So I got a standard 3 2 weeks ago from some friends for my birthday. Loving it, until today I clipped a tree and the drone dove into the lake. It was fresh water, but the drone we under the water completely for about 5 seconds.
I quickly pulled it out and removed the still flashing battery. I think the drone lights were also still on.
It all happen very quickly as I panicked to grab it out.
Since I've left in the Sun, held it out the window as we drove up the highway to dry it out.
Now I've just blasted a warm air up through the battery hole which came out the vents all over the drone. Very thorough drying out.
Did the same over the camera and gimbal.

Haven't tried to turn on yet.

Any recommendations before I do?

Thanks guys.

Wait another week and keep it in a bowl of rice, which will absorbe all remaining humidity around

Chances of survival?

jason34 Posted at 2016-9-20 14:46
Chances of survival?

For the drone quite good i would say.

Check the camera also if there is any signs of moisture inside the lens and so on.
Check the copper windings on the motor. If they still look nice and clean without any black marks on the windings.

For the battery... Only time will tell...

To be on a safe side keep the battery in a metal fireproof container that is not tightly sealed in case it decides to catch fire.

I would toss the battery to be safe or at the extreme charge it outside while staying well away from it if it should burst into flames...

Hi Jason,

If I were you, I would set the target to save the drone, gimbal & camera, but not the battery. Put the whole drone except battery into a sealable container with lot of dry rice, then seal the container up. Let it sit there for at least a week. Don't take the risk dropping your drone from the sky in future with the drown battery, even if it seems fully functional. No one knows for sure if any device in the intelligent battery circuit has latent defect resulting from the drowning - after all, battery is a consumable item.

Your chance of recovering the drone, gimbal and camera is high. I've read several successful cases here in this forum. Just be patient (don't try powering it up prematurely), and be cautious in verifying its proper performance when the drying process complete. Get ready with a fully charged battery known to be good for verifying the drone's performance.

Hope you will be flying your drone again soon.

Henry

Thanks guys! I will just leave it for a week as suggested. I'll try the rice even though I've read on quora that it doesn't actually help with regards to phones. Might do a bit more reading on that.
Appreciate the help guys and hope to be back up flying soon.

If you have any of the silica gel packs that you get in electronics they will be better.  I've heard of horror stories with rice due to the rice starch.  I'm not saying rice won't work but there are better solutions around.

Buy a new one dude, you can sprinkle all the rice you want on it and it won't help. The only thing you can save is the airframe and the props.

Henry Mo-Yung Posted at 2016-9-20 21:24
Hi Jason,

If I were you, I would set the target to save the drone, gimbal & camera, but not the bat ...

I agree about the battery.
Also, if it does fly again be careful. There could be hidden internal damage from the crash and could effect a later flight.

I would send it in to DJI.. Same thing happened to me (fresh water) dried it out and it flew fine for a couple weeks then one day just dropped from the sky at 40'. Sent it in to DJI and they said it had water damage. Repair cost me $724. Now I have insurance.

jason34 Posted at 2016-9-20 19:46
Chances of survival?

Hi,
I would send it to DJI, most likely there will be hidden problems. Even if after several weeks of "drying" the drone will fly, there is no guarantee that it will not suddenly fall down ... Sorry, but your bird became unpredictable.

The reason the rice doesn't work on the iPhone is because the phone is nearly sealed water tight, I'd go with the rice, instant rice, as it adsorbs more humidity than regular rice. I'd also try the rice before DJI, remember they want to make money and will most likely charge you for some problem that doesn't exist.

R&L Aerial  Posted at 2016-9-20 22:59
Buy a new one dude, you can sprinkle all the rice you want on it and it won't help. The only thing y ...

for sure rice help , i have fixed alot of mobilephones this way

Adam Flurk Posted at 2016-9-21 07:38
I would send it in to DJI.. Same thing happened to me (fresh water) dried it out and it flew fine fo ...

Damn. Hopefully there are plenty of positive outcomes too. Fingers crossed. Waiting patiently.

jason34 Posted at 2016-9-25 02:38
Damn. Hopefully there are plenty of positive outcomes too. Fingers crossed. Waiting patiently.

Did you send it in and waiting to hear from DJI or still trying to dry it out?

Dried out and it's live!!
Thanks for the advice guys. Let's hope it stays in the air. Long enough for me to get a mavic anyway

All this talk about rice.... man, I could use a good stir-fry right now!