 minute bath with heat in a cleaner will completely remove the salt from surfaces and the microscopic areas it can hide in. Boards will always have a thin film of flux. Salt water minerals stick to flux. A simple bath in alcohol usually wont dissolve the adhesion that the flux has on the board. And anything metal will get the scrub it needs.

Rip it apart and throw everything but the plastic in a cleaner and hope for the best. Harbor Freight has a 2.5L tank for $70.

 

[idbDan]

" I have no idea how either of them got the drones, but when you look on eBay, it seems to be a cottage industry with many different sellers having drones of varying conditions for sale."

Where to Buy and Sell Broken Drones for Cash

Droneoptix UK: All DJI, Parrot and Yuneec Parts

Sell Broken Drone - SellBroke.com

It is an industry. That's just 3 of many. You'll get the best deals on Mercari & Craigslist. Mercari always has damaged DJI's for sale.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I agree 99% Iso alcohol is the rinse you need. But even if you get to it quickly and pull the battery, the odds of "0" shorts is greater than winning the lotto.

Having an ultrasonic cleaner helps immensely. A 10 minute bath with heat in a cleaner will completely remove the salt from surfaces and the microscopic areas it can hide in. Boards will always have a thin film of flux. Salt water minerals stick to flux. A simple bath in alcohol usually wont dissolve the adhesion that the flux has on the board. And anything metal will get the scrub it needs.

Rip it apart and throw everything but the plastic in a cleaner and hope for the best. Harbor Freight has a 2.5L tank for $70.

It's odd though, even some pilots here have reportedly rescued their drowned drowns, sometimes after total immersion in water (both fresh and salt), dried them out, and fly no problems.
Yes the batteries are pretty much a loss in every case, unless a very light splash, but for some reason there seems to be mostly no shorting through the other electronics on the drones concerned.
Mid to long term though, I couldn't trust a drone again that has taken a decent immersion for anything but a very quick dip in fresh water.