LOST Mavic Pro Platinum In Rain (Recovered) - Drying Advice?
2666 29 2019-1-9
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Nordium
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Hello all!(This next part is a story of how I got myself in to this mess - if you're not interested in reading it, please skip down to the second paragraph.)

Yesterday, I decided to fly my Mavic Pro Platinum. My city has recently been receiving very high wind speeds/gusts (20MPH constant, 40-50MPH gusts) that I'm not used to as we don't get this type of weather very often - and let's just say that I flew too far out one way and didn't plan for the trip home. My Mavic lost signal when it was over 1,000ft from me - and didn't reconnect until around 8 minutes later. When it finally reconnected, it had only traveled 500ft toward the home point and the Mavic was spinning around in circles (only 1-2mph horizontal speed). The battery level was at around 20% at this point, therefore the Mavic started it's auto landing (Critically Low Power) over a long farmer's field that I was flying over. After decending a couple hundred feet, I lost all connection to the Mavic. As soon as this happened, I turned off my remote controller and jumped in my car to drive to the last logged GPS coordinates ("Find My Drone" in DJI Go 4). After searching for about an hour, I was not able to locate it - and at this point it was almost pitch black, so I was forced to wait until 5PM the next day (today) to go look for it. This was totally PILOT ERROR - not DJI's fault. I was just an idiot.

Today was the day I went back to the last logged GPS coordinates and was able to find my Mavic in about 15 minutes (because of sufficient daylight to assist me during my search). It had landed safely without any obstructions - not even a prop was touched. The problem is - my Mavic was sitting in the light/heavy rain throughout the night and most of today (the day that I was able to retrieve the Mavic). In total, it was sitting outside for roughly 23 hours in random spiratic showers.

After bringing my Mavic home, I dried off the wet top surface with a micro fiber cloth and any other water that I could visibly make out on the Mavic. I've also since left a blow dryer on medium (cold air) for roughly 30 minutes, faced into the cooling intake just behind the gimbal/camera. The Mavic is now sitting with the props off on my office table, and I plan to leave it there for the next week or so just to make sure all of the water dries up before the next use. The battery was wet, but still shows signs of life - but just to be safe I will be throwing it out and purchasing a new one (as the user manual suggests).

Does anybody have any advice/tips on what I should do to properly dry/care for the Mavic after this incident? Do I have anything to worry about? All feedback is appreciated.
Thanks for reading - I hope to hear from you all soon!
2019-1-9
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Suren
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Put it in a bag of rice and leave it fully covered for a week or 2, the rice will draw out all the water.
2019-1-9
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jacksonnai
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Sorry to know that, glad that you got it back. Same as Suren advise put it in a bag of rice, as rice is hygroscopic, meaning that it can pull moisture out of the air. The air inside a closed container of uncooked rice should be very dry and will help you drone dry out much more quickly. BTW silica gel will work the best to dry out the moisture
2019-1-10
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Bob Brown
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If you have DJI Care refresh go that route.
2019-1-10
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HereForTheBeer
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Don’t recommend the rice method because rice has a hard enamel and not very good at drawing moisture out also rice is very dusty.   If you got silica gel packets (those things come in Shoes and clothing and bags, kept them!) you can toss some of those pounces into a bag with the drone.   

What I would do, Take battery out, and smack/shake it to see if water comes out of it, if water seeps out a few drops at most, toss the battery/recycle it..   Next out the drone on a towel on a shelf where warm and dry and just leave it sitting there for a few days or a week atleast... should be fine as long as don’t power it on while it’s wet.

If when pulled the battery water was run it. If the pack not just a couple drops you have to consider opening up the drone and manually drying everything off.. or requesting a replacement and sending it in, if you have a valid refresh still.  

2019-1-10
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DJI Stephen
DJI team
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Hello and good day Nordium. I am sorry to know what happened to your previous flight with your DJI Mavic Pro Platinum. Since this issue happened the best thing you need to do is to contact DJI support at https://www.dji.com/support for additional assessment and help. Please sync the flight records as well using your DJI Go 4 application. Thank you.

2019-1-10
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Nordium
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DJI Stephen Posted at 1-10 10:01
Hello and good day Nordium. I am sorry to know what happened to your previous flight with your DJI Mavic Pro Platinum. Since this issue happened the best thing you need to do is to contact DJI support at https://www.dji.com/support for additional assessment and help. Please sync the flight records as well using your DJI Go 4 application. Thank you.

