Yesterday morning my P3S went into our pond for about 3 minutes.  I dried it for 28 hours and with a different batter than the one that was in use when it went under, I'm flying the P3S perfectly now.  OK I got lucky but congrats to DJI for making such a resistant drone.

Now the battery that got wet was at 3 LED's when it went under: 28 hours later it is also at 3 LED's lit - but when I try to charge it, I get a couple cyles of 1-2-3-4 LED's then the orange lite on the start-stop button comes on, then everything goes off.  After a few seconds I've just unplugged it.

It does not look like it is going to charge.  Can anyone from DJI let me know what they think?  Have you tested batteries by submerging in water for 1, 3, 5, 10, 30 or more minutes?  Again, this battery was underwater about 3 minutes.  I dried it best I could - put it in an oven at about 170°F for 10 minutes, then fan-dried it for a day.  The battery never got very warm in the oven-- certainly a lot cooler than after a 25 minute normal flight!

I hesitate to put this into my now working P3S -- but if that's what it needs to re-condition it and you can guarantee that I won't screw-up my nice P3S (which is not getting even near water any longer!!) - I will do that.

Thanks for any comments

Best regards,

Steve Schulte
Monday 15 August 2016

Sorry for your issue, scschulte. It is not recommended to risk using the water damaged battery which is not stable. Feel free to contact our support and send it in.

DJI-Paladin Posted at 2016-8-16 09:42
Sorry for your issue, scschulte. It is not recommended to risk using the water damaged battery which ...

OK - and what tests can I do first?  Can I connect this battery to my Phantom 3 and do a 1-2 minute flight at 2-4 feet (1 meter) in height and then send-in the flight file or send to HealthyDrones.com?

I am now drying the battery in a bag at room temperature with desiccant sacks in the bag.  In a day or 2 I will re-try to recharge -- but perhaps I can also try this "test flight" (hovering over an air mattress in case the battery quits).  Comments please!

Thanks,

Steve
Tuesday 16 August 2016

scschulte Posted at 2016-8-16 14:23
OK - and what tests can I do first?  Can I connect this battery to my Phantom 3 and do a 1-2 minut ...

I'd suggest you to stop using this battery.

DJI-Paladin Posted at 2016-8-16 01:25
I'd suggest you to stop using this battery.

OK and thanks!  A few questions: When a DJI Phantom 3 Lithium Polymer battery is immersed for 2-4 minutes in regular (not salt) water -- what are some of the mechanisms that then cause the battery to fail or be unsafe?  Is it several things?  I can imagine:

• The Lithium may react with water (similar to the way pure sodium might react)??
• The electronics get short-curcuited (or may be damaged)?
• Other?
  

Thanks for any more detailed elaboration if you could.  

Again - I plan to dispose of this battery at a battery disposal facility -- and I have just ordered a new one!

Regards,

Steve
Tuesday 16 August 2016

scschulte Posted at 2016-8-16 15:18
OK and thanks!  A few questions:  When a DJI Phantom 3 Lithium Polymer battery is immersed for 2-4 ...

The components on the PCB will be corroded.