Calling all WaterProofers! Water Proof Your Drone

Introduction:
I'd like to start a constructive thread on achieving the goal of water proofing a drone.
I've come across threads in the past, and sadly to say there was a lot of naysayers & negative posts of discouragement toward those who were asking.

If you participate in this thread please be constructive. I believing water proofing is possible for DJI drones, and drones alike. This is an important obstacle to address for the future of drones, and drone delivery, as delivery systems will need to be able to fly in rain.

Objective:
To waterproof a drone enough to fly in rain to heavy rain for 15+min, if we can take it further than that as in being even more wet for longer, even better! While sustaining stationary flight in 30+MPH wind.

Open to waterproofing any DJI Drone other than older models such as p2, p1.

What has previously been done:
There is several chemicals on the market that can be applied to electronic equipment to make them water proof. There was a company years back that used to waterproof older Dji drones with liquidpel but they no longer offer this service on newer models, not really sure why, but perhaps it was the complexity?

Questions:
Many questions remain, such as what parts needs to be waterproof, details on rotors and the type, and if they need to be waterproofed etc..

Your invite!
This is an open invitation to the drone community to any who would like to contribute to this community project, and especially to those would like to waterproof your done, so please chime in if this interests you or if you have some ideas, suggestions, or questions relating to this main topic. Please keep this thread focused on the main topic of this thread. I will also try to keep a running list of solutions, ideas, and questions that still need to be answered.


My shopping experience & Project Requirements:
  • Fly in Heavy Rain for 12-15 minutes
  • Maintain and hold position in general area in windspeeds of 30+MPH
  • Carry payload of at least 1+lb.
While I hope this thread serves the needs of other waterproofers. I will detail out what I'm looking for.
I'm looking for a drone that I can buy, or mod that can fly in rain, and sustain a decent amount of wind around 15MPH+. I'm not really interested in a gimbal or camera, all though that would be nice, it should be able to lift at least a 1lb, or more.

I'm attracted to the DJI drones because they are feature rich, large community etc... I've looked at other drones like the new Swell Pro, but it looks kind of cheap for the price and what you get. I've also looked at the QuadH2O brand but they are too expensive... :/

Open to have any suggestions of comparable drones that I could fly in the rain.





Thanks,
The interior PCA's can be conformal coated (if they're not already). The motors are three lead devices, no hall effect sensors or shaft encoders. Not much to the motors themselves. On my P4, with the props on, I can't see into the motors. Considering the simplicity of the motors themselves, and the care DJI took to protect the motors, they should hold up OK in moderate rain. The only thing I may worry about are the bearings (or whatever the motors use). You can always get a replacement motor and run it in distilled water. No kidding, that is what I would do. Then there's the camera/gimbal. The lens is protected by the skylight filter. The ribbon cable interconnects are another point of entry for moisture. Thick conformal coat (Humiseal) would probably seal up the ribbon cables. Then there's the gimbal motors themselves. They're brushless, but the possibility exists that the gimbal motors use some sort of encoder. I think this may be the case as gimbal positioning motors must position themselves much more precisely than the motors that spin the props (which don't have to position themselves at all), the processor would require more feedback than the back-emf three wire scheme that the prop motors use to send data to the processor. If the gimbal motors have more than three conductors running into them then there is some sort of encoder in there that may not take kindly to water. Perhaps you can construct some sort of skirt (or whatever) to protect the camera/gimbal assembly.

It's unlikely that there is an off the shelf solution available, at least nothing affordable. Keeping the bird stable in 15mph winds is possible. Keeping the bird stable with water pushing against it? Who knows?

FWIW, I've been thinking about flying the bird in the rain and snow.

Cheers
 
None of those links has anything to do with waterproofing a Phantom which is what the OP topic is about.
The OP mentioned that he had looked at the QuadH2O and that it was too expensive. These are some others that might be in his price range. Also you could put the Phantom guts in one of these shells. That's how I made my first waterproof quad.
I am doubtful that all of the OP's goals can be met with a Phantom as is. Just offering some alternate solutions.
 
