Flying my P3 along the shoreline, about 3 meters high - 20 meter away from me, and I caught some low hanging leaves in the props...stop... splash, completely submerged in shallow water. I picked it out within a minute, but wet is wet. I immediately removed the battery, took it the the shop and blew it out the best I could with compressed air. Removed the props, stuck it in a box and drove it into town like I was an ambulance. I ran into the back door of the nearest Chinese restaraunt holding my drone shouting "Rice...Rice!" Somehow overcame the laguage barrier to get them to fill the box with dry rice. I'm not sure what else I can do at this point. And there may be no saving the battery. I threw it in the box too, but it was constantly flashing all the lights. I'm all ears to any suggestions. Other than the dampness the phatom didn't seem to sustain any damage.

Was it fresh water or salt water

Michael M Posted at 2015-5-15 01:37
Was it fresh water or salt water

Fresh water

Do you have access to Mr. Peabody's Way-Back Machine?   Sorry - had to ask.  I dropped an iPhone into a fresh-water lake once while it was turned on.  Grabbed it and pulled it out immediately and turned it off.  I placed it under a 100W light bulb for about 8 hours (it got too hot to touch).  Let it cool off  and it worked fine for three years after that.  Wish you luck.

I would not trust the battery after getting submerged. You did the right thing with the rice. Crazy how it works but it does. I would leave it in there for a couple days. For example they tell you at least 48 hours for you phone in a bag of rice. If nothing was shorted you maybe able to salvage it. I would suggest if you live close to a shop have them take a look at it. I live in md and I know 1UAS will take a look at it for 25 bucks and let you know if something is wrong. If you want to try it yourself you either going to have to get a new battery(which it looks like none are available) or try to wire it to a power supply and see if you get sparks. (I only suggest the power supply if you have experience in that area. ) You could easier kill it and hurt yourself. Hope it works out for you!!

adot@outlook.co Posted at 2015-5-15 01:50
I would not trust the battery after getting submerged. You did the right thing with the rice. Crazy  ...

Thanks.  Looks like it may have plenty of time to dry out. My extra battery is on back-order along with every one else who ordered one, so I may not know how my Phantom survives the immersion until it arrives.

Fresh water will be okay. Salt water nope. Just dry it completly

A friend of mine lost one in salt water and cleaned it up. The only thing he lost was the battery. His camera and all continued to work. I believe you will be ok. Just let it dry and take it easy the first couple of flights when you get a battery in it.

UPDATE:
The water seems to have killed the battery, it shows signs of life, just blinks some sort of fault code. In the mean time my P3P has been drying for over a week. Not knowing when a spare battery might ever arrive, and it wouldn't be until that point whether I'd know if the phantom had any issues. If it did, I'd then have to send it off for repairs figuring months (if ever) before I'd see my drone again. So to expedite things I bought a P3A +batt from my dealer who had one on the shelf and had shipped to me in a couple days. I did this for the sole purpose of using it's battery to test my P3P. I thought if the 3P worked, I would just sell the barely unboxed 3A with a single new battery as soon as it arrived.
Anyway, with a fresh new battery installed, my P3P powered up normal and after going through all the flight and camera functions I could think of, I'm pleased to say that it'd performing as it did previous to the bath.