Water landed Phantom 4 pro

[Dipu Saju]

How much it can cost a phantom 4 pro landed on water ...

I have try to fly under a bridge ... suddenly gps and remote signal lost .. same time .. hit the bridge from bottom, landed in freshwater.. 3 to 4 minit. When I took it from water the lights was on took the battery off ASAP. Back home straight away.. room heater on left it there for 3 or more hrs. I am pretty sure battery gone . 3 or that motor stuck.. two propeller gone ( couldn’t find some ware underneath that water) ... please need help. Thanks.

 

[loktite]

Hard to say. Putting components in sealed containers with some type of desiccant ( dry uncooked rice is a common choice ), or a small room with a dehumidifier is a good first step (and be patient with it). *in my opinion* a good idea to open the shell, have a fan blowing over it working together with a dehumidifier. But I'm sure others will chime in with some better/additional advice. Do you have insurance on it? Under warranty still?

Wonder if it started RTH and that caused it to hit the bottom of bridge? What was distance between water and bridge?

 

[KevMo Photog]

How far away from bridge when you tried to go under it Dipu Saju? It should not go into RTH unless it loses radio signal for 3 full seconds. You must have been a pretty good ways away from this bridge for it to lose signal I would think. So it's possible that like Loktite mentioned above if it was very short distance from water to the bottom of bridge it could have been VPS making it balloon up some when it sees the water ripple some!

 

[Skynet1]

Do NOT attempt to start up the quad before you thoroughly dry out the model using some of the above suggested methods.
I had first found it necessary to wash out any sediment from within resulting from the crash, otherwise that in itself may create further issues when you do startup the motors or find debris has compromised portions of the camera, lens etc. This should be done preferably with distilled water. Initially dry out the bird by using canned air, or via portable air compressor (Walmart sells Dust OFF product) followed by submerging the model completely in uncooked rice and placed inside a trash bag removing excess air from within bag or other air tight container for several days, or until you feel confident no further moisture exists within the aircraft. Then at that point you may want to spray all electric connectors, battery contacts etc with CRC 2-26 electrical grade multipurpose lubricant to help resist any further buildup of corrosion. When you feel confident all is dry & lubricated, and that any and all debris including pieces of rice that may have infiltrated the motors and innards of the model are thoroughly removed, then you may power-up the model.
Realize you may still have shorted out one or more of the ESC's or damaged one or more of the motors as result of the actual crash, as you have described contact with the underside of a bridge before it falling into fresh water.
Note: These steps usually are futile when submerged in salt water.
All the best in your recovery efforts, and feel free to let the forum members know how you made out, as I've found that many who desperately ask for advise, are never to be heard from again once securing the requested info. : )

 

[bkushner]

I always adjust my rth altitude when going under a bridge or over it for that matter...two different numbers

 

[Meta4]

It should not go into RTH unless it loses radio signal for 3 full seconds. You must have been a pretty good ways away from this bridge for it to lose signal

All that's necessary is flying behind a bridge pylon.

 

[Dipu Saju]

Hard to say. Putting components in sealed containers with some type of desiccant ( dry uncooked rice is a common choice ), or a small room with a dehumidifier is a good first step (and be patient with it). *in my opinion* a good idea to open the shell, have a fan blowing over it working together with a dehumidifier. But I'm sure others will chime in with some better/additional advice. Do you have insurance on it? Under warranty still?

Wonder if it started RTH and that caused it to hit the bottom of bridge? What was distance between water and bridge?

About 2meter .. apart from 2propeller gone and in water nothing braked
I didn’t open it but kept in room with heater on for 3 hrs or something. I didn’t put battery back I think it’s gone.. can’t trust them after drown in the water.

 

[Dipu Saju]

How far away from bridge when you tried to go under it Dipu Saju? It should not go into RTH unless it loses radio signal for 3 full seconds. You must have been a pretty good ways away from this bridge for it to lose signal I would think. So it's possible that like Loktite mentioned above if it was very short distance from water to the bottom of bridge it could have been VPS making it balloon up some when it sees the water ripple some!

