Post Crash Mud Cleanup

[Lister]

Pilot error resulted in this mess. Any advice on how to clean it up before I remove the props? The motor doesn't seem to have ingested any.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Wipe the dirt off with a damp cloth, a brush might flick stuff about, but always position the drone so that you are wiping a surface that IS BELOW a gap or opening, so that gravity will assist in trying to keep sand grains out of the innards. E.g, when cleaning the motors turn the drone up side down.
Leave removing the props until after the dirt has been removed and tape over the openings in and around the motor before you attempt to remove the screws.
I am not sure how much room you have to play with but, as you remove the screws, lift the propeller and blow or vacuum through the gap between them and the motor top, you don't want grit getting into those screw holes.
Once the props are removed peel the tape off the motors and then vacuum the motors.

 

[old man mavic]

if possible let it dry out near some gentle heat, then either vacuum or use an air puffer to blow away any debris avoid getting it wet if possible ,once it is dry a small brush or dry cloth , would be fine to start the process

 

[Lister]

Thanks, guys. Those tips all make good sense.

Here's what I did. Lost VLOS, assumed I was higher than I was, flew backwards at high speed in Sport mode. No object avoidance. : (

Lesson learned. Much chagrined.

Fortunately, the low-res video on the controller's SD card provided enough clues and it was relatively easy to find. Damage is apparently limited to that one area. That is one tough little bird.

15 sec

 

[Bramavic2]

I had a similar crash with a mavic 2 pro, but I needed to try to fly again in the same day. I washed the motor throughly on a tap (had even some mud inside the motor). I remembered a friend of mine that flies fpv and had a drone submerged for some minutes and it was able to fly again.

I tried to dry as much as I could with a towel and blowing air with my mouth inside the motor. I then proceeded to turn it on (didn't know if some water had affected the main body), but it seemed fine. I holded as hard as I could with one hand and with the other accelerated as fast as possible to generate the fastest RPMs.

I then flown it , about 2 meters high, and to my dismay, it fell down after less then a minute. After another look I insisted and it flew well again (from that episode on, no problems after many, many flights. I would suppose it was still damp in some circuits.

I'm not suggesting you do the same, but I hope it helps.

I spoke to a technician, about the mavic 2 vs mini 3, and he told be they have loads of mini 3 to try do fix. He seem to think being so light and flimsy is causing it (as opposed to a mavic 2). I thought it might also be more inexperience pilots that buy it vs the mavic.

 

[Lister]

Definitely the latter in my case.

 

[Lister]

I used three people, two brushes and a Dyson hand-held vacuum cleaner to remove the mud. One person to hold the drone, one to run the vac and one to wield the brushes. Success!

If the Mini 3 has an Achilles heel, it's the prop attachment design. Forget any idea of changing props in the field unless you have superhuman vision and a clean, dry, bright, work area.

I got my three props replaced, but only with the use of a jeweller's loupe, three screwdrivers, extreme caution, a fair amount of force and dexterity and extremely bright lighting. Those tiny screws are preposterous.

A much better design would use slightly larger screws and a Torx, Robertson or Allen key head. Philips head screws are notorious for camming out, destroying the engagement.

Enough snivelling. Now for a test flight.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

try something like this

Oxford LED Head Loupe LHL435 LP-1525 | at Zoro.

and I do mean like that, the exact same layout.
But shop around, from memory I bought mine at half that price, from somewhere on ebay.
They are not the best available but for cost and weight they are adequate and mean you can look with both eyes.

Incidentally, hopefully you mean 3 pairs of blades and not 3 individual blades, they are almost certainly weight-matched within a pair.

 

[Lister]

Test flight successful!

 

[Lister]

try something like this

Oxford LED Head Loupe LHL435 LP-1525 | at Zoro.

and I do mean like that, the exact same layout.
But shop around, from memory I bought mine at half that price, from somewhere on ebay.
They are not the best available but for cost and weight they are adequate and mean you can look with both eyes.

Incidentally, hopefully you mean 3 pairs of blade and not 3 individual blades, they are almost certainly weight-matched within a pair.

Good idea on that head loupe. Thanks, Yorkshire_pud. Mine is the kind you have to hold with your eye! Not fun.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Good idea on that head loupe. Thanks, Yorkshire_pud. Mine is the kind you have to hold with your eye! Not fun.

yep I know lol.