so i recently managed to send another drone diving in the lake. (the previous story here: https://forum.dji.com/forum.php? ... d=219696#pid2508311 )
however, this time it was user error (tree collision). after the crash the drone dropped into 1m deep water where it sat for around 5 minutes. when i fished it out the water the red LED was still lighting up at the bottom. after removing the battery i sent the drone to the dryer at 40°C for 24h. amazingly enough the drone was operating as nothing had ever happened to it (including the battery).

so this is officially a waterproof drone now...

i made a video about the story:

Bonus content in the video at 01:00: when i went test flying i forgot that there was a military no fly zone behind me. i could fly away from it, but when i wanted to fly back to the home point the drone would say "authorisation zone reached" refusing to fly back to where it started! all while howering over a river. so i had no other option but to fly the drone to another place to land, which i did while riding the bike to not lose signal. end of story.

That is truly remarkable.  Reminds me of the time I put my Apple TV remote through the washer and dryer accidently.  The remote resurrected, which was amazing to me.

Hello there tazztone. Good day and thank you for sharing these amazing information with us and this wonderful video as well. Have a safe and a happy flying always. .

Sadly,  you now potentially have a time bomb on your hands,   there could be internal damage from the water that will affect you later on,  and hopefully not during a flight.

I have had such experiences too. The drone flew for a long time after that, but it had a weakness for water and dived again, this time for good. After his first bath he had white raids on the elements inside. The white stickers have turned red. The guarantee faded away in the waves...

Nice video and exciting story.  I hope I never have to experience either of those things!

Interesting video.  I hope that there are no issues long term with the internal electronics.  

Nice story and lessons learned, always check for possible restricted zones before throwing the bird into the air.

djiuser_nO2RdSW5BSUg Posted at 7-22 00:46
I have had such experiences too. The drone flew for a long time after that, but it had a weakness for water and dived again, this time for good. After his first bath he had white raids on the elements inside. The white stickers have turned red. The guarantee faded away in the waves...

hi thanks for sharing your story as well. i am interested to know tho: what do you mean by "white raids on the elements inside"?
i just peeked inside my drone and saw the red DJI sticker too. so warranty void for me too it is then...

My P4p went in the drink, its been going strong over 2 years now, BUT, you MUST bin that battery else you're asking for trouble, not worth the risk for £50

A lot of water in the Aare!

DAFlys Posted at 7-21 23:39
Sadly,  you now potentially have a time bomb on your hands,   there could be internal damage from the water that will affect you later on,  and hopefully not during a flight.

I agree, even in fresh water corrosion is still possible. I have seen mobile phones (that didn't have any IP rating) work for a few days to a few months in extreme cases before they bricked themselves.

I wouldn't fly the drone without it being looked at for damage.  

tazztone Posted at 7-22 07:51
hi thanks for sharing your story as well. i am interested to know tho: what do you mean by "white raids on the elements inside"?
i just peeked inside my drone and saw the red DJI sticker too. so warranty void for me too it is then...

For the first time, the drone dived for a minute. He survived this meeting and, after drying, flown hundreds of kilometers without problems. After drying, a white coating appeared on the solder points and metal cases. It was not large, but a trained eye can see through the battery opening. It is worse when traces of electrolysis are visible, small depressions in the tin. This usually bodes death. Stickers turn red fairly quickly, sometimes even when in contact with fog. The second time this drone dies. The search operation lasted 3 weeks, but I finally found it with a second drone and aerial observation. The wreck looked very bad after three weeks in fresh water. The ultrasonic cleaner removed the corrosion. The drone even turned on the LEDs, but you could see that it was not going to be good. I haven't had any water adventures since then.

Bashy Posted at 7-25 22:04
My P4p went in the drink, its been going strong over 2 years now, BUT, you MUST bin that battery else you're asking for trouble, not worth the risk for £50

just found a battery teardown video and attempted it as well.
this is how the battery looks inside:
no sign of water entry.

The BMS is reasonably well protected against flooding for a short time. There is a sticker on the bottom of the PCB which is not visible in the film. Does he not blush like a virgin?

djiuser_nO2RdSW5BSUg Posted at 7-26 04:27
The BMS is reasonably well protected against flooding for a short time. There is a sticker on the bottom of the PCB which is not visible in the film. Does he not blush like a virgin?

yea that one is also red
https://imgur.com/y3JlIQI

Do not worry. The battery will be functional and will not let you down. And how much did you find out by the way.

Given that over 70% of the Earth's surface is water you'd think the manufacturers would make drones waterproof from the off?

I have to say, just because you dried it out, that does not make it waterproof.
Also, just because the battery PCB is coated, what about the cells, I would NEVER risk a battery after its been in the drink.For the sake of £50est its just not work the risk, it may be ok for now, it may be ok till EOL, or it may not, is it worth the cost
of a new AC, I think not but that's just me, oh wait, its not ;)

I think it might be water resistant but not really water proof. Either way, that's great! Here in Miami Beach where I live, the salt water will definitely damage a drone.

