No matter how cocky you'll get, eventually your going down. - pilot failure : crash

[Red_Raven]

great work! It's amazing what these birds can take and keep on flying!

My two cents: be sure to apply new heat sink compound!

Lol yea I did. And even managed to stick some onto the wire net on one of the downward sensors.... That was no fun at all to clean!!!

 

[Lelantos]

Yes I did... And then let it stay in the water for few hours. It didn't do anything, the salt was all clustered up everywhere after I dried it from the flush.

Good to know. Probably need to open it up, then flush it.

 

[Robbyg]

Did you have to wear a mask, fins and snorkel to work? lol



The gimbals are not really watertight, but they are pretty water resistant. Just like the old Timex watches, you can splash water on them, but just dont hold them under water for extended periods of time.

The gimbal screws on the motor covers are screwed on tightly and one part fits together very flush with and sometimes overlaps the adjoining part. In additional to a good tight fit, there is insulation on 3 of the flat ribbon connectors that will not allow too much water to reach inside to the connector or circuit board.

The camera body itself is the most protected part. It has a very tight fit to the rest of the gimbal arm, and has putty inside to protect the circuit board. The connector might get damp, but the internals of the camera body will remain dry, again, unless submerged or hit with a direct spray of water.

Many people think that the Mavic gimbal is flimsy, but Im here to tell you that it is very well engineered and durable and the parts fit together like they would on a Maybach. The usual parts to break on impact are the ribbon cable because it is exposed (not so much on the new Spark), the silver stranded cable, and the gimbal plate where the 2 screws hold it on.

The Phantoms had strong gimbals too, but their ribbons were also fragile, and their motors were just as strong, but you could replace one gimbal motor on the Phantom, you cant on the Mavic.

Sorry for the boring post. I just enjoy the minutia a little too much.

View attachment 13917 View attachment 13918 View attachment 13919

Loved the post. Thank you so much for giving me all those details and wonderful in depth pictures. One thing that is puzzling is that you say water will get in if it submerged. I suspect it does not come out of the camera all that easily.
So are you saying that a proper cleaning involves taking the camera apart?

Rob

 

[geigy]

I use blu-tack to clean stuff out of crannies like that. It's also great for holding on to screws, etc, and keeping them organized as you take something apart. I make a small model out of the object from blu-tack and stick the screws into the model as I take things apart so I will know where they go back later.

 

[Mavic]

“There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots.”

 

[Robbyg]

I know how salt can be fatal. I worked for years on a freezing trawler and we the younger guys in the crew were often called out to be a big spenders (we had huge salary and no responsibility, of course we were) one of the things spent on was Peltor headphones... You know the kind that eliminates sounds at work but with radios. Each headphone were quite expensive, nothing out of this world but maybe $100 and I'm not sure if it was simply crappy designed or just couldn't handle the salt, but as an example I bought twelve of them in 2007, 12 f-ing headphones in a year. That's one a month. They just lost so much sound quality in a 39day period that we just bought new.)

But I couldn't even think of making work 10x longer by doing it in silence.... Not a chance.

Those where the days when I woke up at 12 (was month away and month at home all year round) and of course it happened often that I hadn't managed to laundry any clothes. Being a guy around 20's
That ment go out in yesterday's dress to buy more supplies (clothes) and never were anything learned of those mistakes. Lol

I've never had as much cash to spend as at that time....
It was fun, but today I get sick when I look back and see how much was spent in absolutely nothing.... And let's not think of how life today we're easier if I had been smart and saved..... But who's smart when he's young.....

As someone who grew up and did the exact same thing as you I can honestly say I don't regret it and I encourage all my nieces and nephews to spend their money and enjoy life when they get that first job. I made good cash when I was in my 20's. I bought a sports car, bought tons of stuff, did a lot of super dangerous stuff and generally played very hard. Those are the best memories I have,

After you get married and have kids and move up the ladder it becomes really hard to find time to do the things you really want to do. Not to mention the fact that I can no longer take an injury and just shake it off like I use to. Now my recovery time from a big fall is not measured in minutes or hours but in days or sometimes weeks.

It's really a pity that Humans are not born old and get younger as the years pass. I find that I now have the knowledge and the cash to do so many things but my body just can no longer take the punishment it use to endure and my responsibilities keep growing as I get older.

So yeah enjoy it while your young.

Rob

 

[Red_Raven]

As someone who grew up and did the exact same thing as you I can honestly say I don't regret it and I encourage all my nieces and nephews to spend their money and enjoy life when they get that first job. I made good cash when I was in my 20's. I bought a sports car, bought tons of stuff, did a lot of super dangerous stuff and generally played very hard. Those are the best memories I have,

After you get married and have kids and move up the ladder it becomes really hard to find time to do the things you really want to do. Not to mention the fact that I can no longer take an injury and just shake it off like I use to. Now my recovery time from a big fall is not measured in minutes or hours but in days or sometimes weeks.

