Could the 3DR Solo survive after crashed into the ocean?

The 3DR Solo drone received fair reviews from users as it survived different situations during times when it had a face-to-face collision with another object such as trees, bushes, and poles. There was even one instance when it crashed into a tree and only resulted to three broken blades. It is interesting that it sustained no other further damage.

However, in this video you will see the 3DR Solo definitely has no chance of surviving if it crashes into the ocean. The drone is pretty lightweight but it is still meant to sink and the water will then corrode all important components of the drone making it eventually meet its demise right away.

But one pointed out that you should learned how to salvage any part of it. First order of business is to immediately rinse everything in tap water. Open up everything that is openable and blast the whole thing with fresh water. You have to do this within minutes because the salt water starts corroding everything almost immediately. Then, while everything is opened up you get it dry as quickly as possible. Big hot, dry air. I used a hair dryer once and the sun and trade winds another time. Then you have to make sure the water is completely displaced in every little teeny crevice. This is where using the right product made a difference in how much was salvageable. I used a product called Corrosion x. it’s also good for spraying on your parts in advance of them going in the ocean. It’s its messy, yes, its smelly, but I managed to save two motors, some of the gimbal, the main board and many parts from the GoPro. (lens and some boards, etc.) What immediately dies is the battery and all the parts that might get shorted out.

Another pilot viewed, ” If you had maybe flushed everything off good with fresh water, or alcohol before you put it in the bag of rice you might have gotten lucky. I dropped mine in a fresh water reservoir (well as fresh as water can be from runoff off a cow pasture) and literally hosed my GoPro off, inside and out, with my garden hose. The SD card survived as well as the GoPro. 3DR SOLO/ … well that seems to be a different story. I had in rice for 3 weeks and tested it and found some intermittent connection issues. I took it completely apart and cleaned every connection I could find with DeoxIT, although I did forget to completely remove the WiFi card and Pix from their boards. I noticed corrosion already forming on the WiFi card screws and on the Gimbal motor balancer. Now I’m finding that I have to be within 6 ft in order to connect to SOLO so I’m pretty sure I have a WiFi problem. I plan on taking it apart once more time before I have a burial service for mine. Not sure if I really want to buy another one.”

As these pilots shared, you couldn’t expect anything to come out well in the event of an ocean crash, but you could be confident that you will come out with more useable parts if it happens again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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