Rain proofing project on throwaway mavic pro platinum

[Kingcoopa84]

So I have for whatever reason acquired a second Mavic pro platinum. I bought this second one used and have flown it for two hours so far. Flys great but there is vibration in the gimble. Replaced ribbon and it helped but still slightly noticeable....enough so you wouldn’t want for video. I was going replace the gimble and still maybe resell the thing for small profit. Instead I’ve decided it’d be fun to keep it and see just how far I can push it. I have since named my used mavic “Burner”

One thing I was thinking was seeing how rain resistant I can get Burner without sacrificing to much performance. The most obvious problem I see is the battery and top of aircraft which I think can be easily overcome by fabricating a one piece cover that can be easily applied to the top of a fully deployed Mavic. This shold mitigate much of the moisture getting into to battery and folding arms. Hopefully little impact to gps/rc signal...

Issues I’ve identified I need to think through are the air intake and the motors. I think the only air take is behind the gimble? If so this positioning would seem to help protect from some of the moisture being sucked into the aircraft. Don’t think anything can be done to completely protect against this but seems like a small modification could be designed to help reduce the impact. As far as the motors, brushless motors are already pretty much waterproof by themselves so not concerned with motor failure as much as the sensors used to control them and ensure steady flight....very important considering the conditions I plan to test this in. Still much to research on this subject.

So really just looking for any thoughts or suggestions on this project or any other ideas what to do with Burner...?

 

[Yoda007]

Ever heard of Liquipel? I believe that’s how it’s spelt. I learned about it a few years back but then nothing more. It would be interesting to see how effective that waterproofing treatment would be

 

[Lake_Flyer]

I think the Mavic Pro is already pretty rain proof. At least, I never heard of any Mavic Pro going down because of rain droplets entering the body and shorting the electronics. In fact, on youtube there are some videos of MP's flying fine in heavy rain with no problems during the flight and after. Droplets on the lens are usually the main problem, ruining your video all together. Maybe a clear UV lens with something like liquipel would be a solution.

 

[Ken Nash]

Flying in the rain is pushing your luck, don't you think.

 

[tictag]

There are many 'extreme use' videos on YouTube where the Mavic Pro is soaked. Every single time it drops out of the sky - the only difference is how long it lasts before doing so. Flying a drone in conditions that you know will cause it to drop out of the sky is highly irresponsible, 'burner' or not. I can't stop you doing this but I hope and pray you don't hurt anybody in the process.

 

[Lapeer20m]

I agree that in the torture test videos where mavic gets sprayed with a garden hose it tends to die.


However, I once got caught in an extremely heavy downpour with mavic 3000 feet away. I was pretty sure it was gonna fall out of the sky before it returned home. It landed safely and I’ve had no I’ll effects. This was nearly a year ago.

As a recaution, I put a new battery in mavic and just let it sit inside while powered on. While it seems counter intuitive, my thought process is that mavic gets super hot while powered on and not flying and this heat woukd help remove any moisture.

 

[Kingcoopa84]

There are many 'extreme use' videos on YouTube where the Mavic Pro is soaked. Every single time it drops out of the sky - the only difference is how long it lasts before doing so. Flying a drone in conditions that you know will cause it to drop out of the sky is highly irresponsible, 'burner' or not. I can't stop you doing this but I hope and pray you don't hurt anybody in the process.

Save your prayers chief, I mainly fly over my 600 acre ranch so if anyone gets hurt they are trespassing. But thanks for the unsolicited safety tips.

 

[Kingcoopa84]

I agree that in the torture test videos where mavic gets sprayed with a garden hose it tends to die.


However, I once got caught in an extremely heavy downpour with mavic 3000 feet away. I was pretty sure it was gonna fall out of the sky before it returned home. It landed safely and I’ve had no I’ll effects. This was nearly a year ago.

As a recaution, I put a new battery in mavic and just let it sit inside while powered on. While it seems counter intuitive, my thought process is that mavic gets super hot while powered on and not flying and this heat woukd help remove any moisture.

