Propeller not moving freely, how to fix?

[casper _ap]

Good day guys! Help needed! I landed the mavic pro drone in sand in desert on uneven surface, now the back propellers aren’t freely moving around.

Is there a way to blow out the sand or clean propeller? shake sand out to make it move freely again? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Former Member]

Turn the drone upside down and knock each motor on a table to get all the sand out. There is a small chance that you can get it all out of all the motors. Dont blow into the motors because it will just lodge the sand in further.

 

[slimcobra]

Maybe try a keyboard vacuum cleaner.

 

[Point Zero]

I would also use a wooden spoon to gently but firmly tap the sides of each motor once the AC is upside down on a table as already suggested. My fear is that some small grains have become wedged in. Hopefully the tapping will help dislodge them and with a vacuum you can suck up the loose grains. Its worth a shot imo

Best of luck

 

[casper _ap]

Wow guys, thank you so much for the quick and prompt replies will try it out now.

 

[Former Member]

OP, if you do decide to fly it after trying to get all the sand out, just be wary of any flight problems such as motor surges, or sputtering. Thats a sign that one or more of the motors arent happy.

Also, make sure that your gimbal is clear of sand, otherwise it could fry.

 

[casper _ap]

This is the desert I flew it in Huacachina, Peru. i landed it in the sand here. Hopefully I’ll be able to get the sand out of motors! and they will be free again.

 

[Former Member]

View attachment 63788

This is the desert I flew it in Huacachina, Peru. i landed it in the sand here. Hopefully I’ll be able to get the sand out of motors! and they will be free again.

Better learn how to hand catch.

 

[BD0G]

Ahhh, Peruvian Sand! That is the worst kind! An unforgiving beast of tormenting sand.

 

[Former Member]

Ahhh, Peruvian Sand! That is the worst kind! An unforgiving beast of tormenting sand.

Sounds like an excerpt from a Shakespeare play.

 

[casper _ap]

Better learn how to hand catch.

That sounds like a plan. Sounds scary though! will google tips on hand catch.

 

[bliksem]

Yes, hand catch it. It is actually very easy to do:
Let the drone hover at about shoulder height facing you. Slowly slide your flat hand under the drone from the front, it takes a bit of practice to do it without the drone reacting to your hand. Once your hand is under the drone slowly lift your hand until you feel the drone weight and keep lifting, the motors will shut off when it is happy.

 

[Kilrah]

Last time I landed a quad in sand (racing quad) it took me 2 hours to remove the motors and actually take them apart to clean them.

Flown my Inspire 1 and Mavic Pro many times in the desert since but always made sure to either hand launch/catch or have a carpet/cardboard to take off and land from.

 

[old man mavic]

one thing you could try with regards to using a vacuum the pipe with out a nozzle attached should just about fit over the top of the motor with the prop removed and will give a reasonable amount of suction to draw out the sand have it upside down when you try it

 

[Hosewater]

I believe that you could use a can of air duster ONLY on the props, once removed from the aircraft. Don't use it on the motors, it will force grains into them. After the props are clean, work the joints with your fingers and feel for crunchiness or binding. As others have stated - small keyboard vac is a good idea on the motors being careful of static electricity buildup. JM2C.

 

[MichiganMavic]

If you have a vehicle nearby, you always have floor mats that you can use for a landing pad. I travel a lot off road in my Land Cruiser and we have sugar sand in my area and learned quickly to stay clear of the sand.
Floor mats! There’s always plenty around [emoji6]
Beautiful area in your pics[emoji106]

 

[Don Renaud]

Not much good for this problem. In the future I suggest using leg extenders as well as landing platform when in sandy areas. My concern is with getting sand inside the cooling system. Hope this is useful.

 

[dixter]

if you can't get it out with air/vacuum then you take the battery out... get a cup of alcohol and dip the motors into the alcohol... flush out the motors... then blow dry to get most of the alcohol out and to let it all dry out you can repeat the drying with a hair dryer until you are sure its dry... it should work fine... if they are still hard to rotate then you have rotor damage instead... another issue sometimes is if the sand/dirt has iron content... then the dirt gets stuck onto the magnets.... then you will need a stronger air source to blow away the particles...