No more than 200 mtr . In RC it’s shows signal lost. But what you say could be true.. reflection from water can messed with it.

 

[With The Birds]

About 2meter .. apart from 2propeller gone and in water nothing braked
I didn’t open it but kept in room with heater on for 3 hrs or something. I didn’t put battery back I think it’s gone.. can’t trust them after drown in the water.

With short term fresh water immersion the battery should be fine once dried thoroughly.

 

[QuadKid]

I have flown under bridges before (although that one was tight to the water), lost GPS 2 times so far, always set the RTH to "Hover" just for that shot, if you loose GPS and the drone is hovering switch to "ATTI" mode and fly it out from under the bridge, Oh and have a boat or a friend with a boat with you!

 

[Dipu Saju]

With short term fresh water immersion the battery should be fine once dried thoroughly.

No scared

 

[Meta4]

if you loose GPS and the drone is hovering switch to "ATTI" mode and fly it out from under the bridge

If you lose GPS, your Phantom is already in atti mode.

 

[Dipu Saju]

If you lose GPS, your Phantom is already in atti mode.

True what can I do same time I lost RC SIGNAL

 

[Meta4]

True what can I do same time I lost RC SIGNAL

Once you lose signal, there's nothing you can do.
Three seconds after losing signal, the Phantom will climb to RTH height and RTH (unless you change the default setting for Loss of Signal).
The thing to do is to make sure that you don't lose signal.
Always keep a clear, unobstructed line of sight between the controller and Phantom - don't fly behind bridge supports.

 

[QuadKid]

If you lose GPS, your Phantom is already in atti mode.

True but I always manually put it in ATTI because if you enter into a spot under the bridge where the drone may regain GPS, which is fine as long as you have the RTH set to Hover. I have done visual underside inspections & facades of bridges. Best rule of thumb is to stay out from under the bridge. I have lost GPS not being under the bridge but close alongside where the concrete & steel interfered with the compass also triggering ATTI. Now I have realized that you can stay a decent distance away and take high resolution photos with the P4P, of which you can incredibly zoom in in post edit for inspection.

 

[Kai.AL]

Luckily it fell in freshwater, don’t start it up before you clean it properly... there is a probability that it works

 

[funnyman850]

Did you have any pictures of the damage? I slammed mine onto a tree at 34 mph and it fell in fresh pond water... Fixed it myself for 50 dollars total. Unless you have an arm broken it should be pretty easy to fix yourself.

Also wash it out with 99% isopropyl alcohol and then let it to dry for 3 days.

 

[Russ43Phantom]

I would be cautious in flying within a restricted airspace where there is concrete with reinforcing bars (lots of issues for compass). Like you, my wish list for P5 would be a sensor that looks up. I fly often under under tall trees that provide a natural canopy but impose a real threat to my drone.

 

[roosta]

I'm sure many here have done it without an accident, but videos I've seen of drones going under bridges hjave typically resulted in an accident similarly to how you lost yours. Whenever you have reinforced concrete (steel, like most bridges) you are going to immediately run into strong interference and potentially lose signal.

Once you lose signal, there's nothing you can do.
Three seconds after losing signal, the Phantom will climb to RTH height and RTH (unless you change the default setting for Loss of Signal).

Is this actually possible to change?

 

[GadgetGuy]

Once you lose signal, there's nothing you can do.
Three seconds after losing signal, the Phantom will climb to RTH height and RTH (unless you change the default setting for Loss of Signal).
The thing to do is to make sure that you don't lose signal.
Always keep a clear, unobstructed line of sight between the controller and Phantom - don't fly behind bridge supports.

By way of clarification, during the 3 seconds of signal loss, doesn't the aircraft continue flying with the stick inputs last received, until RTH engages? That has been my experience. Others, including DJI support engineers, have claimed that it would instantly stop and hover, to justify their bogus crash analysis!