Brain cramp. I'd been flying it for an hour previously below sea level and through the highest tides in the world & with total focus & concentration.... then a little recreational flight and I drop my guard. If I hadn't of noticed the prop turbulence on the water, it would have been too late. But, that snapped me out of my slumber and I hit the lift button just in the nick of time. Photos to follow .......
Dunked her in the ocean .... within inches of a ditch
- Thread starter PeakXV
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That was way too close Peak, I don't recommend you clean your landing gear and camera that way again!
Haha, yeah I was thinking of patenting this cleaning method and offering a service ... but the insurance company's initial quote on the process, made me think otherwise.
dirkclod
Premium Pilot
Langage KENEscaped by the hair of your balls is an understatement.
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Undetermined. I know that it recorded until landing (about 37 seconds past the point of impact) and that aside from the visible drop on the outside of the lens, the rest of the video was crystal clear. I then powered down immediately because I didn't know if only the tip of the lens submerged or if it went past & beyond the gimbal motors. A few intermittent droplets were visible on the undercarriage but that may have been from the turbulence but nothing noticeable dripping out of any cavity/crevice. I then removed the covers and warmed it in the back seat of the car all afternoon, and have not powered up yet.
My only other experience was touching down in a little bit of snow, the snow stuck to the gimbal casing, and then quickly melted and dripped inside. This caused a short in the motor which took about 4 days at room temp, and with a hair dryer to rectify. It was 100% when it did come back to life. The difference with this one is saltwater and how water proof the camera lens is. I know that I left my Canon 6D DSLR out in a sprinkle of rain last year and the body (not waterproof) received $500 moisture damage to it. Lens are usually sealed to some degree though.
Not out of the woods(water) yet .... will keep you posted.
I have not yet powered up the phantom yet ...... but I've noticed that the battery onboard for that flight is not working 100% correctly. It seems to have a full charge and function okay, but there are no LED indicators lights turning on. It's possible that I sunk it as deep as the battery compartment or that spray from the turbulence entered the compartment ..... or it's a coincidental, untimely malfunction not related. Is there a way to read the battery data from that particular flight - it's a P3S?
If you have an upgraded account on healthy drones you can read the battery data there
Haha - dop(i)est in more ways than one. My cardiologist has just sent the bill for treating the arrhythmia caused by the event, and my psychotherapist a bill for the PTSD(phantom traumatized stress disorder). Otherwise fine! If I can ever ascertain that it sunk up to the battery compartment and still managed to escape & return to home .... I'll rename her the 'Houdini 7'.
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Pop the cap off the battery ,there's a little sticker under there to show it's been under water. Tiny round sticker should be red if you dipped your battery
How do you pop the battery cap? I fired it up today, lifted off, flew for 5 minutes, and recorded. All fine with the exception that there 'may' be some slight internal lens moisture. I'm 88% certain that there is not, though .... but I see a slight spot haze that could be either moisture or a natural sunny day saturation/reflection issue - will try again tomorrow in the 'magic light'.
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There is six little tabs all the way around it. Take tiny screwdrivers and stick one in each tab to hold it away from the body of the battery, once you pop that last tab loose the top will just pop off and the button will fall out on your counter (don't worry, the button is real simple and pops right back in) there will be for tiny holes on the top of the battery and one big hole. Get some bright light and look in the big hole towards the battery button area you should see a little white sticker or red if it's been wet. When it's time to put it back together set the button where it goes and slide the cap back on till it snaps
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I've had a camera get foggy lens before, you can remove the four screws on the back and wipe it out if you need to, if it's only on the lens. If it's gotten to the processor/optical lens then you'll probably have to change that. Which is no big deal you just find somebody with a broken camera, you dont even got to change ribbon cables. But I don't think he was in the water long enough so it's probably just moisture inside the protection lens
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