Unintentional Aquatic Touch and Go Disaster (Footage)

[ochszy]

We were on our annual Fishing trip on the Missouri River this year for my Grandpas Birthday! I thought i'd take the Mavic Air 2 out with us for some footage to keep since my Grandpa is getting old! Long story short, I've been playing too much Warzone lately I use a remote controller for. In the game the left stick controls your movement (forward, backward, left, right) so when trying to do a 180 shoot of the boat, as i passed over top i went to pull the drone back to get the boat back into frame, I immediately out of muscle memory jammed my left stick down and also immediately realized I made a huge mistake as i was at low altitude already and the Mavic doesn't have an immediate response time and I know there's a bit of a delay in camera feed. I pulled the altitude stick back up and the camera was facing the front right arm of the drone and water was everywhere! We stopped the boat and I flew the drone in and it was soaking wet! I pulled the battery and immediately wiped all water off of the drone. I then held the drone out the top of the boat for about 30 minuted in order to dry it out.

Its now sitting with the battery that was in the incident beside it in a bowl of rice and will remain there until I feel it safe. I have DJI Care, but iv'e already used one of my replacements (testing the obstacle avoidance feature to its max while doing a Corvette shoot). So id like to see if i can get by drying it out myself as it flew back to the boat just fine after the wreck. Not saying that means everything will be fine and dandy, but id say that's a better sign than the Drone completely wanking out mid air afterwards. Here's pretty much the exact steps I've been taking. You can survive water damage...

Anyways, here's what you guys came for!

I will update the thread as to what happens! If the rice doesn't work, back to the DJi factory it goes for repairs!

 

[Thomas B]

I’d skip the rice. It’s the long term corrosion that will be the problem.
Interested to see how things work out for you.

 

[ochszy]

I’d skip the rice. It’s the long term corrosion that will be the problem.
Interested to see how things work out for you.

Can the rice cause long term corrosion? Or are you just saying the water? Im interested as well, if i take it out first flight and it acts odd what so ever, I'm going to file the claim.

 

[Thomas B]

Can the rice cause long term corrosion? Or are you just saying the water? Im interested as well, if i take it out first flight and it acts odd what so ever, I'm going to file the claim.

Rice is not the problem. Slow long term corrosion is though... I would expect early failure of the drone.

 

[ochszy]

Rice is not the problem. Slow long term corrosion is though... I would expect early failure of the drone.

I see! Okay, Well the plan is now with that information. I'm going to try and dry it out, fly it until failure and pray that the failure isn't until June 2021 when I can renew DJI Care. Time will tell!

 

[Tentoes]

We were on our annual Fishing trip on the Missouri River this year for my Grandpas Birthday! I thought i'd take the Mavic Air 2 out with us for some footage to keep since my Grandpa is getting old! Long story short, I've been playing too much Warzone lately I use a remote controller for. In the game the left stick controls your movement (forward, backward, left, right) so when trying to do a 180 shoot of the boat, as i passed over top i went to pull the drone back to get the boat back into frame, I immediately out of muscle memory jammed my left stick down and also immediately realized I made a huge mistake as i was at low altitude already and the Mavic doesn't have an immediate response time and I know there's a bit of a delay in camera feed. I pulled the altitude stick back up and the camera was facing the front right arm of the drone and water was everywhere! We stopped the boat and I flew the drone in and it was soaking wet! I pulled the battery and immediately wiped all water off of the drone. I then held the drone out the top of the boat for about 30 minuted in order to dry it out.

Its now sitting with the battery that was in the incident beside it in a bowl of rice and will remain there until I feel it safe. I have DJI Care, but iv'e already used one of my replacements (testing the obstacle avoidance feature to its max while doing a Corvette shoot). So id like to see if i can get by drying it out myself as it flew back to the boat just fine after the wreck. Not saying that means everything will be fine and dandy, but id say that's a better sign than the Drone completely wanking out mid air afterwards. Here's pretty much the exact steps I've been taking. You can survive water damage...

Anyways, here's what you guys came for!

I will update the thread as to what happens! If the rice doesn't work, back to the DJi factory it goes for repairs!

Look for a cat litter that contains silica gel.

 

[coachdooley]

Bro.. I'd grab another 115.00 battery ...keep the old battery for doing stationary in house adjustments ..wouldn't get up in the air ..cuz if it fails at 200' ouch!!! ...also I'm MDK730 in W-
Zone LOL

 

[Tony McDrone]

I crashed my PV2+ into my swimming pool last week. I opened up the bird immediately, blasted it with compressed air, then used a heat gun to dry it further more. I let it sit out in the SoCal 95 degree sun for another couple of days. She’s airworthy again...

...but yesterday I crashed it from about 100 feet high while trying to fly in manual mode. Manual mode is insane. Imagine a Phantom that can do aerobatics!!! I’ve always been a bit nervous flying in that mode, but it is such a thrill flying with no limits other than the drones actual capabilities. My PV2+ has survived a hard fall and a dunk in the pool, both in past week. Also, a flyaway and being held for ransom in 2014. Is there a drone Hall of Fame?

Time to get back to the safety of flying, with my MA2. There are so many features built in for safety, that we take flying for granted. DJI has spoiled us all, and all we do is ask them for more.?✌?

 

[ochszy]

Look for a cat litter that contains silica gel.

I crashed my PV2+ into my swimming pool last week. I opened up the bird immediately, blasted it with compressed air, then used a heat gun to dry it further more. I let it sit out in the SoCal 95 degree sun for another couple of days. She’s airworthy again...

