so i was drving my drone near a creek and one of my propellers hit a tree and it fell near it. the camera got soaked and so did the gimbal. the drone was hardly wet and the battery completly dry. after it crashed i got to it in about 30sec and turned it off and took the battery out. i blow dried it and have a fan on it with the gimbal and camera in rice. any other ideas? also i have the footage and thinking about uploading it later for anyone who wants to see. another thing, if the camera does not work should i replace it through dji or somewhere else, thanks!

Keep it in rice for about a week. The longer the better your chances are. Was it salt or fresh water? Fresh you have a chance, salt you can kiss it good bye. As far as the camera id say just replace it yourself, DJi service wil most likley charge you the same price if not a little more. Id say make sure the bird is alright first before you go off and buy a new camera gimbal and vice versa just in case.

I also heard, do not keep it in rice in a warm place, but cool, like a dry basement... I do not understand why, but I have heard it from few pple here, including DJI, so there must be something to it... I think you are supposed to replace the rice every 24 hrs or so too and it's all supposed to be in a bag, so you pull moisture from the quad, not from the surrounding air....

Sorry for your crash, Jason. I've seen some guys use the silica-gel desiccant to dry up the drone. If you need the repairing service, you can contact our North American service center. Here is the contacting information:

Gabe R Posted at 2016-5-28 22:00
Keep it in rice for about a week. The longer the better your chances are. Was it salt or fresh water ...

yea i have it in rice right now and a fan blowing on it. and thank god it was freswhwater lol. and do you know where to buy an extra gimbal and camera if it ends up not working?

Phantomski Posted at 2016-5-28 22:16
I also heard, do not keep it in rice in a warm place, but cool, like a dry basement... I do not unde ...

okay good to hear! i have the rice in a baggie around the camera and gimbal and it is also in a dry place. i havent heard about replacing the rice every 24 hours, but i will take your advice and go buy some more just incase!

Phantomski Posted at 2016-5-29 04:16
I also heard, do not keep it in rice in a warm place, but cool, like a dry basement... I do not unde ...

It might be because cold air holds less moisture than warm air.

Use a dessicant instead of rice for quicker results...you can get a couple of tubs of it from home depot...I think the brand name is Damp Away and it is used for taking moisture out of damp basements and such.

People say not to use rice for drones because they can leave little specks of rice and particles. If those get into your motors or gimbal motors you're not going to have a fun time. I advise you blow out the gimbal motors when you're done with compressed air.

I also clipped a tree and sank my P3A in a freshwater river about 3 weeks ago.  It was completely submerged for about 5 minutes.  A friend kayaked out and grabbed it and to my surprise, it was still lit up.  I pulled the battery and took it down to the campground restroom to hold under the hand drier....I did this for about 20 minutes.  I got home the next day and buried it in 20 lbs of rice for 4 days.  To my surprise, I popped in my other battery and it worked fine.  I guess I lucked out...although I now worry that it will fall out of the sky without warning...anyway, figured I would share my success story...good luck!

Wow! lots of good info here! Yes, I'd be concerned about the "fine rice debris" too...  I love discussions like this.. if I ever need to do this, now I know a bit more than I knew before ;) Thx!

MrPinaColada Posted at 2016-5-30 01:05
People say not to use rice for drones because they can leave little specks of rice and particles. If ...

And don't forget to check your compressor for moisture buildup in the tank beforehand. There's usually a valve to release water in the tank caused by moisture.

Thank you for all the replies! i ended up taking it out of the rice and made sure all the rice was gone. went ahead and tested everything and it works perfectly fine, i guess i got lucky! i have taken it for 3 successful drives and there is not a single problem. For everyone who gave me advice i appreciate your help.

jacobhumphrey@i Posted at 2016-6-5 02:19
Thank you for all the replies! i ended up taking it out of the rice and made sure all the rice was g ...

Good to hear!

Gabe R Posted at 2016-5-29 04:00
Keep it in rice for about a week. The longer the better your chances are. Was it salt or fresh water ...

I've has a gimbal trashed before,  I sent it to this guy...Us drone repair and he worked miracles on it for a reasonable price...

I wonder if DJI can offer a future version with hermetically sealed circuit boards, power supplies?
and a floating parachute option?

I fly a lot over water!