Phantom 3 spends 2 hours in the lake

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The battery light was still blinking when I found it in 12' of murky water (50 degree water!)

The battery died shortly thereafter. The board had lots of greenish/blue buildup I rinsed it in warm water and used a toothbrush to clean it off. It looks pretty perfect on both side now.

Completely disassembled, blew out all the water with compressed air and dried everything with a hairdryer on low, then let it sit in a bag with damp rid for 2 days.


Anyhow to the point- new battery powers on, but the drone does absolutely nothing- no sounds, not movement from gimbal.. nothing.

Any suggestions? Can I do some type of diagnostic if I connect it directly to usb? I so sad... lol
 
Hey guys- thanks for the replies.
It was fresh water, but it was pretty nasty stuff. I have taken everything apart again, and I washing in alcohol with a paintbrush. I found one spot of green still on the large square chip under the compass. I'm going to let it dry a couple of days and try it again.

Here is where I found it
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If the battery ejected on crash then the drone may of survived. If you found it with the battery on then its highly likely that the main board is cactus.
 
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Whenever electronics get soaking wet, first let it dry, then submerge all the electronic parts and wash them in a bin of distilled water. That's the only thing you should wash electronics with. A friend of mine once had an expensive (wooden framed) electronic piano that sat under a basement window years ago that got drenched due to a torrential rain with the window left open. It wouldn't work after drying out either so he took it all apart, washed the boards with distilled water and dried it out with a hair dryer.

After a few days of washing and drying the boards it worked fine. DISTILLED water only.

Bud
ps
I do believe that in your case, something was fried because the power was on when it hit the water. Like one poster said, if the battery had ejected on impact, it may have ended differently. Really sorry this happened to you. I hope you're able to obtain another one.
 
Whenever electronics get soaking wet, first let it dry, then submerge all the electronic parts and wash them in a bin of distilled water. That's the only thing you should wash electronics with. A friend of mine once had an expensive (wooden framed) electronic piano that sat under a basement window years ago that got drenched due to a torrential rain with the window left open. It wouldn't work after drying out either so he took it all apart, washed the boards with distilled water and dried it out with a hair dryer.

After a few days of washing and drying the boards it worked fine. DISTILLED water only.

Bud
ps
I do believe that in your case, something was fried because the power was on when it hit the water. Like one poster said, if the battery had ejected on impact, it may have ended differently. Really sorry this happened to you. I hope you're able to obtain another one.

I wonder if placing cleaned parts in a sealed bag with a few gel silica bags would also help. I do this all the time when other electronic equipment that got "too wet for comfort."
 
I sure can't hurt, but you still MUST wash the parts in DISTILLED water. There's too much dirt in regular water for electronics.

Bud


I wonder if placing cleaned parts in a sealed bag with a few gel silica bags would also help. I do this all the time when other electronic equipment that got "too wet for comfort."
 
Although, I think your parts are most likely fried there is one thing I've had some success with, a dehumidifier. I have a big rectangular dehumidifier in our basement and fashioned a large box that can go around it. I cut a piece out for the back of the unit to get air. I've put parts inside the box and let the dehumidifier run for a couple of days. Seems to suck every drop of water from the components. I do agree with the other poster who emphasized using distilled water to wash the parts first. Just a thought.

Jerry
 
If you have forced air heating with floor vets you can place it on or near the vet with a towel or blanket over it and let it dry out.

I have a trusted keyboard I have been using for about 10 years now that I decided to try and clean all the crud off. Well I ended up darn near washing the thing in the sink. After towel drying I plugged it in and when I pressed the letter A I got 4^7! Well SOB I messed this thing up! Nope I wrapped it in a towel and put it in the oven on the lowest setting which I believe is under 200f. Dried it right up in about 30mins. Plugged it back in and good to go although it has a new coffee spill on it already.
 
Mine spent several hours in murky water before I found it. The yellow lights were blinking (TX was off), so the battery was in and powered up. I pulled it out of the water, hosed it off, took it apart, and put it in my toaster oven at 150° for two hours. When I put it all back together, it worked just fine.

One word of advice... Tell your wife/girlfriend to turn the phone 90° before starting to record video. Unless of course, you have your HDTV set vertically on your wall.
 
Hey guys- thanks for the replies.
It was fresh water, but it was pretty nasty stuff. I have taken everything apart again, and I washing in alcohol with a paintbrush. I found one spot of green still on the large square chip under the compass. I'm going to let it dry a couple of days and try it again.

Here is where I found it
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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
gezz I would cry [emoji31]

Sent from my SPH-L720 using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Well, it seems to officially be dead-
I have the board completely cleaned and dry, but it is not sending any power to anything- no beeps, no fans no lights- nothing. I have power on the board beside the main inputs, but nothing from there (probably some simple diode or something!)

So, I have to decide if I should

A. Buy a new board and hope my camera still works ($150)

B. Buy a whole new drone (probably an advanced at less than $600) then use it to test my motors, camera, gimbal- then sell the extra parts and keep the advanced.

C. Toss it, and wait for mavics to start shipping (and prepare the wife for another $1000 toy expenditure)
 
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It's dead, sorry. Critical components have shorted and fried, probably as soon as it hit the water.

Not necessarily. I had a Standard spend a month in heavy rain in the middle of a field. Had to poor the water out of it. Granted it wasn't submerged. Riced it for 5 days after blowing it out. Flies fine.
 
If you have forced air heating with floor vets you can place it on or near the vet with a towel or blanket over it and let it dry out.

I have a trusted keyboard I have been using for about 10 years now that I decided to try and clean all the crud off. Well I ended up darn near washing the thing in the sink. After towel drying I plugged it in and when I pressed the letter A I got 4^7! Well SOB I messed this thing up! Nope I wrapped it in a towel and put it in the oven on the lowest setting which I believe is under 200f. Dried it right up in about 30mins. Plugged it back in and good to go although it has a new coffee spill on it already.

I've actually washed a couple keyboards out after spilling coffee/food/Syrup (yes, syrup) and a bunch of other crud. Always come back to work fine. Hint: take a pic of the keyboard prior to cleaning so if you have to pop off the keys you can put them back on in the right order. Of course as inexpensive as keyboards are now, the better option might be to just purchase a new one, but I like challenges.
 
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Not necessarily. I had a Standard spend a month in heavy rain in the middle of a field. Had to poor the water out of it. Granted it wasn't submerged. Riced it for 5 days after blowing it out. Flies fine.

Nothing is 100%. I'd concede that there might be a 1% chance that an activated drone with battery inserted totally submerged for 2 hours will be just fine.
 
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