[view_image]

Hello Stephen, thanks for your response.
I do not require DJI Support at this time because the drone being lost was my fault, not a product fault. I also have DJI Care in case my aircraft stops working. Thanks for your support however, it's much appreciated!
2019-1-10
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Nordium
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HereForTheBeer Posted at 1-10 08:04
Don’t recommend the rice method because rice has a hard enamel and not very good at drawing moisture out also rice is very dusty.   If you got silica gel packets (those things come in Shoes and clothing and bags, kept them!) you can toss some of those pounces into a bag with the drone.   

What I would do, Take battery out, and smack/shake it to see if water comes out of it, if water seeps out a few drops at most, toss the battery/recycle it..   Next out the drone on a towel on a shelf where warm and dry and just leave it sitting there for a few days or a week atleast... should be fine as long as don’t power it on while it’s wet.

Thank you very much for your detailed and in depth response, it is very much appreciated.
YES! Finally somebody who understands that rice isn't the way to go. I've used rice for electronics in the past and all it does is harden and clump together wherever moisture was, and even after removing the grains it leaves a sticky dust that's almost impossible to get rid of. As for the silica gel packets - I don't have any at the moment, but I will be ordering some from Amazon. Initially after the rescue, the drone didn't appear to have any water inside of it - and after a blow drying it's just been sitting on my office desk at warm room temperature to dry out. Once I get the packets in the mail, do I lay them on the drone and seal it in a large Zip-Loc for a few days? How many packets should I leave sitting on the drone and where should I place the(m)?

I already tossed the battery out even though it still seemed to be perfectly functional. My Refresh is still valid, however I would like to avoid using it as the replacement DJI provides is refurbished - my current MPP is brand new.

Thanks again for your advice - I'm looking forward to your response.
2019-1-10
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Nordium
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Bob Brown Posted at 1-10 07:46
If you have DJI Care refresh go that route.

Hey Bob! Thanks for your feedback.
I do have Care Refresh, however I would like to avoid using it if possible because the replacement DJI provides is refurbished - my MPP is brand new, and I would like to keep it that way.
2019-1-10
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Nordium
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jacksonnai Posted at 1-10 06:35
Sorry to know that, glad that you got it back. Same as Suren advise put it in a bag of rice, as rice is hygroscopic, meaning that it can pull moisture out of the air. The air inside a closed container of uncooked rice should be very dry and will help you drone dry out much more quickly. BTW silica gel will work the best to dry out the moisture

whoops - it looks like this reply was triple-posted somehow. my apologies - ignore this message
2019-1-10
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Nordium
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jacksonnai Posted at 1-10 06:35
Sorry to know that, glad that you got it back. Same as Suren advise put it in a bag of rice, as rice is hygroscopic, meaning that it can pull moisture out of the air. The air inside a closed container of uncooked rice should be very dry and will help you drone dry out much more quickly. BTW silica gel will work the best to dry out the moisture

whoops - it looks like this reply was triple-posted somehow. my apologies - ignore this message
2019-1-10
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Nordium
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jacksonnai Posted at 1-10 06:35
Sorry to know that, glad that you got it back. Same as Suren advise put it in a bag of rice, as rice is hygroscopic, meaning that it can pull moisture out of the air. The air inside a closed container of uncooked rice should be very dry and will help you drone dry out much more quickly. BTW silica gel will work the best to dry out the moisture

Hey Jackson! Thanks again for your feedback.
As for the silica gel packets - I don't have any at the moment, but I will be ordering some from Amazon. Initially after the rescue, the drone didn't appear to have any water inside of it - and after a blow drying it's just been sitting on my office desk at warm room temperature to dry out. Once I get the packets in the mail, do I lay them on the drone and seal it in a large Zip-Loc for a few days? How many packets should I leave sitting on the drone and where should I place the(m)?
2019-1-10
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Nordium
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Suren Posted at 1-9 19:38
Put it in a bag of rice and leave it fully covered for a week or 2, the rice will draw out all the water.

