I drowned my P2 Today...

[sergekouper]

Hi there!
Really bad day today!
This morning the sun was out, so did I to fly my phantom 2. I was in my local park, following a foot path quite low, camera a bit tilted because of the Props guards, and I saw too late the low branches of a tree, I panicked, and suddenly it was the end of it: noises, acrobatic moves and direct in the little canal, with the Zenmuse, and the GoPro!... (Sorry there is no video, I forgot to start recording...) I could retrieve it quite immediately, but it was correctly parked on its landing gear, at 50 / 60 cm underwater. No need to say that it was full of water. I spent the whole day drying it. I put everything in parts and used a portable air compressor. I even stripped off the gimbal, and the GoPro. Hot!... When I was confident it couldn't be any dryer I put everything back together.
I haven't flied it yet, but everything seems to work. The motors are starting and accelerating,(no props) the gimbal moves as it should, I get the satellites and the green light, the FPV works, and the GoPro is just fine! (but was quite wet inside though)
The only casualty so far seems to be the battery that was in at the moment of the crash. This one doesn't want to charge anymore.
I will keep you posted with the Fly test... Fingers crossed!

 

[imprimatur]

Re: I drawn my P2 Today...

Hi there!
Really bad day today!
This morning the sun was out, so did I to fly my phantom 2. I was in my local park, following a foot path quite low, camera a bit tilted because of the Props guards, and I saw too late the low branches of a tree, I panicked, and suddenly it was the end of it: noises, acrobatic moves and direct in the little canal, with the Zenmuse, and the GoPro!... (Sorry there is no video, I forgot to start recording...) I could retrieve it quite immediately, but it was correctly parked on its landing gear, at 50 / 60 cm underwater. No need to say that it was full of water. I spent the whole day drying it. I put everything in parts and used a portable air compressor. I even stripped off the gimbal, and the GoPro. Hot!... When I was confident it couldn't be any dryer I put everything back together.
I haven't flied it yet, but everything seems to work. The motors are starting and accelerating,(no props) the gimbal moves as it should, I get the satellites and the green light, the FPV works, and the GoPro is just fine! (but was quite wet inside though)
The only casualty so far seems to be the battery that was in at the moment of the crash. This one doesn't want to charge anymore.
I will keep you posted with the Fly test... Fingers crossed!

Time to talk about this again: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=15120&p=137618&hilit=swimming#p137473 :mrgreen:

 

[sergekouper]

Great news !
I've tested fly my phantom today and everything seems allright! 20mn in the airs and not a glitch! It's a relief! So I can say that if yours goes down and sink, don't get a heart attack!
Here are my steps for recovery!
Remove batteries: Phantom and Gopro
Shake your Phantom and the GoPro to expell as much water as you can.
Don't wait! your day is gone, go home and grab a screw driver, allen key, hair dryer/air compressor/air duster can... (I used an air compressor)

You are going to more or less strip everything off!
It's not rocket science and can be done. (I did it... )

First of all: Remove the propellers.
Caution: It is full of screws, of different shapes ans sizes. Usually, I take a white sheet of A4 paper, I loop some tapes and stick them to the paper, and label them as i stick the screws onto the tape.(Body, gimbal, rotors etc...one loop tape by item)

Phantom:

1-Remove first the gimbal
2-Remove your FPV TX+ mini Iosd if you got one.
2-Remove the Top cover- (12 screws underneath +1 mini screw at the end of each arm. explained on youtube) and unplug the GPS ribbon. Start making pictures (it may be useful.)
Start to dry the inside of your phantom,(Cold air or medium, not hot to avoid damaging components) and observe what you see to get familiar with it.
There is no need to unplug anything else in there.Just blow air as much as you can on connections, components and boards to remove all the wet.
3-Remove the rotors (4 screws underneath each arm) and dry them as well with a air can and thin nozzle if you have.
3-Remove the ESC's (2 little screws hoding the leds covers as well). Turn them over and dry them thoroughly.
4-Dry thouroughly the main board.
5-Remove the 4 screws holding the mainboard and uplift it a bit to separate it from the little board underneath and blow underneath as well. Basically, Blow, blow, and blow!
6-Have a look inside the Top cover, in the center is the GPS. Normally it's well protected by an adhesive copper leaf covered with some kind of paper/cardboard. You may remove the sides a bit to expose the the border of the circuit and observe if the water went through or not. No need IMO to remove the leaf completely, it could pull up some components... Blow a lot just in case.
At this point , leave it for a few hours in the open (just a bit more help to dry)

Compass, Gimbal, FPV TX, Mini IOSD.
Same treatment, the srews however are very very thin, you need some appropriate precision screw driver for the job.

Compass: Locate the compass (on the landing gear), unplug connector and dry it.

Gimbal: Blow thoroughly the brusless motors with the thin nozzle. Unscrew the back plate ( 6 screws in total, and lift up the plate to blow in there as well.) leave it open for now.

FPV Tx: Mine is a TS351
Cut the protective plastic wrapping leaf and blow thorougly until dry. (later put back the leaf and secure it with clear tape)

Mini Iosd:
unscrew the 4 mini screws and open it to free the inside circuit. Blow it, make sure to re-place the cable correctly in the notches when closing it back.

GoPro:
Mine is a Hero 3+(View the disassembly video on Youtube)
Remove the top cover by inserting a thin plastic pry between the case and the front cover (I used a guitar pick)
Remove the 4 screws holding the body in the case, and extract it gently.
At this point I don't think necessary to go any further in stripping it off. Start blowing thoroughly.

Put everything back together, replug ALL CABLES and CONNECTORS.
Put your screws back in place, evenly tight, make sure none is loose.
DO NOT put the propellers back yet.
Go out, start it and check if everything looks ok.

For me it was a success. I did exactly this, nothing more, nothing less.

Hope it helps!

Cheers.