I am more interested in what can be done to help prevent the mavic from dropping out of the sky in real world conditions and using this one to test. Don't plan on spraying with a garden hose...lol

 

[Former Member]

Issues I’ve identified I need to think through are the air intake and the motors. I think the only air take is behind the gimble? If so this positioning would seem to help protect from some of the moisture being sucked into the aircraft. Don’t think anything can be done to completely protect against this but seems like a small modification could be designed to help reduce the impact.

You are way overthinking this. Put the gimbal bubble on. That wont let much rain get in and will not impede airflow to the fan.

As far as water repellent, here's my suggestion, cost around $0.25 for a Glad ziploc plus maybe another penny or two for magic tape to wrap it so that the props dont hit the ziploc. (Dont try this at home, it's a joke!)

 

[dbyantis]

You are way overthinking this. Put the gimbal bubble on. That wont let much rain get in and will not impede airflow to the fan.

As far as water repellent, here's my suggestion, cost around $0.25 for a Glad ziploc plus maybe another penny or two for magic tape to wrap it so that the props dont hit the ziploc. (Dont try this at home, it's a joke!)

View attachment 38392 View attachment 38393

New aspect for your business, waterproofing drones.

 

[Former Member]

New aspect for your business, waterproofing drones.

The postage would be more than the charge for waterproofing it.

 

[Former Member]

New aspect for your business, waterproofing drones.

The Mavicondom.™

 

[colinfowler]

 

[Chip]

"Burner." I like it! I am interested in your experiment and I hope you let us know what you find out. I saw a Youtube video where a guy took apart the drone (not a Mavic), sprayed everything with some commercial product (not WD40 but something similar), reassembled drone and then showed how it operated virtually underwater (at least for a while). Maybe not as safe as the umbrella but less effect on aerodynamics!

 

[Rotorcrafty]

So I have for whatever reason acquired a second Mavic pro platinum. I bought this second one used and have flown it for two hours so far. Flys great but there is vibration in the gimble. Replaced ribbon and it helped but still slightly noticeable....enough so you wouldn’t want for video. I was going replace the gimble and still maybe resell the thing for small profit. Instead I’ve decided it’d be fun to keep it and see just how far I can push it. I have since named my used mavic “Burner”

One thing I was thinking was seeing how rain resistant I can get Burner without sacrificing to much performance. The most obvious problem I see is the battery and top of aircraft which I think can be easily overcome by fabricating a one piece cover that can be easily applied to the top of a fully deployed Mavic. This shold mitigate much of the moisture getting into to battery and folding arms. Hopefully little impact to gps/rc signal...

Issues I’ve identified I need to think through are the air intake and the motors. I think the only air take is behind the gimble? If so this positioning would seem to help protect from some of the moisture being sucked into the aircraft. Don’t think anything can be done to completely protect against this but seems like a small modification could be designed to help reduce the impact. As far as the motors, brushless motors are already pretty much waterproof by themselves so not concerned with motor failure as much as the sensors used to control them and ensure steady flight....very important considering the conditions I plan to test this in. Still much to research on this subject.

So really just looking for any thoughts or suggestions on this project or any other ideas what to do with Burner...?

So I have for whatever reason acquired a second Mavic pro platinum. I bought this second one used and have flown it for two hours so far. Flys great but there is vibration in the gimble. Replaced ribbon and it helped but still slightly noticeable....enough so you wouldn’t want for video. I was going replace the gimble and still maybe resell the thing for small profit. Instead I’ve decided it’d be fun to keep it and see just how far I can push it. I have since named my used mavic “Burner”

One thing I was thinking was seeing how rain resistant I can get Burner without sacrificing to much performance. The most obvious problem I see is the battery and top of aircraft which I think can be easily overcome by fabricating a one piece cover that can be easily applied to the top of a fully deployed Mavic. This shold mitigate much of the moisture getting into to battery and folding arms. Hopefully little impact to gps/rc signal...

