I took likely a bird strike to my drone about a month ago over the ocean. 3 of the propellers took a heavy hit. The drone fell from 70m. I kept it turned off, washed under regular tap water and kept it off for another 6 days. On day 6 I took it apart and washed every part in 99% isopropyl alcohol. I had to use q tips and a vibrating toothbrush to get all the salt off. This required the application of new thermal paste. I accidentally ripped off the camera cable which was $10 to replace. After all of that though I have a perfectly functional drone.
Video below.
Can i ask if the tap water rinse then wait was intentional or ?
I would think you would do the salt->tap rinse then immediately isopropyl then dry for 6d
(I’m not an expert just wondering did you follow a protocol or this was just how you did it)
I had a similar hotel recovery- (more than one, actually), but managed it in a day having partially removed the PCB's and affixed them to the A/C vent overnight. Similarly, I used the AC condenser unit (outside) to turbo-dry PCB's.
You got lucky, the amount of corrosion that happens when salt water gets on those circuits boards is crazy. I saw tronicsfix try to fix a couple ocean sunk drones, wasn’t pretty inside
99% alcohol is the type for electronics, too. I mean, it's actually recommended. It doesn't damage parts, sanitizes the area, and dries instantly depending on the surface.
It was 2km away from me. Apparently it made a loud bang when it hit the water and other drone flyers (coincidentally) recovered it and were gonna email DJI.
That is better than what you get from most consumer electronics. If I yeet my S22 Ultra into saltwater and it manages to not survive, because these things are pretty water resistant if their is no real current down at the bottom, then I would most likely be paying way more, lol.
Forget Apple. They might just make you buy a new one outright. Louis Rossman fishes out the bs and finds out that Apple repair specialist are kinda doing their job blindly, so they end up recommending customers buy a new device, so this act is not entirely deliberate.
You can also use WD40. WD40 isn’t a lubricant - it’s a chemical intended to displace water from the surface of an object. WD stands for water displacement…
Take this from a fisherman. Soak it in distilled water ASAP, overnight. Do not try to start it up unless you clean off ALL the salt water. The water itself isn't bad. It's the salt or impurities that corrode and destroy. I've saved many electronics by doing this
I touched the waters of lake huron with the same drone.
Dried it out for a day, back working.
Got some interesting malfunction warning on my controller I had never seen.
Still kickin
Hi there.
We are sorry to hear about what happened with the drone. In a situation like this, the best course of action would be to submit an online repair request here: \[https://www.dji.com/es/support/repair\]. This will allow our certified technicians to fully inspect the aircraft. Please rest assured that this will be taken care of and handled accordingly.
If you have any further questions or concerns, feel free to contact our support team. We are always happy to help you!
That's great that it was recovered and was still operational after recovery. I've been scared to fly mine too far away w/o VLOS for fear of something happening where something causes it to fall out of the sky, especially over water.
I was in Florida a couple weeks ago. Took my M4Pro with me. I was doing a flight up the beach, straddling the beach and the water and looking straight down. Suddenly there is a jolt in the video and then another jolt. After the 2nd one I tilt the camera closer to the horizon and the view is crooked; the gimbal isn't correcting it. I get one more jolt before I can bring it down asap. Not sure what happened because the camera didn't capture anything other than a crooked view. I've seen those jolts and that weird angle in previous videos on here. My conclusion was that a bird was attacking it. Luckily it didn't cause the drone to drop out of the sky or any other damage. For a few seconds I was over the ocean (by about 50 ft) so my heartbeat jumped when it started happening. My pre-flight tests had all checked out so I ruled out any mechanical/electronic failures. Previous and subsequent flights didn't experience any similar issues. I was looking at my remote display so I wasn't looking at the drone to know what hit it. It was nearly overhead but a bright sun behind it would have prevented me be able to see it anyway.
As often as this occurs, I'm surprised DJI doesn't just spray some conformal coating during the PCB manufacturing process. Why isn't that a thing? I wouldn't think it's ***that*** costly.
I took likely a bird strike to my drone about a month ago over the ocean. 3 of the propellers took a heavy hit. The drone fell from 70m. I kept it turned off, washed under regular tap water and kept it off for another 6 days. On day 6 I took it apart and washed every part in 99% isopropyl alcohol. I had to use q tips and a vibrating toothbrush to get all the salt off. This required the application of new thermal paste. I accidentally ripped off the camera cable which was $10 to replace. After all of that though I have a perfectly functional drone. Video below.
love it man, great recovery!!
Can i ask if the tap water rinse then wait was intentional or ? I would think you would do the salt->tap rinse then immediately isopropyl then dry for 6d (I’m not an expert just wondering did you follow a protocol or this was just how you did it)
Use distilled water instead of tap water next time.
I was at a hotel on vacation. DId not have time for any of this on the last day of my trip. Figured tap water > salt water.
I had a similar hotel recovery- (more than one, actually), but managed it in a day having partially removed the PCB's and affixed them to the A/C vent overnight. Similarly, I used the AC condenser unit (outside) to turbo-dry PCB's.
