Waterproofing

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Hi All

Is anybody aware of a way to make a Phantom waterproof or keep it afloat incase of a flyaway over water or low battery etc?

I would love to film the local power boat racing but am too scared to take off from a vessel due to tidal drift etc and the RTH would mean instead of my boat there would just be water.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Scott
 
Hi All

Is anybody aware of a way to make a Phantom waterproof or keep it afloat incase of a flyaway over water or low battery etc?

I would love to film the local power boat racing but am too scared to take off from a vessel due to tidal drift etc and the RTH would mean instead of my boat there would just be water.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Scott
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and there is a way to update home location on the fly, however i haven't tried it yet myself.
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Liquipel don't list drones on their site anymore. I wouldn't trust anything that says it will waterproof your drone. If you do go down that road and you have a splash expect it to fall out of the sky shortly after. If you fly over water you have to be prepared to lose it, it's very simple but the shots you can get are amazing.
 
I have tried numerous float systems for my Phantom. Anything that has enough volume to keep the bird safely floating (not tipping over) will get in the way of air flow from the props, get pushed around by the wind, show up in the video and affect flight time.
I have given up on floats and built a waterproof quad that has enough volume to float. I have waterproofed the gimbal and GoPro as well.
 
I have tried numerous float systems for my Phantom. Anything that has enough volume to keep the bird safely floating (not tipping over) will get in the way of air flow from the props, get pushed around by the wind, show up in the video and affect flight time.
I have given up on floats and built a waterproof quad that has enough volume to float. I have waterproofed the gimbal and GoPro as well.
How did you waterproof them. I'm looking for a similar solution.
 
To add to Mal_PV2_Ireland's comment, I actually emailed Liquipel just last week asking if they would coat older phantoms. this was their response:

Thank you for your interest in Liquipel! We apologize for the inconvenience, but we are not offering the Liquipelservice for DJI devices at this time, because drones require a special coating. Please be assured that we will notify you in the event that we are able to offer the Liquipel service for DJI devices in the future.

:(
 
I would love to film the local power boat racing but am too scared to take off from a vessel due to tidal drift etc and the RTH would mean instead of my boat there would just be water.
The Phantom flies as well over water as solid ground.
You can use Dynamic Home Point to have the Phantom update its home point and RTH will be to a place near you but don't rely on it to land exactly on a boat. This shouldn't be a problem because you can resume control during RTH and land/catch the bird wherever you want.
Or if near land, you could take off, fly over to a suitable landing point and reset home point in the air over it so RTH would happen on land.
 
I'm using 2 cylinder floaters attached at the legs of the Phantom which would avoid the Phantom simply to sink and can hold a weight up to 1,8 kg or 3,5 Lbs. However I was thinking there must be the possibility of installing on a Phantom a small circuit breaker activated when in contact with water. Come on guys. Think of something. If we can find a way to stop the electricity when hitting the water then we can save a lots of money.
 
Remember that's only if it's fresh water, if it's salt water you can kiss goodbye to everything.
 
Interesting topic "Waterproofing"... was going to start one but did a search first, so I'll comment on this one ;)

I will do some aerials over water with my phantom 2, and also thinking the idea to buy a sailboat and travel the world (and capture great footage with my gopro hero4 black on h3-3d and phantom 2), so.. waterproofing its components + adding the famous "getterback" floaty thing, are two things Im checking out. ;)

Here a great video on what to use for the special parts of our phantoms :)
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Remember that's only if it's fresh water, if it's salt water you can kiss goodbye to everything.

not necessarily!.. check out the video I mentioned ;)
 
Should have seen this thread before starting one about "Never Wet" which they waterproof an iPhone with. If it can do an iPhone I'm sure it could do the guts of a Phantom.
Add a GetterBack float retrieval system that pops out 100 feet of line and a float whenever the object sinks, and you'd not only retrieve it, but if it's been hit with "Never Wet" it just might still be useable (it might still be running lol)
 
Should have seen this thread before starting one about "Never Wet" which they waterproof an iPhone with. If it can do an iPhone I'm sure it could do the guts of a Phantom.
Add a GetterBack float retrieval system that pops out 100 feet of line and a float whenever the object sinks, and you'd not only retrieve it, but if it's been hit with "Never Wet" it just might still be useable (it might still be running lol)

exactly... it should be possible, now the best would be to try to turn it off if it hits the water.. cause if the propellers are running it may tangle the getterback float system... and or sink it even more! :p
 
I'd imagine some kind of kill switch that responds to water wouldn't be too hard to create, but the last thing I want on my quad is something other than a DJI battery that is also capable of shutting the whole thing down accidentally in mid air. Not that a water activated shut down switch would be as unreliable as a DJI battery (I don't think anything on the planet is THAT unreliable), but if there's the slightest extra chance of a shut down, then I'd prefer not to give random chance the opportunity.
 
I'd imagine some kind of kill switch that responds to water wouldn't be too hard to create, but the last thing I want on my quad is something other than a DJI battery that is also capable of shutting the whole thing down accidentally in mid air. Not that a water activated shut down switch would be as unreliable as a DJI battery (I don't think anything on the planet is THAT unreliable), but if there's the slightest extra chance of a shut down, then I'd prefer not to give random chance the opportunity.

hmm... but you can already shut down your phantom.. don't you?. I meant just do that as it hits the water.. (should be enough?.. assuming you got contact with it of course)
 
There is no way I'd be spraying anything on the already suspect battery pins.

haha.. don't be a *****! ;) get yourself some CorrosionX-HD and shrinking sleeves and Epoxy, and a getterback! ;) better be on the safe side than sorry! ;D
 
Good boy Scooby! 8X haha... Now seriously... I guess if you can fly it well, and do your job with calibration, home point, and the kind.. you should be safe!.. but one day! :S

do you have any youtube channel with your vids?
 

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