Report Your Over Water Failure

[irpnetgb]

I have posted this once before on another forum, but I thought I would emphasize a few things. I fly over quite a bit of water on the east coast of the US. To be safe I bought a pair of red pontoon water landing gear. If you look on eBay you will find several shown for around $15. Be ware: the pair with only one set of attachment clips were where I had my trouble. Many are shown with 4 attachment points but only have 2 clips. Do not buy these. There are some shown with 4 attachment points and with 4 clips. Unfortunately, I did not buy these, they are about $22. The problem is when my drone, Mavic Pro, landed in a small pond, the weight distribution was incorrect and it did a nose dive and turned upside down.
It was in the water about 20 seconds, but that was enough time to kill the battery and some water intrusion into the drone body.
I took it apart, both shells, used a hair dryer and also put it into a bag of rice for 2 days. When I tried to start it up, it ran for a few minutes, but showed some abnormalities in the software. I contacted DJI Customer Service and , of course, they said send it to repair services.
When repair service got it they tried to sell me a new one because they didn't work on water intrusion; the customer service rep could have told me that.
But the good news, when I got my drone back, I tried to start it up and it worked. I think the extra days away allowed it to completely dry out and I have flown it many times since with no issues. Who knew?

Personally, If ever my drone goes into water and I am lucky enough to be able to recover it, I will leave it turned off for a few weeks to dry out thoroughly. Water and electrics don't mix. The stories I read on here about people putting things in rice and silica gel bags, but turning on after 12/24 hours freaks me out. Just leave it, forget it for a few weeks then try it. Much more chance it will work fine. Of course, there could be some corrosion internally but definitely not a short circuit caused by water ingress!
I've flown my drone over water (canals, lakes) a few times and whilst I'm nervous as all hell it seemed to be just fine.

 

[Bob1956]

I have been planning on orbiting lighthouses on the Great Lakes once I get more practice. Most of them are in parks and no fly zones but a few of them are not.
But these water crash stories have me rethinking that idea. If my MP2 went in the drink, I won’t be getting it back. It would be some time before I could replace it, the Mavic Pro 3 or 4 will be in production then.

 

[dawgpilot]

I have been planning on orbiting lighthouses on the Great Lakes once I get more practice. Most of them are in parks and no fly zones but a few of them are not.
But these water crash stories have me rethinking that idea. If my MP2 went in the drink, I won’t be getting it back. It would be some time before I could replace it, the Mavic Pro 3 or 4 will be in production then.

I've logged countless hours flying my Mavic Air over water where I had zero chance of recovery if it ended up in the drink. I wouldn't let the occasional scary story dissuade you from getting some great shots. If you are truly worried, look into the State Farm personal articles policy for $50-$60 a year that doesn't require you to recover the drone if lost.

 

[Victorian Aerial Vision]

I have been planning on orbiting lighthouses on the Great Lakes once I get more practice. Most of them are in parks and no fly zones but a few of them are not.
But these water crash stories have me rethinking that idea. If my MP2 went in the drink, I won’t be getting it back. It would be some time before I could replace it, the Mavic Pro 3 or 4 will be in production then.

I have also flown over water countless hours with my MP, sometimes flying lower than I should, but I have never had an issue. From what I have heard the sensors get confused if you fly too low, but if you're going to be orbiting lighthouses you should have no problems.

 

[Meta4]

But these water crash stories have me rethinking that idea.

Your drone is no more likely to crash over water than on land.
It's actually safer flying over water as there are a lot less obstacles to hit.

 

[Nakita Mosquita]

I've logged countless hours flying my Mavic Air over water where I had zero chance of recovery if it ended up in the drink. I wouldn't let the occasional scary story dissuade you from getting some great shots. If you are truly worried, look into the State Farm personal articles policy for $50-$60 a year that doesn't require you to recover the drone if lost.

It’s a risk. I flew all over the island of Kaui this past winter particularly over the ocean and so many beautiful beaches. I logged perhaps 100 hours. No issues. Arrived back in Canada and flew it over a small body of water at an altitude if perhaps 50 feet and never saw the drone again. DJI replaced my 3 month old unit which it seems is a very rare occurrence. I’m starting to fly over water again but I tend to fly much higher then prior.