fC 40 Swim

[isle]

Well it finally happened had my first major crash. Lost battery power and had a hard landing on a roof where camera went flying and lost sight of quad and then after a little hunting found it in 6foot of water in the county park pool behind locked gates. Got lucky and got hold of county worker who also had a quad and he opened gate and pulled it out after 2 hours underwater. retrieve camera from roof, nothing broken on either camera or quad except being underwater for two hours. Have taken top half off and am sun drying any and all help, suggestions ideas would be appreciated. I smelled a electrical burn smell but everything looks ok but I do not have a clue, is it toast? how about battery is it toast? Birthday is Wednesday should I just ask girlfriend for an new one? Ha, Ha.

 

[PhantomFanatic]

I assumed that you removed the battery as soon as you could. Unless you have a LOT of desiccant powder, the best method is to take it apart, as you did, then immerse it in a large bag with a bunch of uncooked rice. Close the bag securely. Shake the bag so rice will get under everything. The rice will absorb any excess water.

I say excess as after I remove the battery, I use paper towels to soak up visible water, then the rice immersion. I've brought back every electronic item that I've accidently immersed, though it hasn't happened to my P2 - yet.

Keep it in the bag for 24 hours. If you see rice swelling near the Phantom, shake the bag so dry rice will replace it. If it won't dislodge, don't worry about it.

When done, take a very close look at everything. One extra step will help, if you feel comfortable doing it. Remove any screws from printed circuit boards, make a notation as to where they go back. This will allow the rice to easily get behind the board, unless there is enough room for this to happen without removing it. BUT, with double sided boards, you will need to examine the back side of each board for burnt areas or swollen components.

Do the same for your battery (the rice) and anything else that was dunked.
Next time you go to your pharmacy ask the pharmacy manager if they would mind saving desiccant packages for you. Most all medications arrive in large bottles and they just throw away these desiccant capsules. Both the pad type and the can style work better than rice.

It is a good idea to store them with guns, etc. I put a pouch in my phantom, in the battery compartment when I'm not flying. Put a Post it note there to remind you to remove it. I put some in camera bags and so many more uses and they are free!

 

[RDCF550]

Unless you're planning to eat the thing, keep the rice away from it. Rice can not get into places where the water can and already has gotten to, and you're likely to end up with it stuck in places you don't want it.

That thing should have been torn down completely and everything rinsed thoroughly with deionized water and then 100% alcohol. Alcohol absorbs water, as well as those both get into every place that the initial water did as they are also liquids and not something that's best served with some meat an veggies.

You could have a fragged ESC from the crash or from it being in the water, as anything that impairs the prop from spinning properly puts more load on the ESC and can fry them.

If the battery wasn't punctured then it could still be alright, though it needs the same treatment as the rest of the thing and the contacts in the connector should be cleaned. Even then that pack should be watched closely for any future corrosion at the connector as it could corrode at the crimp joints inside the connector where it can't be seen, and a very close watch kept on how it charges/discharges.

 

[PhantomFanatic]

Unless you're planning to eat the thing, keep the rice away from it. Rice can not get into places where the water can and already has gotten to, and you're likely to end up with it stuck in places you don't want it.

That thing should have been torn down completely and everything rinsed thoroughly with deionized water and then 100% alcohol. Alcohol absorbs water, as well as those both get into every place that the initial water did as they are also liquids and not something that's best served with some meat an veggies.

You could have a fragged ESC from the crash or from it being in the water, as anything that impairs the prop from spinning properly puts more load on the ESC and can fry them.

If the battery wasn't punctured then it could still be alright, though it needs the same treatment as the rest of the thing and the contacts in the connector should be cleaned. Even then that pack should be watched closely for any future corrosion at the connector as it could corrode at the crimp joints inside the connector where it can't be seen, and a very close watch kept on how it charges/discharges.

I totally disagree. Plus, I said it should be taken apart. Alcohol doesn't dissolve water, it has a high rate of evaporation.
The whole point WAS for rice to get where the water was. Rice absorbs water. It is the standard method of removing water in electrical devices.

I do happen to have a degree in Electronic Engineering. Plus, the rice is removed after it does its job. I didn't say that, but I thought it would be obvious. Every single drenched electronic device on the job and off the job, I have completely recovered it with this method. Decassient powder is better, but most don't have it available.

