P3P wet, in 3 feet of water for 12 hours

[WetDog]

Moving air is better than a desiccant, unless you're in an extremely humid environment

He said Texas. I think they invented humidity....

An oven on very low is another way to do it. Annoys your wife if nothing else.

Thinking about it some more (always dangerous) - what about putting it in the refrigerator? Modern ones dry the air out pretty well. That would really upset my wife.

 

[Wibble]

He said Texas. I think they invented humidity....

An oven on very low is another way to do it. Annoys your wife if nothing else.

Thinking about it some more (always dangerous) - what about putting it in the refrigerator? Modern ones dry the air out pretty well. That would really upset my wife.

In the UK we often get weeks where the humidity is over 95% so it's not just warm countries effected.
The outlet of an aircon unit would be good or a proper dehumidifier.
In colder weather an electric fan heater is great or a hairdryer just don't get it too hot.

 

[jephoto]

If this were to happen to me I would without a doubt open the A/C and use light compressed air along with removing connected plugs and blowing those with the compressed air. The GPS is in the center of top cover and has the aluminum sheet cover over it. It should be removed allowing to to unscrew the GPS and clean it properly.

The battery is a complete loss and should be discarded in the proper manner. I've been told those batteries can be like mini bombs if not respected.

Where can I take the battery for disposal?
I'm in chicago. Not sure if a regular Recycle place is the way to go.
Ideas?

 

[Donald Chovanec]

California is pretty dry with the drought and all, guess there is a bright side to the drought. Some parts are probably still good. Saw some Phantom main bodies for sale on ebay but of course who knows what they have been though, but maybe for parts.

 

[Quadcopterpilot]

Compressed air then hairdryer, wait 2 days, do it again then pray and fly.
Worked for me and still flying 6 months later, good luck!!

 

[hudster]

Be careful to not have it too hot because you could melt the solder, separating wires and pins. I think the melting point for most solder is 190f.


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[hudster]

Also, when separating the shell, you need to squeeze the bottom part and move the top shell back and forth, also putting cardboard in between it, it is a pain though. Here is a video

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[jephoto]

I tried that, but obviously don't have the technique down. I'm sure I'm just not doing it right- but not going to risk breaking it.
My repair guy told me to leave it in the rice bag for the next week then try.
I'm hopeful. And have a backup anyway from when my first one fell out of a tree in March and was in repair. Glad I have it now...

If it's acting funky after all this I'll send it in for proper cleaning & service if needed.
The Adventure Continues.....


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[sads45]

Be careful to not have it too hot because you could melt the solder, separating wires and pins. I think the melting point for most solder is 190f.


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Melting point of solder is over 300f

 

[jephoto]

Melting point of solder is over 300f

I thought 190º sounded too low.
No way the box was that hot. I could hold my hand in there as long as I wanted.
It was just nice sustained moderately hot dry air for a few hours.
we will see.....
Right now its in the bag with rice. My repair guy said to keep it there for a week.
I know many people here have done it for less and recovered nicely. Since I have a backup, I have no problem letting it sit for a week. I want to be SURE it's dried out since I failed at opening the shell.
That's really hard to do.... at least for the uninitiated.

 

[Jim Stewart]

Frost Free freezers will remove all moisture in a few days. I am a photographer and I have used this method several times on cameras and watches.

 

[Providian623]

My Phantom Standard was out in a corn field for 3 weeks in some of the wettest weather, snow, wind, etc. before I finally found it. It was never totally submerged but did have water in it. Pulled the battery and tossed it, and the bird, into a trash bag with 7 lbs of rice. I did cover the battery compartment with tape. Left it there for 4 days. On day 5 brought it back out, blew it out with a cpl of cans of compressed air and shook out some of the smaller rice grains that got in via the vents. Tossed in a new battery and it has been flying like a champ, ever since. The other battery I kept and since it wasn't submerged, I decided to keep it in my battery rotation (5). So far it hasn't given me any problems. The only bummer was I located the Phantom Standard the day AFTER I went out and purchased the Phantom Advanced. The good part was the wife would not let me return it. She has become pretty proficient at flying "her Phantom". Don't over think the drying material part. While there have been some good suggestions, I have been using rice to dry out wet radios (ham gear) successfully for years. Plus you can use it more than once, if need be, Good luck.

 

[Scratch]

Very interested to see how these two work out... Please keep up informed!

 

[jessedegenerate]

i had a p4 hit a branch and go into running freshwater river for about 2 min as i raced to it. Lots of running it against air, and a replacement camera and it seems as good as new, but i felt like an idiot until i got it working again.

be patient, make sure it's totally dry, and after 12 hours with battery in, be prepared for a short.

 

[Nick Goss]

A sealable container (large tuppaware) with a layer of rice in the bottom. Put the Phantom in and seal the lid. Let it sit in that for a few days to finish off your drying process. This has worked for laptops in the past that were submerged in water. As long as it has not been powered on since it was wet....

 

[xlr8lb]

This happened to me twice so far, light hair dryer for 3-5 minutes and then I let a fan blow through the battery opening for a couple of days.
The first time I had to re-upload the current software. the second time I had no issues after the drying time.
If your sending it out for repair be aware that certain shops wont work on water damaged drones.

 

[chamin]

update. After 5 days drying put a new battery in. When I turned it on I got an intermittent beep (the ussual drone beep but stayed intermittent and on - beep, beep, beep.....). lights under the drone did not turn on. Turned it off after a couple of minutes...thoughts or ideas?

 

[xlr8lb]

the beep, beep, beep, has also happened to me a couple of times. download the current software, put it out on the deck walk away and let it beep, for me it corrected itself.