Water Landing a Disaster

[pwmullins]

Purchased one of the water landing gear on eBay with the 2 red pontoons. Had only 2 of the 4 clips in the package which connected the pontoons to the frame. No instructions and when I contacted the seller, they said no instructions were available. When I tried to land in a pond, the front end of the drone dove under the water for 20 seconds until I got to it.
Took off the upper shell and the bottom heat shield and cleaned everything with alcohol and put in a rice bag for 2 days. Reconnected and started back up and all lights and audio worked, got the motors working once, but then got error message : "Barometer Sys Error, Navigation Sy Error, Check Sys warning in App, Check IMU.
Anyone know how to do this. I just sent it back to the factory repair center and am waiting to hear how much it will cost for them to repair...frustrated.

an

 

[Point Zero]

That is a bad story to hear about. I think the seller has a lot to answer for. Thank you for sharing your experience, hopefully it will make others think twice before buying similar items!

Do you mind saying what brand they were?

Best of luck with the repair

 

[pwmullins]

Really don't have a brand, but there are several for sale on ebay with the red pontoons. I spotted one seller that was showing 4 clips , which is what the frame is designed to hold. The prudent thing was to check the buoyancy in the bathtub before you try the real water landing.

 

[LBC970]

"Water landing" a disaster. Haaaaa

Reminds me of this one time someone tossed a toaster in the bath tub. Apparently it wasn't built for water, much like the Mavic series of helicopters.

In learning how to fly real airplanes, you are taught that crashes aren't generally caused by one bad decision or failure, but by a chain of bad decisions and/or failures. Usualy on the pilots part. This is a great example of that.

 

[Jackcutrone]

I bought the floats that are four Styrofoam balls one for each leg. They seem pretty secure. I will test it in bathtub before using but I would think you have to ,and as slowly as possible.

BTW I researched drying agents one and kitty litter is far, far better than rice for drying something

 

[Buckshot Ranch]

"Water landing" a disaster. Haaaaa

Reminds me of this one time someone tossed a toaster in the bath tub. Apparently it wasn't built for water, much like the Mavic series of helicopters.

In learning how to fly real airplanes, you are taught that crashes aren't generally caused by one bad decision or failure, but by a chain of bad decisions and/or failures. Usualy on the pilots part. This is a great example of that.

Your response raises my curiosity?........how long have you been able to walk on water?

 

[Harro]

So is silica gel, the little bags of drying agent you get when purchasing some electronic equipment. Rice is not the best by a long shot.

 

[WithTheBirds]

Why would you need to deliberately land on water? I am genuinely interested. Preventing the sUAS sinking to allow for recovery makes sense but not needing to land.

 

[Jackcutrone]

I agree. I only got the float balls for flying over water just as a failsafe so I would not lose my drone by having it sink in the event of an emergency. I wouldn't land on water if I have a choice.

 

[NAVMAV]

We bought a 'Four Balls' Float System, mainly because four Leg Extenders were included.

And we DID test in 'Bathtub Mode' - it worked!

We'll be testing it in a 'Real Life' situation right after Cow One successfully hurdles the Moon.~

Rgds, NAVMAV

 

[Bigbird48]

I would never use kitty litter as a drying agent for my drone. All that fine dusty powder will get into the motors and the gimbal and you'll have a he'll of a time trying to get it all cleaned out.

 

[Jackcutrone]

I wouldn’t think the dust would be a problem unless you cover the drone with it. I was thinking more in a box with the drone sitting on top. Perhaps a towel covering the kitty litter. But then I hadn’t really thought of the dust issue.

 

[Former Member]

OP, your problem is a damaged IMU. DJI will prob replace the ESC board. But having been in the agua, they might just tell you the whole thing is toast.

And like a good neighbor.... ever hear that one? Anyone who tries to fly, take off or land in the water, should have Refresh or State Farm.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

When I tried to land in a pond, the front end of the drone dove under the water

Sounds like you may have still had forward motion when it touched down ?
Or, it was all simply unbalanced.

I agree with most comments here though, not many good reasons to want to land on water, but the floats are possibly a good idea if you have refresh and flying over water, so you can recover the drone. (That or GetterBack recovery float.)

 

[Ken K]

...........I researched drying agents one and kitty litter is far, far better than rice for drying something

Beware which type of kitty litter you use. There is no way I would use a clay based litter as it would most likely cake onto the components you are trying to dry and would be next to impossible to remove. I don't use litter based on other materials but would be very hesitant to use any of them to dry my mavic.
IMHO silica is the best and can be bought at florists and hobby/craft supply stores that sell it for drying flowers.

 

[RMSJR]

Damprid works magic on wet electronics. You can buy it at Home Depot or Lowe’s. Make sure to get unscented. Put the damprid with the drone in a large Ziploc bag or sealable container. It will remove all of the moisture. It may be too late in your situation but for future reference.

 

[Wipster]

Purchased one of the water landing gear on eBay with the 2 red pontoons. Had only 2 of the 4 clips in the package which connected the pontoons to the frame. No instructions and when I contacted the seller, they said no instructions were available. When I tried to land in a pond, the front end of the drone dove under the water for 20 seconds until I got to it.
Took off the upper shell and the bottom heat shield and cleaned everything with alcohol and put in a rice bag for 2 days. Reconnected and started back up and all lights and audio worked, got the motors working once, but then got error message : "Barometer Sys Error, Navigation Sy Error, Check Sys warning in App, Check IMU.
Anyone know how to do this. I just sent it back to the factory repair center and am waiting to hear how much it will cost for them to repair...frustrated.

an

Send it back to Dji and I hope you have their Ins. Btw I’m working on water landing gear would anyone be interested? I does a lot more.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Send it back to Dji and I hope you have their Ins. Btw I’m working on water landing gear would anyone be interested? I does a lot more.

Outboard ?

 

[Wipster]

Outboard ?

Sorry can’t say prototype almost ready. Patent app has been in for over a year now.

 

[Dragonfly]

I made water recovery floats for the Mavic Pro over 2 years ago and posted on Facebook. Also made videos off drone flying to show no ill effect on performance and videos off Mavic landing and taking of on water. I have been using my floats for 2 years and contrary to all the negitve nay sayers and commenters that said it would shorten the life of my batteries and mottors, my Mavic hasn't missed a beat since day one and is still on the same 3 batteries (1 battery with 167 cycles, 1 with 143 cycles and 1 with 126 cycles.) over 400 sorties and just like new.
The biggest thing with the floats design I use is the type of noodle, length of noodle and the positioning of the noodle to balance of drone. The setup weighs 100 grams and you loose about less than 2 minutes flight time over full battery.