Dumped my Phantom 3 into the LA river while hovering around 9', hit a branch (user error) and into the drink. It sat fully submerged in 4' of water for a good 3-5 mins until I pulled it up and immediately pulled the battery out. Took another 12 minutes to get to my car,  I was 25 miles away from home so I took the following steps to save her:

1. Opened up my sunroof and held her above my truck all the way home. (hold on tight)
2. Once home I turned on the blowdryer on high/cool for 8 hours straight. Rotated the drone evey couple of hours.
3. It's midnight so I finally put the drone away in the box it came with and filled it with rice. Covered all the vents with tape and cut slits in them for ventialtion.
4. 10am next day, blow dry the drone for 3 more hours.
5. Finally build up courage to remove the top part of the drone and back of 4k camera. Blow dry those for an hour.
6. Place cover back on, throw back in rice for 24 hours.
7. Power on next day with new battery, works perfectly.

I noticed a thick layer of silicone on the pcb, great move DJI!!!!

these things are indestructible!

The first rule of thumb with any electronic devise that is battery powered and gets dunked, PULL THE FRIGGING BATTERY.

Electrolysis is created by having current passing through the circuit board.  Other than the possibility of trashing the camera sensor, even items that have gone into salt water can be salvaged if placed in fresh water to reduce the salt content, then flushed and allowed to dry.

now rinse and repeat.
i am glad it worked out, very well executed recovery.

rayrokni Posted at 2015-8-26 03:04
now rinse and repeat.
i am glad it worked out, very well executed recovery.

Thanks! Sooooooo stoked to have her up and flying, I thought it was over.

Had a similar issue,  was flying blind down a river from a canoe.   The video signal started to go intermittent so I stopped and then tried to climb so I could see it again,   hit a branch and it went into 8 " of water upside-down for about 90 seconds,  lights were still flashing.  I took the battery out  immediately then 5 minutes later I had it on the bench and started taking it part. Used compressed air and took the camera off and took the back cover off it as I could see moisture on the lens.   Took all the boards off the camera and all are in  front of the hair dryer right now.   Lots of moisture on the lens, but the rest I think will be ok , if I can remember how to put it back together and what screws go where.     I also took the battery house off and am drying out it as well.  

All will go in rice bag for the night and then back together after a couple days.  

Any thing else I should do ???

lwoods Posted at 2015-9-2 07:30
Had a similar issue,  was flying blind down a river from a canoe.   The video signal started to go i ...

More compressed air, at least 30-40 mins continuously from different angles. Keep the hair dryer on low heat, no heat if possible and make sure to rotate it, don't let the boards get too hot. Don't worry about the lens, mine had a lot of moisture as well, it all came out. I'd hit it with the blow dryer for at least 8 hrs. Most important thing is patience. You got this, she'll be back in the air in no time.

After it's dry I would completely spray it with an electronics cleaner such as this http://www.jaycar.com.au/Service ... -Spray-Can/p/NA1008

I'm very excited to read these posts as I had assumed my p3 was ruined by a 10-20 second drop into fresh water. Pulled battery immediately, drained water and used cool air from hair dryer. Have rotated it in front of a fan for about 30 hours. I had hope but assumed it won't work when I power it up in a couple more days.