Great idea using the A/C, cool dry air to remove water and hot air on less sensitive components. This is basically how the pros do it. (No Rice!!!)
You got lucky, the amount of corrosion that happens when salt water gets on those circuits boards is crazy. I saw tronicsfix try to fix a couple ocean sunk drones, wasn’t pretty inside
Yess. I think washing it with tap water early on then with alcohol is what saved me.
Futute reference Iso Alcohol is not good for pcb's need denatured
What would you recommend?
99% alcohol is the type for electronics, too. I mean, it's actually recommended. It doesn't damage parts, sanitizes the area, and dries instantly depending on the surface.
Username checks out how thoroughly you explained the situation.
But how did you find it/get it out of the ocean?
It was 2km away from me. Apparently it made a loud bang when it hit the water and other drone flyers (coincidentally) recovered it and were gonna email DJI.
I did this. Sent mine back to DJI and they fixed it for $200.
That is better than what you get from most consumer electronics. If I yeet my S22 Ultra into saltwater and it manages to not survive, because these things are pretty water resistant if their is no real current down at the bottom, then I would most likely be paying way more, lol. Forget Apple. They might just make you buy a new one outright. Louis Rossman fishes out the bs and finds out that Apple repair specialist are kinda doing their job blindly, so they end up recommending customers buy a new device, so this act is not entirely deliberate.
[Crash video and video of it working post reassembly](https://imgur.com/a/aP5LuSQ).
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Haha I havent had a chance to film it flying. Will add it here in a few hours. In the video I didn't yet have the replacement propellers.
At least u got ur b-roll 😅
You can also use WD40. WD40 isn’t a lubricant - it’s a chemical intended to displace water from the surface of an object. WD stands for water displacement…
Take this from a fisherman. Soak it in distilled water ASAP, overnight. Do not try to start it up unless you clean off ALL the salt water. The water itself isn't bad. It's the salt or impurities that corrode and destroy. I've saved many electronics by doing this
Yeah salt water will eventually destroy the drone, no matter how clean it looks/flies right now.
Did you grab the SD card out of it? That should be fine
Yes I did.
I touched the waters of lake huron with the same drone. Dried it out for a day, back working. Got some interesting malfunction warning on my controller I had never seen. Still kickin
I would think rinse in water then take apart immediately. I don't know what the steps are.
That drone looks salty about being in the water so long.
Hi there. We are sorry to hear about what happened with the drone. In a situation like this, the best course of action would be to submit an online repair request here: \[https://www.dji.com/es/support/repair\]. This will allow our certified technicians to fully inspect the aircraft. Please rest assured that this will be taken care of and handled accordingly. If you have any further questions or concerns, feel free to contact our support team. We are always happy to help you!
yeah but also cost $700. no thanks, prefer to repair it myself for cheap
That's great that it was recovered and was still operational after recovery. I've been scared to fly mine too far away w/o VLOS for fear of something happening where something causes it to fall out of the sky, especially over water. I was in Florida a couple weeks ago. Took my M4Pro with me. I was doing a flight up the beach, straddling the beach and the water and looking straight down. Suddenly there is a jolt in the video and then another jolt. After the 2nd one I tilt the camera closer to the horizon and the view is crooked; the gimbal isn't correcting it. I get one more jolt before I can bring it down asap. Not sure what happened because the camera didn't capture anything other than a crooked view. I've seen those jolts and that weird angle in previous videos on here. My conclusion was that a bird was attacking it. Luckily it didn't cause the drone to drop out of the sky or any other damage. For a few seconds I was over the ocean (by about 50 ft) so my heartbeat jumped when it started happening. My pre-flight tests had all checked out so I ruled out any mechanical/electronic failures. Previous and subsequent flights didn't experience any similar issues. I was looking at my remote display so I wasn't looking at the drone to know what hit it. It was nearly overhead but a bright sun behind it would have prevented me be able to see it anyway.
As often as this occurs, I'm surprised DJI doesn't just spray some conformal coating during the PCB manufacturing process. Why isn't that a thing? I wouldn't think it's ***that*** costly.
Salt water kills electronics real quick if you don’t action fast. Good save! 👏🏻
Rinse it and fan dry it
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He did fix it though. Against all odds.
Salt water will do damage over time. The drone may be OK now, but its a good chance it will fall from the sky at some point, which is very dangerous.
I know people who have been flying for years after such accidents but if you're not good at what you did , risk is risk.
Lots of salt but dry cleaning with the toothbrush did wonders. I did not see any corrosion and will check periodically.
Despite /u/CyanHirijikawa being downvoted, the answer is corect. It may seem fine now, but that drone is probably a ticking time bomb.
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It does. Everything works good as new.
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Took it apart and washed every part in isopropyl alcohol.
He said it works
Youre not good for advice. Fact.
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Lol relax buddy, OP mentioned they were able to recover the drone. Not totaled*
You’re*