Fresh Water Damage P3S

AnthonyS88 · Jul 2, 2017

So against my better judgement yesterday I crashed my P3S (refurbished) into a swimming pool. It was 100% user error. I immediately pulled it out of the pool within 10 seconds of it being submerged. I immediately pulled out the battery because I noticed a strong burning smell and a little bit of smoke coming from the vents on the top of the body of the aircraft. It's sitting in a bag of rice right now.

The battery appears to be completely shot and i'm unsure of the condition of the drone itself. 2 of the motors spin freely where the other two don't. I've tried searching about the burning smell coming from the actual aircraft but couldn't find anything. I don't know where I should even start as far as diagnosing and possibly repairing this drone or if I should just buy another one. I got mine on sale for $329 and i'm thinking that between the cost of the battery, possibly an ESC, maybe a gimbal, and who knows what else if it'll be worth repairing. Any guidance on a starting point would be appreciated.

AnthonyS88 · Jul 4, 2017

So I guess it's not looking good. Maybe time to buy a new one I guess...

Jthomp · Jul 6, 2017

It looks like there is electrical damage where the yellow & black wires are soldered to the circuit board. The solder point itself does not look like the ones next to it - I'm thinking poor workmanship may have caused arcing to take place at that location. Pre-immersion or post-immersion? - I don't know. If it was pre-immersion then I think you would have a case for a replacement drone.

What did the UAV do in flight just before it entered the water? Any unusual movements? Any visible smoke coming from the body of the aircraft prior to water impact? Any unusual sounds?