It's really a pity that Humans are not born old and get younger as the years pass. I find that I now have the knowledge and the cash to do so many things but my body just can no longer take the punishment it use to endure and my responsibilities seem to just get bigger as I get older.

So yeah enjoy it while your young.

Rob

I agree... Those regrets I talked about just showed up after I got old and boring. I did everything you're not supposed to. I'd didn't matter, only as long as it was money for it. [emoji23]

And man I agree on people should live (not a little) but alot. Just think of leaving a space to eventually grow up and start a family. As living can be fun it's just as awful to see guys get stuck on the drugs they were just supposed to experiment with or simply not be able to grow up.

And the recovering time gets way to long, I was a skater and I feel like my bones have changed into glass when I step on board today.

I can party just as hard as when I was younger.... I'm just not as good with the recovery. Lol [emoji23]

We're waaaay out of topic [emoji3]

 

[Red_Raven]

Loved the post. Thank you so much for giving me all those details and wonderful in depth pictures. One thing that is puzzling is that you say water will get in if it submerged. I suspect it does not come out of the camera all that easily.
So are you saying that a proper cleaning involves taking the camera apart?

Rob

You will see a fog or simply water inside the lense if it gets in. Mine handled that 6 hours.+ cleaning bath perfectly. I was amazed that it isn't wet onside the lense. Simply amazed.

 

[Kilrah]

While it was open, you should have applied corrosionX to the electronics to waterproof it.

All DJI electronics already have conformal coating, that's why revivals like this are possible.

 

[aaamedeus]

I would normally agree with you that fresh water stands a slight chance of survival, but salt water is a death sentence. @svavar is the exception because he was meticulous in his repair job. He and I have around 3 or 4 pages of conversations of what to do and how to do it. He might make it seem like he did it overnight, but it was many many hours of work getting it back flying again. He had to replace some parts that were broken, but he did it all himself, and Im proud of him for not giving up. Not everyone will be as lucky or dedicated as he is, but it's nice to have a happy ending to a story sometimes.

Hi Thunderdrones, I haven't needed you yet but I am sure I will.

What are your thoughts on spraying the electronics with corossion X ?

 

[Former Member]

You have to be careful with any additional protective coating. Corrosion X is a waterproof barrier, but it could cause components to overheat because they already have a slight coating on them. If you dont give them any air to breathe, they could malfunction.

 

[aaamedeus]

That's what I thought it could do

 

[TrayBoz]

Thunderdrones, just out of curiosity, how much is a whole new arm, just the part?

 

[Former Member]

The rear arms are $49 for OEM DJI part, the fronts are $59 because they have the antenna wire in them.

The rears are quite a bit easier to replace than the fronts.

 

[Drone Police]

All DJI electronics already have conformal coating, that's why revivals like this are possible.

Yes I know they have some coating protection from the elements but they aren't waterproof to the point of being able to submerge it under water and still work fine.

 

[Deleted member 21971]

While it was open, you should have applied corrosionX to the electronics to waterproof it.

I race RC gas boats. This stuff works great! Shop Online
I have put it in a RC RX and dropped it in a glass of water. Submerged, it still worked!! Most of the RC boat guys use it.

 

[aaamedeus]

I race RC gas boats. This stuff works great! Shop Online
I have put it in a RC RX and dropped it in a glass of water. Submerged, it still worked!! Most of the RC boat guys use it.

I know I have read that you guys use it. I wanted to use it on one of my 250 size racing quads but everyone kept saying that components would over heat if they can't breathe or get airflow. I would assume that the boats heat up the same way no.

 

[Lelantos]

...everyone kept saying that components would over heat if they can't breathe or get airflow.

Electronic components can happily run hotter than most people would think. Adding a coating may or may not cause a problem, it depends upon how close to the limit it was operating before adding the coating. The default answer is to not do it. However, in reality you can probably get away with it in most cases because an electronic design that is running normally at the upper limit of what it can handle is not a good design - there needs to be some margin. Of course if you coat it, then run it in an extreme environment you may run out of safety margin and exceed the limits of the component.

On a racing quad I wouldn't hesitate to try it. But on a Mavic, that already has a conformal coating, I would not add any more.

 

[Drone Police]

I know I have read that you guys use it. I wanted to use it on one of my 250 size racing quads but everyone kept saying that components would over heat if they can't breathe or get airflow. I would assume that the boats heat up the same way no.

Quad racers have applied it for years with no problems, and also with other products.
Some recreational fliers are starting to use it too. Could be quite useful if you get caught out in the rain, slam it into a bridge or whatever.
Some extra protection won't hurt. It's not exactly a heat sink or a thick coating.

 

[kona]

How hard is it to get replacement parts for the Mavic?