I would need to see inside one but looking at the motors, they aren't water resistant from what I can tell. I have a feeling they are not even resistant, reason being, DJI are still adding a litmus paper stickers, they wouldn't do that of water wasn't too much of a concern. That's just my take on it, just cause it can be dried out in an oven means nothing really. I wouldn't rely on the idea of even them being resistant. Just be mindful not to get close to the spray. Do you hit the boat ramps and, is it Haulover? I watch loads of those YT vids, I think they are great, some drone it too...

Bashy Posted at 7-30 11:17
I would need to see inside one but looking at the motors, they aren't water resistant from what I can tell. I have a feeling they are not even resistant, reason being, DJI are still adding a litmus paper stickers, they wouldn't do that of water wasn't too much of a concern. That's just my take on it, just cause it can be dried out in an oven means nothing really. I wouldn't rely on the idea of even them being resistant. Just be mindful not to get close to the spray. Do you hit the boat ramps and, is it Haulover? I watch loads of those YT vids, I think they are great, some drone it too...

of course i am exaggerating. of course it's not water proof. however i would not have thought a drone could survive 1m of water for 5 minutes

If they are dried out properly before use and normally a new battery, they can hold up quite well, I would never trust a previously wet one.

mate your really lucky that your done still works!

Bashy Posted at 7-30 11:17
I would need to see inside one but looking at the motors, they aren't water resistant from what I can tell. I have a feeling they are not even resistant, reason being, DJI are still adding a litmus paper stickers, they wouldn't do that of water wasn't too much of a concern. That's just my take on it, just cause it can be dried out in an oven means nothing really. I wouldn't rely on the idea of even them being resistant. Just be mindful not to get close to the spray. Do you hit the boat ramps and, is it Haulover? I watch loads of those YT vids, I think they are great, some drone it too...

why would you put it in a oven?? does not feel right.

DJI_MAVICSERIES Posted at 8-5 07:25
mate your really lucky that your done still works!

i know,  right?

DJI_MAVICSERIES Posted at 8-5 07:26
why would you put it in a oven?? does not feel right.

well i could have put it in an oven also, since mine could be set at 40- 50 degrees C, which the electronics are able to withstand

DJI_MAVICSERIES Posted at 8-5 07:26
why would you put it in a oven?? does not feel right.

What did you think, 180C for 1hr 20mins? lol

It was a cooling down oven, set to fan only, it was deffo nowhere near hot enough to melt plastics but just enough to heat the plastic but not able to hold ya hand there. I kept checking to make sure the plastic was ok, I ain't that crazy. I did however leave it in there till the oven was cold, it was then put into the airing cupboard overnight, was winter time ish so the heating was on overnight, thus warm inside the airing cupboard. I didnt even attempt to dry the battery, went into a bucket of water for about 2 or 3 days.

I will reiterate, the best advice anyone can give to someone who's dunked a drone is to get rid of the battery, you won't be able to rely on it again.

At least the electronics (circuit board) could be protected from moisture / corrosion with plastic spray as a precaution.  I did this successfully on the electronic components of my garden railroad.  The motor and battery are still susceptible to water ...

Lucky it worked!

Bashy Posted at 8-5 18:25
What did you think, 180C for 1hr 20mins? lol

It was a cooling down oven, set to fan only, it was deffo nowhere near hot enough to melt plastics but just enough to heat the plastic but not able to hold ya hand there. I kept checking to make sure the plastic was ok, I ain't that crazy. I did however leave it in there till the oven was cold, it was then put into the airing cupboard overnight, was winter time ish so the heating was on overnight, thus warm inside the airing cupboard. I didnt even attempt to dry the battery, went into a bucket of water for about 2 or 3 days.

well the only part where moisture could enter the battery would be at the contacts. since they were dry when i fished the drone out of the water AND i opened my battery to find there were no signs of alterations, i consider the battery to be as good as before

tazztone Posted at 11-18 09:52
well the only part where moisture could enter the battery would be at the contacts. since they were dry when i fished the drone out of the water AND i opened my battery to find there were no signs of alterations, i consider the battery to be as good as before

It is seriously Russian Roulette, if you want to risk the AC falling from the sky out of the blue, then go for it.
Its not just a case of the battery getting water inside, there's also any shorts that may occur, bearing in mind that the ac would be turned on at the time it went in the drink. For the sake of £55 or so, is it really worth risk the price of the AC, if you think so then have at it, you may be lucky this time round

Shouldn't you have needed an authorization code to take of if you were that close to restricted airspace? I only ask because I went to fly mine near an area with a TFR and it wouldn't let me take off without requesting an authorization code even though I wasn't actually inside the TFR.

djiuser_ItwW6HpwAy5H Posted at 10-31 13:17
Shouldn't you have needed an authorization code to take of if you were that close to restricted airspace? I only ask because I went to fly mine near an area with a TFR and it wouldn't let me take off without requesting an authorization code even though I wasn't actually inside the TFR.

i only ever get a warning that i can then just cancel.

just watched our video! glad that our mini 2 is that tough! Thanks for sharing!