Phantom went into pool

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What to do as I think time is of the essence. Hair dryer? Oven on low? Hero in a bag of rice?
 
Won't get the same results but could be saved. Be saved. As you know, as water steams off it rises so make sure you tilt the phantom to allow any water that could be in different areas a chance to rise out and escape.
 
It isn't the water itself that causes the problem. It is all the stuff dissolved in the water. Pure water is used to wash ICs as they are being made in the factory. Unfortunately pure water is a very unstable thing that doesn't stay pure for long.

What you need to do is get as much stuff that can cause shorts out of the electronics. Alcohol is great to use since it binds to water and will encourage evaporation.

As a backup you can use freshly distilled water to clean everything.

A hair dryer is OK. Use low heat. You will be OK heat wise if you don't get anything too hot to touch. Don't think you have to get it HOT to get it dry. You don't. Warm is enough.

If it is a salt water pool or has a high level of Chlorine you will need to do more to get everything flushed out. It might require dunking everything back in distilled water to pull any salt/chlorine out of the electronics. Salt and chlorine is bad for causing corrosion as well as being a conductor and burning out circuits.
 
So I am curious. Should I douse the Phantom with the alcohol and dry it or use a cloth? I plan on wrapping GP 3 in a coffee filter filled with rice then placing entire Phantom into paper bag filled with rice after alcohol.
 
marsmock said:
So I am curious. Should I douse the Phantom with the alcohol and dry it or use a cloth? I plan on wrapping GP 3 in a coffee filter filled with rice then placing entire Phantom into paper bag filled with rice after alcohol.

If it was submerged in the pool then you should submerge all the parts in the alcohol drain them then dunk them again. Kinda like you would with a tea bag. You want the fluid to move in and around all the parts. To do this right you will need to take it completely apart.

Once you have it flushed out you will use the drying technique you feel most comfortable with. I personally suggest using a technique with moving air versus the rice trick. Moving air is MUCH more effective.
 
Just had this happen today. Dropped from the sky like a rock (one of the stock motors lost a retaining clip and spacer and it shorted the ESC). Fell right into a pond. It took me about 10 minutes to find it, and pull it out. The yellow status light was still blinking despite being under 1' of water and on its back.

I immediately yanked the battery. Took it inside, disassembled everything, and using a needle (ball) inflator on my air compressor, proceed to blow every component dry. You have to carefully remove the padded foam that covers the GPS sensor in the lid. It's like a sponge, and until you remove it, you won't get access to the electronics underneath. There are four long screws on the bottom side of the NAZA controller. You've got to take that apart, as there is a sensor module in there that is encased in water-logged foam padding.

Once it was dry, I put it in my toaster oven at 130° for 30 min. It was mildly uncomfortable to hold, but not painful. I installed the battery, and presto, everything was working 100%.

I never "rinsed" it - despite having mucky muck from the lake. I don't know how that relates to chlorine and calcium in pool water, but in my case, none of the solids were electrolytes - and I had no damage.

Now, as for the motor, it would seem the ring and spacer are not required for the motor to remain together, and functional - even under 100% power and load. My unit had a rattle inside it (like a loose screw) from the moment I opened it on Christmas morning. Tried shaking it out through the battery door, as I didn't want to take apart a brand new gift. But, that'll teach me. I'm sure it's been flying all this time with just the magnetic force of the stator/rotor holding the motor together, and the brass spacer ring finally found its most vulnerable target.
 
A lake would be less damaging than a pool. You should be OK with what you did. Give it a check after a couple of weeks peak inside and make sure there is no corrosion starting anywhere you can see.
 
Check out LPS1 spray lubricant. it removes moisture and we use it on industrial electronics to keep from corroding, freezing. .. Also perfect lubricant for firearms as it doesn't collect dirt. dry film. lps did a demo where they brought an rc car back to life after being soaked. I almost want to spay the electronics as a preventative measure.
 

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