I want to give a big shout out to the engineers behind this incredible little piece of machinery. What an awesome product. Ive been using it all summer, two weeks ago I got a little cocky with a river shot, got to close to a tree by the bank and hit a branch. Rooky mistake. My heart sank when the remote connection was immediately lost, I was hoping that the power just shut down and it was lying in a bush somewhere. 15 minutes of searching the last GPS whereabouts turned up nothing, I scanned the river itself one last time and caught a faint white X shape shimmering 4' under the water surface. Sure enough it was the mini. It was absolutely drenched. I immediately removed the battery and sd card, popped the battery lid open, turned the mini skyward to promote drainage out the back end, and rushed to the nearest grocery store 20 minutes away. I bought a large ziplock bag and and large bag of rice. Back at the house i used a hairdryer on low settings for about 10 minutes to ensure everything was as dry as possible before placing in the ziplock bag of rice. I placed the bag by the window to promote condensation inside the ziplock which would be absorbed by the rice. 3 days later I removed the mini and placed a new battery inside. Much to my absolute disbelief it worked! I noticed a little condensation inside the camera so placed the mini back in the ziplock with a small bag of silica gel and left it for another 24 hours. Condesation disappeared. Im one battery down but still have my Mini. Great product keep up the good work, I can't praise the Mini enough.

Wow - should be called the Mavic Sub

Great story, hope your MM will work not only now but in 4 months from now as well!

Happy many landings,
Cheers
JJB

Good to read a positive story

That is awesome, have you checked the SD card as one person here had his under water for 4 months but it recorded underwater for 15 minutes!

JJB* Posted at 10-8 09:47
Great story, hope your MM will work not only now but in 4 months from now as well!

Happy many landings,

What's going to happen in 4 months from now? Anything we should be aware of and ready for? Anything a drone flight or recording worthy? Tell us, pleeeeeeez!!!

videoeditman Posted at 10-8 11:32
That is awesome, have you checked the SD card as one person here had his under water for 4 months but it recorded underwater for 15 minutes!

I did, the recording went on for about two minutes until the battery safety shut off.

Matthew Dobrski Posted at 10-8 11:46
What's going to happen in 4 months from now? Anything we should be aware of and ready for? Anything a drone flight or recording worthy? Tell us, pleeeeeeez!!!

You could end up with corrosion issues that show up over time.

Great work on drying it out.  That often helps.

OK, I get to tell a story.  This goes back a good 30 years ago.  A friend of mine worked in the technical engineering for a Los Angeles TV station.  First nice weather weekend of the summer and EVERY TV station does a new report of all the people going to the beach.  So this news crew goes to Santa Monica beach and is shooting video.  The guy manages to drop a $30,000 video recorder into the ocean.  They were smart enough to immediately call the tech shop and ask what to do.  My friend answers the call and his first instruction is to pull out the battery - they already had.  Then he says, take it over to one of the outdoor showers that people use to wash the sand and saltwater off.  If they can get the cover off, do so, and flush with fresh water for at least 15 minutes.  Then bring it into the shop.  An hour later they show up at the shop with this video recorder with the cover off and it's dripping with water.
They flush it out with de-ionized water and put it into a dehydration chamber for a couple days.  Replaced all the rubber belts and it was a good as new..

Hello there Diesel2020. Thank you for sharing this wonderful experience you have with your DJI Mavic Mini and for the positive feedback for DJI as well. Rest assured that DJI will continuously create more great consumer drones in the future. Again, thank you for your valued support and keep on flying.

Matthew Dobrski Posted at 10-8 11:46
What's going to happen in 4 months from now? Anything we should be aware of and ready for? Anything a drone flight or recording worthy? Tell us, pleeeeeeez!!!

well...water and electronics are not good friends, so if corrosion of connectors etc starts to 'grow'   ;
hope it will not happen ofcourse to this forum member Mavic Mini in the time ahead.

I watched some videos on YouTube about the same situation and in all cases the owners cleaned the drones and dried up. All of them worked fine after few days doing these procedures.
It is really amazing. I hope that no one needs to face the same, but if it happens it is really good to know that this small drone can survive.

Glad it worked out!  Swift action and drying the components makes a big difference with any electronic device that gets submerged.  

K6CCC Posted at 10-8 17:29
You could end up with corrosion issues that show up over time.

Great work on drying it out.  That often helps.

Thanks for the story. I also saw a couple of YouTube stories where they recommended rinsing with fresh water after a dunk in the sea or a dirty river, in addition I found others found success by pouring isopropyl continuously over the drone to repel the moisture and promote drying. It goes against everything we are accustomed too when it comes to electronics but it makes perfect sense.  

One thing that I did do which I forgot to mention in my previous was that I stuffed toilet tissue in the battery compartment before placing the drone in the bag of rice.  I admittingly was not confident in dismantling the entire drone. I wanted to keep it whole but didn't want the hassle of shaking out rice grains for the next 2 months! Only thing removed were the props.

Ill update the post regarding corrosion or anomalies in 4 months or so. Hopefully my experience and actions might help others with their MM's If they decide to take it swimming!

I can say with almost 100% accuracy that the circuit boards inside the Mini were washed with water as part of the manufacturing process. I worked in electronics manufacturing facilities for decades and in the last 10-15 years the standard for cleaning the PCB after wave or paste soldering was a a water wash and dry process.

after wave or paste soldering was a a water wash and dry process.

However that was likely de-ionized (not drinking) water.

Great to hear that. I'm hoping to buy mavic mini 2 once it it available. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us.

So 4 months on the drone is still going strong. I'm still blown away. Going to keep monitoring it over time. Not sure If I was lucky with water conditions, or drying out process. Either way extremely happy with this little beast.

That is incredible.  The water must have been exceptionally clear and clean with low mineral, salts, PH and very little microscopic debris.  That is truly amazing.

Glad to head the good result!

Diesel2020 Posted at 2-8 08:34
So 4 months on the drone is still going strong. I'm still blown away. Going to keep monitoring it over time. Not sure If I was lucky with water conditions, or drying out process. Either way extremely happy with this little beast.

That is all good to hear,  glad it has worked out fine as it is not nice when someone loses their beloved Mavic Mini's, i know i am still well in love with mine, what i would say though is to just check every now and again or maybe once a week the motors themselves for any signs of corrosion or rust building up on them.

Matthew Dobrski Posted at 2020-10-8 11:46
What's going to happen in 4 months from now? Anything we should be aware of and ready for? Anything a drone flight or recording worthy? Tell us, pleeeeeeez!!!

Thank you for your sarcasm, I almost spit water all over my keyboard.

Diesel2020 Posted at 2-8 08:34
So 4 months on the drone is still going strong. I'm still blown away. Going to keep monitoring it over time. Not sure If I was lucky with water conditions, or drying out process. Either way extremely happy with this little beast.

That is awesome!!

Happened to me 2... Lots gps under a roof flying over a waterfall fountain... Lost it last minute at the top and it crashed into a wall and green into the drink... I thought with the flow of the water it would run it down to the end of the fountain but it just submerged right at the top so I looked for it for a three or four minutes and couldn't find it finally went to the top reached in and pulled it out... Still using it now... Works great... Save deal sun, blue dryer, rice, up n running next day... But Battery dead.. See video from SD card below...

https://youtu.be/PyEFmb1X0m8