 

[jason]

Unless you're planning to eat the thing, keep the rice away from it. Rice can not get into places where the water can and already has gotten to, and you're likely to end up with it stuck in places you don't want it.

That thing should have been torn down completely and everything rinsed thoroughly with deionized water and then 100% alcohol. Alcohol absorbs water, as well as those both get into every place that the initial water did as they are also liquids and not something that's best served with some meat an veggies.

You could have a fragged ESC from the crash or from it being in the water, as anything that impairs the prop from spinning properly puts more load on the ESC and can fry them.

If the battery wasn't punctured then it could still be alright, though it needs the same treatment as the rest of the thing and the contacts in the connector should be cleaned. Even then that pack should be watched closely for any future corrosion at the connector as it could corrode at the crimp joints inside the connector where it can't be seen, and a very close watch kept on how it charges/discharges.

I totally disagree. Plus, I said it should be taken apart. Alcohol doesn't dissolve water, it has a high rate of evaporation.
The whole point WAS for rice to get where the water was. Rice absorbs water. It is the standard method of removing water in electrical devices.

I do happen to have a degree in Electronic Engineering. Plus, the rice is removed after it does its job. I didn't say that, but I thought it would be obvious. Every single drenched electronic device on the job and off the job, I have completely recovered it with this method. Decassient powder is better, but most don't have it available.

I spent 20 years repairing equipment Electronic Engineering designed but had no clue in what tell a repair tech in how to repair it. Sorry but that what happens with new product hit the market it's up to us repair techs find, repair and report findings. Boy am I glad that's behind me.

There is only one module in the phantom 2 that hasn't been sprayed with sealant to protect from moisture and that's naza module. The whole unit could have been dried with a hair drier without removing anything other then the battery. The chemical deposits left behind by water that can be a problem which paper towels, rice, nor alcohol will remove. FPV items are a different story.

Boy I have to be careful as I almost tripped over someones ego. :lol:

 

[RDCF550]

I totally disagree. Plus, I said it should be taken apart. Alcohol doesn't dissolve water, it has a high rate of evaporation.
The whole point WAS for rice to get where the water was. Rice absorbs water. It is the standard method of removing water in electrical devices.

I do happen to have a degree in Electronic Engineering. Plus, the rice is removed after it does its job. I didn't say that, but I thought it would be obvious. Every single drenched electronic device on the job and off the job, I have completely recovered it with this method. Decassient powder is better, but most don't have it available.

It may be your standard to mix food an electronics, but it's not mine. I also never said alcohol dissolves water, said it absorbs it, and guess what it also takes some of along with it when it evaporates?

The sealant on the PCB is never 100% and is a double edged sword deal. The boards inside the FC are also coated, but what it keeps out, it also traps in, and the longer it's under water the better chance it has to find a way under that.

 

[J.James]

I totally disagree. Plus, I said it should be taken apart. Alcohol doesn't dissolve water, it has a high rate of evaporation.
The whole point WAS for rice to get where the water was. Rice absorbs water. It is the standard method of removing water in electrical devices.

Well you are correct that dry or anhydrous alcohol dont dissolve water. Only water can dissolve water.
and alcohal has a very low evaporation point esp if its pure alc.

BUT what it does do providing its dry alcohol (ie contains now water) is it adsorbs water and it can get in to places the rice cant get in to and can rinse the water out of the tiny crevasses that rice can not. Rice can only absorb the water that is already evaporating out of the hard to reach places. Rice is not really a desiccant like silica gel is Tho it can some times work in a pinch. But it only absorbs water sort of like a paper towel does. and is not chemically attracted to water like silica gel or dry alc is. But the real reason why anhydrous alc is so good at getting water out of electronics is because it chemically bonds with any water it mixes with and its low evaporation rate makes it evaporate out off all the hard to reach places that water has a hard time evaporating out of at low temperatures. It also has a much small molecule then water and can get threw a tighter space then water can. and the best part about it is if any alc is still left behind its not conductive and will not cause a short. of you power some thing on while there's still water in it. Which is another reason its used so extensively in professionally cleaning and drying electronics. and the same property's are also why its used in labs to dry stuff and some times its even used to submurge electronics in a cooler with cold bath of alc and dry ice while running the devise much like how back in the day computer chip over clockers used to run mother boards and cpu's in a bath of dry ice and alcohol to cool them . Dry alcohol is so good at sucking up water if you even fill a container with it and leave it out in the open in a humid area the container will start to over flow as it sucks water out of the air.