Thanks for the feedback Suren! I'll be trying out some silica gel packets to hopefully extract and dry up any moisture inside the Mavic.
2019-1-10
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HereForTheBeer
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Nordium Posted at 1-10 19:05
Thank you very much for your detailed and in depth response, it is very much appreciated.
YES! Finally somebody who understands that rice isn't the way to go. I've used rice for electronics in the past and all it does is harden and clump together wherever moisture was, and even after removing the grains it leaves a sticky dust that's almost impossible to get rid of. As for the silica gel packets - I don't have any at the moment, but I will be ordering some from Amazon. Initially after the rescue, the drone didn't appear to have any water inside of it - and after a blow drying it's just been sitting on my office desk at warm room temperature to dry out. Once I get the packets in the mail, do I lay them on the drone and seal it in a large Zip-Loc for a few days? How many packets should I leave sitting on the drone and where should I place the(m)?

First of all I’m going to say, having much experiance flying my mavic pro I used to own in downpours...I think it will survive, the battery may suffer if any signs the battery isn’t right, recycle it and replace it don’t want the drone to make a full recover just for the battery to let go mid air and ruin it. However if the battery didn’t seem to releas any moisture shaking it then battery might be alright, i been surprised every time my I never had a failure.

Secondly Not sure if the drone can fit in a gallon sized ziplock baggy but you can shove it in a baggy of some sort if not a baggy then maybe a box and just pour packets in.. .. if it’s silica gel BB’s then make sure no holes it can fall into and you can usually just scoops some in with it and be good, a few days..

Pro tip.. silica gel is reusable so after use you can dry them out gently with a bit of heat toss them back in storage in a sealed baggy and reuse them
2019-1-10
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jacksonnai
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Nordium Posted at 1-10 19:10
Hey Jackson! Thanks again for your feedback.
As for the silica gel packets - I don't have any at the moment, but I will be ordering some from Amazon. Initially after the rescue, the drone didn't appear to have any water inside of it - and after a blow drying it's just been sitting on my office desk at warm room temperature to dry out. Once I get the packets in the mail, do I lay them on the drone and seal it in a large Zip-Loc for a few days? How many packets should I leave sitting on the drone and where should I place the(m)?

Well not sure about how much you need, but from google it said submerge it with silica gel, so you might need a ton of it, and for the time it said leave it for about a week or more, put it at a sunny spot
2019-1-11
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jacksonnai
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Nordium Posted at 1-10 19:09
whoops - it looks like this reply was triple-posted somehow. my apologies - ignore this message

Alright! It's ok,
2019-1-11
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Bob Brown
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Nordium Posted at 1-10 19:07
Hey Bob! Thanks for your feedback.
I do have Care Refresh, however I would like to avoid using it if possible because the replacement DJI provides is refurbished - my MPP is brand new, and I would like to keep it that way.

I get what you are saying. I guess you can always swap it out if it falls from the sky due to internal corrosion.  You seem to have a grip on drying it out. Just don't put it in the oven as this will most likely weaken solder points.  (I have had to put a server motherboard in the oven many years ago to re-seat components on a defective mother board. it worked!)

Good luck!
2019-1-11
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DJI Stephen
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Nordium Posted at 1-10 18:55
Hello Stephen, thanks for your response.
I do not require DJI Support at this time because the drone being lost was my fault, not a product fault. I also have DJI Care in case my aircraft stops working. Thanks for your support however, it's much appreciated!

You are very much welcome Nordium. Thank you for your support. Have a safe and happy flying always.
2019-1-11
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Nordium
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jacksonnai Posted at 1-11 04:00
Well not sure about how much you need, but from google it said submerge it with silica gel, so you might need a ton of it, and for the time it said leave it for about a week or more, put it at a sunny spot

Thank you! I ordered 20 packets, that should be more than enough. Today marking the second day the Mavic has been out of the rain, it seems completely dry - however I can't be sure of what's going on inside. I'm going to wait a week or so with the silica packets and take it out for a test hover flight.
2019-1-11
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jacksonnai
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Nordium Posted at 1-11 20:57
Thank you! I ordered 20 packets, that should be more than enough. Today marking the second day the Mavic has been out of the rain, it seems completely dry - however I can't be sure of what's going on inside. I'm going to wait a week or so with the silica packets and take it out for a test hover flight.