Issues I’ve identified I need to think through are the air intake and the motors. I think the only air take is behind the gimble? If so this positioning would seem to help protect from some of the moisture being sucked into the aircraft. Don’t think anything can be done to completely protect against this but seems like a small modification could be designed to help reduce the impact. As far as the motors, brushless motors are already pretty much waterproof by themselves so not concerned with motor failure as much as the sensors used to control them and ensure steady flight....very important considering the conditions I plan to test this in. Still much to research on this subject.

So really just looking for any thoughts or suggestions on this project or any other ideas what to do with Burner...?

I have thought about this recently.
If you want to dedicate this as a rain flyer only and you dont mind sacrificing foldability, here are a few untried suggestions.
Silicone seal the folding joints. If you don't want to do a permanent seal, use plenty of Vaseline to prevent water ingress each flight. (Could be a bit messy and remove as much as possible post flight, as it will collect dirt)
Fabricate an O ring seal under the battery perimeter. Or use cling film and silicone sealer to mold a seal onto the AC body.
Clear tape over the battery display and button.
Fly with the cover on the camera. You're not going to get good video ayway with the rain on the lens if you dont. This is very important. I once crashed and my MP landed in a very shallow puddle but the splashed water was sucked into the AC by the fan and, upon disassembly, was found in every nook and cranny and caused a lot of corrosion. Don't think rainwater is without contaminents. Also, rainy conditions, other than in the tropics, are usually cool so the electronics are not likely to overheat from reduced airflow.
Clear tape over the front sensors and turn off collision sensing.
All other joints can be clear taped. Use a thin tape as airflow may lift it in flight.

Thats my 2 cents, anyway, without actually looking at the AC.
I'll post more as I think of things.

Eric

 

[Rotorcrafty]

As soon as I pressed "Post reply" I thought of something else.
Motors.
The are somewhat protected by the props but post flight, I would blow through them with dry compressed air. There are air-duster aerosol cans for this. I would exercise some caution with this as I dont know the exact construction of the motor housing and you might blow water into the leg. As the antennae are mounted in the front legs this may cause some attenuation.

 

[LivinLarge]

Here's how to protect electronics:

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[Rotorcrafty]

I see you've never had a MP open.
There are many different modules on it. Some moisture proofing is already present but on the one I had water in wasnt 100 % covered where it was applied. Also there are a lot of RF circuits that wont like liquids that will change the dialectric constant and add stray capacitance. I dont think you can compare the electronics in the MP with tbat in the video. Not to be a total naysayer here, you could selectively apply those products to some PCB's but I would apply judiciosly with a brush but it wont protect the inside of the GPS or WIFI modules.
IMHO I would prevent water ingress.

Eric

 

[LivinLarge]

I see you've never had a MP open.
There are many different modules on it. Some moisture proofing is already present but on the one I had water in wasnt 100 % covered where it was applied. Also there are a lot of RF circuits that wont like liquids that will change the dialectric constant and add stray capacitance. I dont think you can compare the electronics in the MP with tbat in the video. Not to be a total naysayer here, you could selectively apply those products to some PCB's but I would apply judiciosly with a brush but it wont protect the inside of the GPS or WIFI modules.
IMHO I would prevent water ingress.

Eric

I have built several waterproof, floating quads. The best solution is always to prevent ingress of water. There are some challenges in doing this especially for the Mavic. You must have venting to atmosphere for the barometer and you must provide cooling for the ESC's and some other electronics.
CorrosionX works well for many circuits. 24 hour epoxy or acrylic conformal coating works well for ESC's and RF circuits. Some of the coatings do add insulation and could create heat problems.
The camera would be a big problem as there is no easy way to make it waterproof without adding weight which would screw up the gimbal balance.
The Mavic guts could be transplanted to a waterproof shell but the downward sensors would not be usable and some kind of heat sink would be required to replace the forced air cooling.

 

[fpv3d]

Btw FYI - flying with the gimbal bubble installed WILL most definitely impede air flow to the fan as that covers the air intake to the cooling system that is located directly behind the gimbal. That’s exactly where the fan is located. So, Bottom line, NEVER fly with the gimbal bubble installed or you could easily overheat the ESC and FC board. Period.