...and yesterday I crashed from about 100 feet high while trying to fly in manual mode. Manual mode is insane. Imagine a Phantom that can do aerobatics!!! I’ve always been a bit nervous flying in that mode, but it is such a thrill flying with no limits other than the drones actual capabilities. My PV2+ survived the hard fall and a dunk in the pool, all in past week. Is there a drone Hall of Fame?

Time to get back to the safety of flying, with my MA2. There are so many features built in for safety, that we take flying for granted. DJI has spoiled us all, and all we do is ask them for more.?✌?

I do a lot of boat shots and would like to add to the long list of spoiled safety nets haha! If I could set a minimum altitude, like 4-5 meters, that would be perfect!

 

[passedpawn]

Wow, close one! Holy cow.

 

[hiflyer201]

yeah...thats a gruesome video alright. When you get into a how close can I get contest..the best you can do is tie. Good luck! with drying it but...I'd send it in..you're never going to trust it...and for good reason

 

[ParhamPBaker]

Why send it in? Fly till it crashes THEN send it in! Rice is an old wives tale. I agree about the battery. That I'd not try again.
Pelt the drone gently with a hairdryer for quite a while from every angle and in every orifice and then get desiccant (silica gel) and put it into a large baggie with a bunch of those little packets for a couple of days in a warm spot.

 

[ochszy]

Okay, so after sitting in rice with a bunch of silica packets i found lying around for 24 hours and then sitting in the sun for 2. Everything runs great, I ran through all of the calibrations and they all checked good. You guys are correct, I cant trust it! But as ParhanPBaker said, I'm going to wait until it acts weird or malfunctions. I live in a super rural area and don't film with others who aren't involved in the shoot or anywhere near them. As for pooping out over water, I think I'm going to make some sort of flotation device so if it does fail over water I can retrieve it and send it in.


Here's the video of the first Test Flight:

I tested all modes and their max speeds at about 100 feet and it did great. It may be a sand hourglass waiting to die, but for now I'm happy. If it makes it to July 2021 ill be even happier haha!

I'm super impressed its still in working order what so ever with how many touchy electronics are on board.

 

[ochszy]

Also, just to add a little humor, my Grandpa thought a massive fish was jumping out of the water when my drone hit, when it happened my camera feed cut out for a second and i wasn't sure if it was in the water or airborne still. Had a mini heart attack, I'm sure my Grandpa did too when he saw this supposed fish take flight ?


Also, after re-watching the crash a few times, I'm super Impressed with DJI's Gyro in the Mavic Air 2. I would assume when it hit the water at that speed it would of flipped over. I'm assuming the Gyro stabilization kicked in and tried to keep it upright.

 

[Capt KO]

Enjoyed the video ?. Great save. Don't know the reason for the sticks orientation. It's opposite from an airplane. "Pull back for up, forward down". Took a while to come natural. Think your bird is fine but might need an 'accident' near the end of 'refresh'.
Good luck, have fun. (with grandpa)

 

[Tomcat16]

We were on our annual Fishing trip on the Missouri River this year for my Grandpas Birthday! I thought i'd take the Mavic Air 2 out with us for some footage to keep since my Grandpa is getting old! Long story short, I've been playing too much Warzone lately I use a remote controller for. In the game the left stick controls your movement (forward, backward, left, right) so when trying to do a 180 shoot of the boat, as i passed over top i went to pull the drone back to get the boat back into frame, I immediately out of muscle memory jammed my left stick down and also immediately realized I made a huge mistake as i was at low altitude already and the Mavic doesn't have an immediate response time and I know there's a bit of a delay in camera feed. I pulled the altitude stick back up and the camera was facing the front right arm of the drone and water was everywhere! We stopped the boat and I flew the drone in and it was soaking wet! I pulled the battery and immediately wiped all water off of the drone. I then held the drone out the top of the boat for about 30 minuted in order to dry it out.

Its now sitting with the battery that was in the incident beside it in a bowl of rice and will remain there until I feel it safe. I have DJI Care, but iv'e already used one of my replacements (testing the obstacle avoidance feature to its max while doing a Corvette shoot). So id like to see if i can get by drying it out myself as it flew back to the boat just fine after the wreck. Not saying that means everything will be fine and dandy, but id say that's a better sign than the Drone completely wanking out mid air afterwards. Here's pretty much the exact steps I've been taking. You can survive water damage...

Anyways, here's what you guys came for!

I will update the thread as to what happens! If the rice doesn't work, back to the DJi factory it goes for repairs!

You may want to just take out the battery and every thing else you can remove and let it sit for a few days, maybe use a blow dryer to help dry it. This always works with any electronics I get wet.
Anyway, good luck.

 

[BubbaDan]

Look for a cat litter that contains silica gel.

yes, this is more effective. Rice does not absorb water without heat!! Test it sometime, put minute rice in a pan with water and do not heat, check it in an hour, rice will still be rock hard.

 

[Nodak7]

Did it dunk in salt or fresh water?

 

[BubbaDan]

Did it dunk in salt or fresh water?

He said a trip on the

Missouri River​

, I'm going to go ahead and assume it's FRESH WATER!! hehehehehe

 

[Nodak7]

He said a trip on the
Missouri River
, I'm going to go ahead and assume it's FRESH WATER!! hehehehehe

Oops didn't see that thanks! Makes a difference!