Cool! Hopefully it get on the sky soon!
2019-1-14
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Nordium
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jacksonnai Posted at 1-14 03:23
Cool! Hopefully it get on the sky soon!

I'll keep you updated. Thanks again for all the help!
2019-1-14
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jacksonnai
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Nordium Posted at 1-14 18:21
I'll keep you updated. Thanks again for all the help!

You're welcome Nordium!
2019-1-16
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Nordium
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jacksonnai Posted at 1-16 03:47
You're welcome Nordium!

GREAT NEWS - after letting the Mavic sit in the container w/ desiccant silica packets for a week, it was completely dried out - it flies perfectly, as it did before the incident (I've done about 8 flights so far after it being dried). The only loss of this whole ordeal was a battery.
Thanks again for all of your help!
2019-1-19
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Nordium
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Bob Brown Posted at 1-11 05:53
I get what you are saying. I guess you can always swap it out if it falls from the sky due to internal corrosion.  You seem to have a grip on drying it out. Just don't put it in the oven as this will most likely weaken solder points.  (I have had to put a server motherboard in the oven many years ago to re-seat components on a defective mother board. it worked!)

Good luck!

GREAT NEWS - after letting the Mavic sit in the container w/ desiccant silica packets for a week, it was completely dried out - it flies perfectly, as it did before the incident (I've done about 8 flights so far after it being dried). The only loss of this whole ordeal was a battery.
Thanks again for all of your help!
2019-1-19
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Nordium
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HereForTheBeer Posted at 1-10 20:16
First of all I’m going to say, having much experiance flying my mavic pro I used to own in downpours...I think it will survive, the battery may suffer if any signs the battery isn’t right, recycle it and replace it don’t want the drone to make a full recover just for the battery to let go mid air and ruin it. However if the battery didn’t seem to releas any moisture shaking it then battery might be alright, i been surprised every time my I never had a failure.

Secondly Not sure if the drone can fit in a gallon sized ziplock baggy but you can shove it in a baggy of some sort if not a baggy then maybe a box and just pour packets in.. .. if it’s silica gel BB’s then make sure no holes it can fall into and you can usually just scoops some in with it and be good, a few days..

GREAT NEWS - after letting the Mavic sit in the container w/ desiccant silica packets for a week, it was completely dried out - it flies perfectly, as it did before the incident (I've done about 8 flights so far after it being dried). The only loss of this whole ordeal was a battery.
Thanks again for all of your help!
2019-1-19
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HereForTheBeer
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Nordium Posted at 1-19 20:05
GREAT NEWS - after letting the Mavic sit in the container w/ desiccant silica packets for a week, it was completely dried out - it flies perfectly, as it did before the incident (I've done about 8 flights so far after it being dried). The only loss of this whole ordeal was a battery.
Thanks again for all of your help!

i am so glad to hear it!  and as i see totally worth loss of the battery if the aircraft works and is saved.   
2019-1-19
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Nordium
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HereForTheBeer Posted at 1-19 20:07
i am so glad to hear it!  and as i see totally worth loss of the battery if the aircraft works and is saved.

Yes, of course! Just in time for my trip to Vancouver, WA tomorrow. Going to film some bridges and rivers!
2019-1-19
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Boffin
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Australia
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A great result Nordium!

For other people who wish to dry out their drone (with no disrespect to AA), a few silica gel bags tossed into a garbage bag liner with a twist tie to seal it worked for me when a thunderstorm sneaked up and washed the dust off of my Mavic Pro
2019-1-19
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Nordium
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Boffin Posted at 1-19 20:37
A great result Nordium!

For other people who wish to dry out their drone (with no disrespect to AA), a few silica gel bags tossed into a garbage bag liner with a twist tie to seal it worked for me when a thunderstorm sneaked up and washed the dust off of my Mavic Pro

Thanks for your feedback/sharing your experience! I used an air sealed food container (tupperware) and had the Mavic folded.
2019-1-19
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jacksonnai
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Nordium Posted at 1-19 20:04
GREAT NEWS - after letting the Mavic sit in the container w/ desiccant silica packets for a week, it was completely dried out - it flies perfectly, as it did before the incident (I've done about 8 flights so far after it being dried). The only loss of this whole ordeal was a battery.
Thanks again for all of your help!

Great to know that! Happy flying!
Be careful next time!
2019-1-20
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