Water profing the camera could be done, like in how you build a transparent bag around the entire gamble. Like how the early surfing photography did it! Wouldn't add much weight and could allow full motion of the gimbal. Just need some Rain-x on the exterior and the props would keep it clear
 
Phantom P1
 
I've just purchased conformal coating silicone from ebay. when it arrives in about two weeks I will be dis assembling my p3p and coating flight control board, gps and gimble control board as well as the ibattery boards. Looks to be a big job patience and care it shut turn out well. Heat is my major concern with this project. To make the bird float, sealing the vents off and motor mounts is a must. That said, the vents in the aircraft must be there for more than just looks so temperature testing will be the next step. Ideas or suggestions are welcome as are questions. Very much looking forward to testing it out at the lake.
 
Hmm. I've flown my P3 in rain and snow and never had any problem. Onetime I lost it in the woods in the snow for a week, and when it was finally found, it worked fine. I did kill a drone by crashing it into the water, but a friend of mine did something similar and put it in a bag of kitty litter for a week and it somehow was ok. I think they're pretty amazingly sturdy pieces of hardware (now the software is another story...).
Brian
www.skytubelive.com
www.instagram.com/skytubelive
 
I've just purchased conformal coating silicone from ebay. when it arrives in about two weeks I will be dis assembling my p3p and coating flight control board, gps and gimble control board as well as the ibattery boards. Looks to be a big job patience and care it shut turn out well. Heat is my major concern with this project. To make the bird float, sealing the vents off and motor mounts is a must. That said, the vents in the aircraft must be there for more than just looks so temperature testing will be the next step. Ideas or suggestions are welcome as are questions. Very much looking forward to testing it out at the lake.
Some thoughts from my experience:
Sealing the flight controller with a conformal coating may be a problem. The barometer needs to be exposed to atmospheric pressure to maintain altitude. If you can locate the barometer chip, you could cover it with a breathable fabric such as gortex or neoprene.
Sealing the shell completely will cause the same problem. Heat from the ECS's and flight controller will increase pressure in the shell and give a false reading to the barometer, so again you would need to vent to atmosphere.
I don't think the Phantom has enough volume to float just with a sealed shell. You may have to add additional flotation. You could test this by placing the Phantom in a thin plastic bag. sucking out all of the air, and then placing it in a bathtub or sink full of water.
As far as cooling the ESC's, you can add heat sinks to the MOSFETs and conduct the heat to the outside. This was easy to do on earlier models where the ESC's were not mounted on the main board but located in the arms.
Good luck with your project. Look forward to seeing your results.
 
Thanks for your insight. Barometer has been on my mind as well and I actually considered not touching that board at all but instead just sealing the perimeter of shielding below it. I did not consider heat build up = pressure however so thanks very much for that. I will do your float test idea as I agree that the volume may be tight. I have made a pair of good foam rubber floats for the landing gear so if I can't use heat sinks or other method of cooling well at least the bird wont sink if it tips over. I will post the results.

Cheers!
 
Hmm. I've flown my P3 in rain and snow and never had any problem. Onetime I lost it in the woods in the snow for a week, and when it was finally found, it worked fine. I did kill a drone by crashing it into the water, but a friend of mine did something similar and put it in a bag of kitty litter for a week and it somehow was ok. I think they're pretty amazingly sturdy pieces of hardware (now the software is another story...).
Brian
www.skytubelive.com
www.instagram.com/skytubelive
I will be filming on the lake for the boating season so as I am almost certain (like cell phone) to put it in the lake. Preparing for the worst I guess. I'll let you know how it works out.
 
Phantomrain.org Now you can fly your Phantom in the rain.

We have now over 150 flights with the Phantom in the Pouring Rain using the Phantom Wet Suits:

Choose your design , and make your drone functional in the rain / Snow and Fog

Screen Shot 2018-12-05 at 5.27.26 PM.png
 
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Yes but you can't waterproof a gimble and the mechanical movement could cause critical failure of the lubricated parts with water ingress.
The machine and ALL its part would need to be IP rated.
 

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