Help. Water Damage.

Trevor · Aug 24, 2015

Hello all,

I didnt really want to do this but i am reaching out to the community because i had a little accident. i have probably flown the solo 10-15 times always in gps and zero problems. i had the idea that while at my cottage i would try some of the other modes because i was getting a bit more comfortable. i turned solo into acro and lightly touched the right stick, the solo flipped around and before i knew it had shot down into the lake below. solo was maybe 15 feet up at the time.

i am devastated. at this point it was underwater for maybe 60sec total. the battery is keeping at least one led on. i have taken the battery tray off and have been letting it dry before i power it back on to assess the full extent of the damage.

i am thinking at this point that perhaps certain aspects can be saved in the event it does not function..... ie, body, motors, some wiring perhaps. maybe i will just have to replace the motherboard, cpu, gps module etc. im not even sure if thats possible.

live and learn i suppose. has anyone had any similar experiences mostly with water or with replacing internals like that?

i havent contacted 3dr support yet because i am not exactly sure of the damage. drone is only 3 weeks old. thanks again.

rrmccabe · Aug 24, 2015

I would bag it in rice for several days and give it plenty of time to dry out. I also would set that battery aside for now and try another when you power it up if you have one.

I would not hurry things.

Lakeside · Aug 24, 2015

Happened to me I took everything apart and stuffed in a 10# bag of rice for four days a little stubborn at first but all is we'll now. Cover all in rice and don't touch it will drive you crazy but it works. Good luck

Trevor · Aug 24, 2015

rrmccabe said:
I would bag it in rice for several days and give it plenty of time to dry out. I also would set that battery aside for now and try another when you power it up if you have one.

I would not hurry things.

sounds good thank you.

Trevor · Aug 24, 2015

Lakeside said:
Happened to me I took everything apart and stuffed in a 10# bag of rice for four days a little stubborn at first but all is we'll now. Cover all in rice and don't touch it will drive you crazy but it works. Good luck

thanks for the advice. are you able to elaborate on what happened to you? i have the battery in rice, the drone is on its side with a low setting fan on it. i will move into rice when i am home from work.

Trevor · Aug 24, 2015

Lakeside said:
Happened to me I took everything apart and stuffed in a 10# bag of rice for four days a little stubborn at first but all is we'll now. Cover all in rice and don't touch it will drive you crazy but it works. Good luck

your post gives me a bit of hope haha.

Earldgrayjr · Aug 24, 2015

Trevor said:
your post gives me a bit of hope haha.

I would add, to take it apart as much as possible and to move the parts around in the rice every 24 hours. That way you get max absorption of water. As noted, the key is being patient.

rrmccabe · Aug 24, 2015

Earldgrayjr said:
I would add, to take it apart as much as possible and to move the parts around in the rice every 24 hours. That way you get max absorption of water. As noted, the key is being patient.

Good advise. The Solo is pretty easy to work on and there is no reason to really submerge the body in rice when you can disassemble it down to the electronics/motors pretty easy.

Trevor · Aug 24, 2015

sounds good everyone.

Del · Aug 24, 2015

Use rubbing alcohol to clean your motherboard .. The rubbing alcohol dries fast and plus pushes away excess water.. But make sure you're rubbing alcohol is a high percentage

Trevor · Aug 24, 2015

Del said:
Use rubbing alcohol to clean your motherboard .. The rubbing alcohol dries fast and plus pushes away excess water.. But make sure you're rubbing alcohol is a high percentage

i will try that. thanks!

Trevor · Aug 24, 2015

there was little to no grime in or on the machine luckily just the lake water itself.

aaa · Aug 25, 2015

dont forget to add soy sauce to the rice for that extra special tang.

Raybro · Aug 25, 2015

A good drying and everything should be A-okay

Ian [P13] · Aug 25, 2015

The Solo is child's play to open, the rice advice is the best approach. I suspect you may need a new battery but I'm hoping you can save everything else.

Finally NEVER touch Acro as you've found out, it's insane!

Trevor · Aug 25, 2015

Raybro said:
A good drying and everything should be A-okay

hope so! thanks for the encouragement.

Trevor · Aug 25, 2015

Ian [P13] said:
The Solo is child's play to open, the rice advice is the best approach. I suspect you may need a new battery but I'm hoping you can save everything else.

Finally NEVER touch Acro as you've found out, it's insane!

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

thanks for the link, i couldnt believe how quick it changed direction in acro.

Trevor · Aug 25, 2015

i will be testing it out tonight and will let you all know the results. i had the battery in rice and took it out last night because the leds had finally gone out. thought i would try charging it. it seemed to charge as per normal. and will give me a display of charge when i press the button. no lights on otherwise so im happy about that.

erikgraham · Aug 25, 2015

Trevor said:
i will be testing it out tonight and will let you all know the results. i had the battery in rice and took it out last night because the leds had finally gone out. thought i would try charging it. it seemed to charge as per normal. and will give me a display of charge when i press the button. no lights on otherwise so im happy about that.

Do NOT try it tonight. As everyone has commented, you need to let the Solo dry out for days. Also, I would not trust that battery, ever.

If you want to salvage your Solo, take it apart carefully. Place components on a warm air vent, or use a blow dryer to push warm air over all internal components in through your motors. Then pack the components in rice for AT LEAST 4 days.

Your barometer is especially sensitive to water damage. Do not power on the Solo. You have to wait.

Once you finally reassemble and test your Solo with a very short hover flight, then send the logs from that flight to 3DR, explain what happened, what you did to dry it out, and ask them to look to see if there is any permanent damage. Knowing there is potential water damage, they will know what to look for.

Trevor · Aug 25, 2015

erikgraham said:
Do NOT try it tonight. As everyone has commented, you need to let the Solo dry out for days. Also, I would not trust that battery, ever.

If you want to salvage your Solo, take it apart carefully. Place components on a warm air vent, or use a blow dryer to push warm air over all internal components in through your motors. Then pack the components in rice for AT LEAST 4 days.

Your barometer is especially sensitive to water damage. Do not power on the Solo. You have to wait.

Once you finally reassemble and test your Solo with a very short hover flight, then send the logs from that flight to 3DR, explain what happened, what you did to dry it out, and ask them to look to see if there is any permanent damage. Knowing there is potential water damage, they will know what to look for.

good call. i will do just that. thanks for the info.