Recovering Phantom 3 Footage without Drone (its at the bottom of a lake)

[Pacmanfever]

Water doesn't necessarily kill electronics, water + voltage does. During manufacture, circuit boards are washed with distilled water to remove the flux from soldering, the critical step is drying. I collect and restore old arcade machines, and frequently put the circuit boards in the dishwasher. It's amazing at removing 30+ years of crud and they come out looking like new with no ill effects if properly dried.

If it were my drone, I would certainly be disassembling it, rinsing everything and then drying in a warm oven, and then testing. The motor windings also need attention as they can retain water and fail, although their magnet wire insulation should withstand some moisture. You can use 99% Isopropyl Alcohol to displace water, just don't use the lower percentage formulas if you're trying to displace moisture as they have water as a component already.

Hopefully you'll have a good result at recovering and repairing it.

 

[halfpipe]

What kinda bird was it that attacked?
Maybe it had a nest with chicks nearby and thought the drone was a predator
Something else to watch out for
Crows for instance will dive bomb much larger and tougher eagles because I think the latter might raid the former's nests

 

[F6Rider]

If you have that good of a location fix I would go ahead and recover it. As a long time diver I have recovered many objects lost overboard, cameras, wallets, watches, and all manner of stuff. 30' is not deep and there should be plenty of light, plus the phantom is white, go down on the exact location then do a expanding circular search pattern, should find it easy unless the bottom is 6+" of silt.

 

[Justin Namon]

If you have that good of a location fix I would go ahead and recover it. As a long time diver I have recovered many objects lost overboard, cameras, wallets, watches, and all manner of stuff. 30' is not deep and there should be plenty of light, plus the phantom is white, go down on the exact location then do a expanding circular search pattern, should find it easy unless the bottom is 6+" of silt.

Yeah I'm going for it. Have a 3pm est dive search tentatively set up. Will update this afternoon. I think we are all curious about the outcome of this.

 

[CaptainCheap@ss]

As mentioned, this is certainly worth more than $150 on eBay. I would do it. $150 seems cheap.

 

[John Bettua]

Why not just put flotation devices on your legs. If it descends into the abyss it stays on the surface? Example foam- cushions impact on solid ground and floats in water!

 

[TAZ]

Yeah I'm going for it. Have a 3pm est dive search tentatively set up. Will update this afternoon. I think we are all curious about the outcome of this.

Good luck! As others have mentioned, don't rush repowering it on. Make sure it is overly dry. Also, throw out the battery....and don't even attempt to use/charge it. It will be useless, and attempting to charge it could be dangerous. Although rice has some absorptive qualities, silica gel is much more efficient. Be cautious of moving parts (gimbal and motors) as you don't want to get any rice (either small parts or its dust) in the moving parts. An oven, on a very low temperature, or leaving it in the sun for a few days...is a much safer option.

Hope you find it.

 

[Itay]

Before your next flight over water. I like this simple and cheap solution:

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[Justin Namon]

Recovered. Now for the fun stuff

 

[suck it up]

Recovered. Now for the fun stuff

Now the fun begins!

Great job and let's see what comes out of this!

 

[Itay]

Recovered. Now for the fun stuff

Amazing! The phantom is working now?? What did you do to make it work again?

 

[suck it up]

Amazing! The phantom is working now?? What did you do to make it work again?

Who said it was working? Read............... He just got it back, nothing was said about it working.......

 

[Itay]

Who said it was working? Read............... He just got it back, nothing was said about it working.......

By me "fun stuff" means flying.

 

[Kevin Shi]

I use one of these. Some will say, why do you want it back, the thing is ruined by water. Well, I want my camera card back and maybe some spare parts. anyway. I put one on when I am going over water. Haven't needed it yet but you can't predict what birds will do.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GIYIU8Q?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

i have one installed as well, luckily i don't need to use it yet.

 

[Justin Namon]

After a 3 min delay between scuba diver walking it to me onshore I washed immediately in hose water until I could get home. Then distiller water. Took it all apart and it was tough but luckily had the tools handy. Blow dryer is my friend until bag of rice comes in tomorrow. Nothing looks to toasted except the arm of the gimbal. Couldn't get detail but maybe it'll be good quality enough to zoom to where arm connects to base.

 

[suck it up]

After a 3 min delay between scuba diver walking it to me onshore I washed immediately in hose water until I could get home. Then distiller water. Took it all apart and it was tough but luckily had the tools handy. Blow dryer is my friend until bag of rice comes in tomorrow. Nothing looks to toasted except the arm of the gimbal. Couldn't get detail but maybe it'll be good quality enough to zoom to where arm connects to base.

Take your time with this, don't try too soon. rice is only so good. Put it on your dashboard open and let it cook during the day. You have a lot of slow work ahead of you. Same thing with the card. Take your time, don't try to force a drying..................

 

[Trumple]

I reckon it'll power up at least. I suspect the camera will be totally destroyed, and possibly the sensitive gimble. But, that is still much cheaper than a whole new one!

Did you get your golden footage off the SD?

 

[atki]

Great to see it was retrieved. This will be an interesting thread to see the outcome. Good luck

~ fingers crossed.

 

[Airborne]

Take your time with this, don't try too soon. rice is only so good. Put it on your dashboard open and let it cook during the day. You have a lot of slow work ahead of you. Same thing with the card. Take your time, don't try to force a drying..................

he is miami.. if it's anything like the heat we have in north texas, the phantom will melt on the dashboard in a locked car.

i mean, that stuff kills kids left in the car alone.

not sure i would try this...

 

[Jbundy63]

Best of luck Justin, hope it all works out good for you!