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Water Damage

tAK3ru

New Member
Join
Jul 26, 2017
Messages
4
Age
31
Hi everyone!

I brought my Spark overseas and my drone fell into water, my mistake. Anyone know how much does it roughly cost to repair it with DJI? I do not have DJI care refresh and they don't cover it in my country as well. I got no idea if the main drone has issue now or just the battery. Is it wise to get a new battery to test?
 
If it was salt water... Bad very bad... After spark fell into salt water you should cleaned it right away with fresh water, then put in a bottle with rice several days to clean humidity. Then try. But it's better Dji to repair. Good luck.
 
If it was salt water... Bad very bad... After spark fell into salt water you should cleaned it right away with fresh water, then put in a bottle with rice several days to clean humidity. Then try. But it's better Dji to repair. Good luck.

Hi!

It was pool water. As I was overseas, I took around 1 day later before I can put it in a bag of rice. It has been a couple of days since I have done that but I am unable to turn it on. Unsure if the battery is the problem or the drone itself.
 
I hate to say this but I doubt it's repairable even if fresh water. Give DJI service a call I m sure they have seen this before and can tell you the cost. The rice trick works for electronics that have gotten wet but not fully submerged.
 
I hate to say this but I doubt it's repairable even if fresh water. Give DJI service a call I m sure they have seen this before and can tell you the cost. The rice trick works for electronics that have gotten wet but not fully submerged.
Sadly, they told me that they are not sure about the repair cost. The service does not cover my country
 
Find another battery. Its the first thing that dies. Just hope that the battery died before shorting out the main board.

Anyways, you should do methylated wash before testing out a new battery.
Look up youtube on a DJI Spark tear-down. Pull it apart and do a methylated spirits wash on all circuit boards using a clean toothbrush. You will find that most DJI boards are 'sealed' with a clear silicon like coating.
 
Find another battery. Its the first thing that dies. Just hope that the battery died before shorting out the main board.

Anyways, you should do methylated wash before testing out a new battery.
Look up youtube on a DJI Spark tear-down. Pull it apart and do a methylated spirits wash on all circuit boards using a clean toothbrush. You will find that most DJI boards are 'sealed' with a clear silicon like coating.
Yes actually I am looking for a battery right now. Will check out the video thanks
 
I crashed my DJI spark into water at the beach recently (my mistake too) and do not have DJI Care Refresh in my country. It was dunked for about 5 seconds before I could save it. I took the battery off immediately and I quickly dunked the entire thing in tap water (the only thing I had access to at the time) and then placed it in a huge pile of sealed uncooked rice for the next 2 days. I dunked it in the tap water just with hope that the effects of salt water wouldn't kill my drone (I know distilled water would have been better but I was on a tiny Island in Indonesia).

After 2 days, managed to turn the device on with a spare battery (the battery that got dunked was trashed- the lights kept on blinking non-stop without me pressing the button). The drone kept on making a slow beeping sound as it rebooted and eventually after (5-10 minutes or so) it powered up like normal. It made the DJI jingle and my remote could connect to the spark, but the sad part is that I now get an Air Encoder Error 0x800000 warning when the drone is connected. The gimbal works and compensates movement, but no image on my phone. Compass & IMU Calibration works well.The front-facing collision sensors unfortunately don't work anymore. So now i basically have a drone that can fly and all, just no camera/video recording. Its been a month since the event and it's still flying around well.

I tried getting it fixed with my local DJI (Malaysia), asking them to just fix the camera issue, but they refused saying that it's DJI's policy not to repair water damaged drones. The guy just told me to get a new drone since eventually water damaged drones will all end up trashed. I am now looking into buying parts from China to see if I can fix the drone myself (i'm a noob with no experience) but the prices for Spark parts are a bit crazy. I am contemplating whether to attempt fixing it part by part using some of the online videos of the tear-downs. I hope to find the source of the Air Encoder Error 0x800000.

Anyways, I bought myself another Spark in the meantime and if this dunked one can't be fixed, I'll probably keep it for spare parts. All the best to all those who were crazy enough to fly their drones near salt water!
 
Hi!

It was pool water. As I was overseas, I took around 1 day later before I can put it in a bag of rice. It has been a couple of days since I have done that but I am unable to turn it on. Unsure if the battery is the problem or the drone itself.
The rice method is a myth and actually worse than allowing the item to air dry. It has been banded around for years but has no scientific merit I'm afraid.
In fact in many instances it is worse since rice retains water and raises humidity in a sealed environment.
 
Hello,

My spark dropped out of thin air and fell into a creek. Result spark and battery dead.
After a lot of trouble I got a free RMA but the first Proforma Invoice I got said 628,99€ while a new spark with battery cost 599€.
So the repair costs more then a new one. And the damage assessment was that the spark and battery had to be replaced. My first spark couldn't be repaired.
So when u send your spark to DJI be aware they might ask more then you buy a new one.

I did a post on the drop here on the forum --> My spark fell out of the air with no reason/pilot error and into water with mud
 
Hi,

I opened up my Spark yesterday to see which parts I needed to buy and the amount of corrosion is intense!!! Despite how everything seems to work after one month (minus the camera & collision sensors), I'm surprised my spark is still flying! Kinda makes sense that DJI would technically need to replace the entire drone but what doesn't make sense is the cost of the individual parts being more expensive than buying a new one. I guess the repair would cost more than a new one due to the labor-shipping etc required.

Now that I've opened my old spark, I am doubtful that it will keep flying any longer than a couple more months. I also bought a new spark the week after I crashed my drone into water so I am all good without needing to repair this old one. I thought I could at least get something out of the old one (perhaps fix the camera or salvage the drone for parts) but doesn't look too good.
 
Electricity and water dont mix very well. As your drone ditches in the water you have still got power surging around inside the drone from motors to cooling fan. As water is a good conductor of electricity you can be sure some damage is going to accur from short circuits.
I personally would just write it off and buy a new one. Don't think its worth taking a chance and continue to fly it as you just don't know if it's going to drop out of the sky again.
 
The rice method is a myth and actually worse than allowing the item to air dry. It has been banded around for years but has no scientific merit I'm afraid.
In fact in many instances it is worse since rice retains water and raises humidity in a sealed environment.
I've used the rice method plenty of times on other drones and helicopters I have had water landings with... latest was my Hubsan H502s which spent 1min dunked in salt water. After a mineral water wash I left it in a bag of rice with rice stuffed inside every part of the drone... after 4 days everything worked again and the rice had swelled. Rice absorbs moisture hence having to store in a dry location.
 
I've used the rice method plenty of times on other drones and helicopters I have had water landings with... latest was my Hubsan H502s which spent 1min dunked in salt water. After a mineral water wash I left it in a bag of rice with rice stuffed inside every part of the drone... after 4 days everything worked again and the rice had swelled. Rice absorbs moisture hence having to store in a dry location.
If you say so.....
 
After dunking mine I started the dji care case. Got shipping label and instructions. Sent it to Cali. and had a 2/12 wk turnaround. Amazing, new drone! So I had to re-connect spark and controller. Updates all current. Now when I connect both only the rc shows up on wifi. Spark flys beautifully, but am I alright like this?
 

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