*UPDATE* P3P flips after only seconds in the air and lands hard in the water

[Providian623]

Phone in rice works great if dropped in water, but it would take a huge bag to put a complete phantom in...lol..not to mention you would never get all the rice out of it...


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Nope. 5 lbs bag of rice is all I used to dry up my Phantom 3 Standard after it sat in a corn field for 3 long weeks under about 4 MAJOR rain storms. You just throw the drone in a garbage bag, pour over the rice (no need to completely cover it) and wait 4 - 5 days. Be sure to seal the battery compartment. Shake out what rice entered via the vents (not much) and you should be good to go.

 

[cbgeorge]

After having flown nearly 2,000,000 feet without incident, my beloved P3P ended up flipping upside down after only a short distance from take off and slammed into the lake that I often fly over. Was able to grab it out of the water however, it had already become submerged. Dried it off the best I could with hairdryer and no connection between RC and copter appeared. The gimbal would move however, it started to smoke a bit and I just pulled the battery and will contact DJI. At this point, it's probably time to start thinking about its replacement. I'll keep all posted.

For a phantom 3 to flip, it would had to be a motor failure or loss of a prop. I hope it be covered under warranty!

 

[Wolverine750]

Something must've happened I hope they give you a new one!

"Something must have happened."

I can't see anyway you could be wrong. Something...unless it flew into a void devoid of reality.


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[HVDV]

My opinion is that it is either a propeller, a motor or an ESC that failed, since if a prop stops working with a quad the quad will tip over.

 

[RedHotPoker]

Phone in rice works great if dropped in water, but it would take a huge bag to put a complete phantom in...lol..not to mention you would never get all the rice out of it...


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I would use a cheese cloth or a similar barrier between the dry rice kernels and my valued drone. Even if it was made in China...
I would also consider using a paper bag as it should/would suffice.

RedHotPoker

 

[John N Kronyak]

HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

Could be one of the shortest flights in history. Bummer, dude.

 

[Tony Cowan]

As I wait for DJI to determine warranty coverage, I went ahead and purchased a new Inspire 1 Pro. Undoubtedly, I'll continue to fly and enjoy a P3P too therefore, I look forward to continuing my relationship with this great forum as well as meeting others on the Inspire site.

**** congrats under horrible circumstances. I'm jelly


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[HVDV]

After a drone becomes waterlogged, disconnect the battery, and then shake out as much water as possible, gently dry it with a hair dryer, and then keep it in a warm dry place in your home for a week and the chances are good that it will function correctly. That has worked for me with an RC plane.

 

[schroeder1959]

Best of luck with your new Inspire, very jealous!!! Hope you hear from DJI soon about the loss of your P3P! I don't know what a pilot could do in just 6 seconds to cause a loss of control such as this!?!?! Hope you get a full refund, please keep us posted!

 

[CCDD]

I think this was handled quite well by DJI although nothing was said about the battery that was destroyed. It does say "craft" only therefore, I would think they either forgot about the battery or want me to eat the cost of a new one. Either way, I have my new Inspire 1 Pro which arrived today and I'll have a new P3P to go along with it. I call this having the "best of both worlds".

Dear.....

After having our data analysis team take a look at the flight log from the flight in question, we were unable to determine the cause of this unfortunate event.

There does not seem to be any user error, but without the craft, to analyze the flight records there is no way to be 100% sure.

With that being said we have decided to cover your unit by warranty, and offer the craft only at no cost to you

We are in the process of finalizing a new alternative for our customers in who find themselves in situations similar to yours.

We will be sending you a coupon code to make your purchase directly from our online store.

This coupon can only be used for the same model of aircraft that was lost, and must be redeemed within 30 days.

If you have any further questions concerning this new process, please feel free to reply to this message, and I will do my best to answer any questions you may have.

As soon as your code is ready, we will be getting it out to you. Again, Thank You for your patience


Thank you for choosing to fly with DJI
"The Future Of Possible"

 

[hawkeye62]

I think this was handled quite well by DJI although nothing was said about the battery that was destroyed. It does say "craft" only therefore, I would think they either forgot about the battery or want me to eat the cost of a new one. Either way, I have my new Inspire 1 Pro which arrived today and I'll have a new P3P to go along with it. I call this having the "best of both worlds".

Dear.....

After having our data analysis team take a look at the flight log from the flight in question, we were unable to determine the cause of this unfortunate event.

There does not seem to be any user error, but without the craft, to analyze the flight records there is no way to be 100% sure.

With that being said we have decided to cover your unit by warranty, and offer the craft only at no cost to you

We are in the process of finalizing a new alternative for our customers in who find themselves in situations similar to yours.

We will be sending you a coupon code to make your purchase directly from our online store.

This coupon can only be used for the same model of aircraft that was lost, and must be redeemed within 30 days.

If you have any further questions concerning this new process, please feel free to reply to this message, and I will do my best to answer any questions you may have.

As soon as your code is ready, we will be getting it out to you. Again, Thank You for your patience


Thank you for choosing to fly with DJI
"The Future Of Possible"

Great news!

I think they are going to give you the Aircraft only version they have on their site. This is a Phantom 3 compete with battery and camera, but without charger or RC. Sells for $559.

Good luck with your Inspire.

Regards, Jim

 

[CCDD]

Great news!

I think they are going to give you the Aircraft only version they have on their site. This is a Phantom 3 compete with battery and camera, but without charger or RC. Sells for $459.

Good luck with your Inspire.

Regards, Jim

Thanks Jim, I did just call them and they said it would be added to the case, I'll keep my fingers crossed however, I have 4 spare batteries just in case I don't get one.

 

[Tony Cowan]

How much did you pay for the inspire? And do you see major difference? I know the camera is better. But flight wise?
As far as cool factor. Hands down. The best.

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[CCDD]

Haven't flown it yet Tony, hopefully today or tomorrow. I'll PM you in regards to price.

 

[shockwave199]

I think you'll notice a major difference with the Inspire, lol. Careful, it may spoil you to the point of hardly ever, if never, flying the P3. The only thing that would make me choose to fly a P3 if I had an Inspire too is the smaller footprint in certain situations where smaller is more easily tolerated. Glad you're having a good outcome!

 

[CCDD]

I think you'll notice a major difference with the Inspire, lol. Careful, it may spoil you to the point of hardly ever, if never, flying the P3. The only thing that would make me choose to fly a P3 if I had an Inspire too is the smaller footprint in certain situations where smaller is more easily tolerated. Glad you're having a good outcome!

Thanks SW, you're right about size, there will be many situations in which I won't choose to travel with or fly the inspire therefore, it's likely I'll keep both. I haven't had a chance to fly my new bird, I'll chime back in to let all know my thoughts.

 

[CCDD]

I'll keep all posted. Plan on taking it out tomorrow on her first "real" flight. Today was just FW update and a short flight in the back yard. I did buy a Trackimo device as the thought of losing this investment is a bit harder to swallow than a Phantom however, with much of my flying occurring over water, it likely isn't going to make much of a difference should it go down.