Welcome to FPVDronePilots!
Join our free FPV drone community today!
Sign up

Drone went for a swim, NEED help is my ESC or motors broken?

leggyc

Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2021
Messages
9
Reaction score
2
Age
23
Hi very new to fpv drones so need a little help

Basically, let a mate fly my drone (rookie mistake) he lost control, I lost sight of it and he crashed it straight into a puddle and was in there, fully submerged, for about 10 mins before we found it. I’ve seen forums online saying it should be fine if its thoroughly dried which I have now done extensively with a hair dryer and used compressed air to blow anything out of the motors. The drone turns on, I have video and connects to the controller. However, I can arm the drone (so it beeps when I put the stick in the arm position) but the motors do not spin at all. I’m not sure if there is something wrong with the ESC or all the motors and I am not sure how I go about identifying which is the problem. Currently don't have hold of a multimeter but will do in a couple weeks and only have access to betaflight. I have taken it completely apart to see if I could notice anything visibly wrong with the ESC but am none the wiser but in the process managed to disconnect a tiny wire (good job me) to the speaker so can no longer hear it beep. The drone is an Eachine wizard x220s with completely stock parts (not sure if that helps).

Cheers for any help
 
Hi very new to fpv drones so need a little help

Basically, let a mate fly my drone (rookie mistake) he lost control, I lost sight of it and he crashed it straight into a puddle and was in there, fully submerged, for about 10 mins before we found it. I’ve seen forums online saying it should be fine if its thoroughly dried which I have now done extensively with a hair dryer and used compressed air to blow anything out of the motors. The drone turns on, I have video and connects to the controller. However, I can arm the drone (so it beeps when I put the stick in the arm position) but the motors do not spin at all. I’m not sure if there is something wrong with the ESC or all the motors and I am not sure how I go about identifying which is the problem. Currently don't have hold of a multimeter but will do in a couple weeks and only have access to betaflight. I have taken it completely apart to see if I could notice anything visibly wrong with the ESC but am none the wiser but in the process managed to disconnect a tiny wire (good job me) to the speaker so can no longer hear it beep. The drone is an Eachine wizard x220s with completely stock parts (not sure if that helps).

Cheers for any help

I am no expert on the FPV drones however if the boards on your Drone have zero coating from the Manufacturer most likely your going to need another mother Board on your drone as that was the end of it.

We Submerge Drones before we make the Wet Suits for them and that ESC error is normally the Result of the Mother board needing replaced rathe than the ESC or in the DJI case the IMU also.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly our FPV in the Rain and land on Water.
 
Hi very new to fpv drones so need a little help

Basically, let a mate fly my drone (rookie mistake) he lost control, I lost sight of it and he crashed it straight into a puddle and was in there, fully submerged, for about 10 mins before we found it. I’ve seen forums online saying it should be fine if its thoroughly dried which I have now done extensively with a hair dryer and used compressed air to blow anything out of the motors. The drone turns on, I have video and connects to the controller. However, I can arm the drone (so it beeps when I put the stick in the arm position) but the motors do not spin at all. I’m not sure if there is something wrong with the ESC or all the motors and I am not sure how I go about identifying which is the problem. Currently don't have hold of a multimeter but will do in a couple weeks and only have access to betaflight. I have taken it completely apart to see if I could notice anything visibly wrong with the ESC but am none the wiser but in the process managed to disconnect a tiny wire (good job me) to the speaker so can no longer hear it beep. The drone is an Eachine wizard x220s with completely stock parts (not sure if that helps).
Wondering if you have cooked the flight controller. If it’s fresh water, you may have got away with not nuking all your esc’s at once. Are you able to plug it into Betaflight and go into the motor tab to see if you can move your individual motor sliders (props off)? That will prove your FC is ok, if not you may need a replacement.
The wizard from memory run either an F3 or F4 board which are cheap as chips and easy to replace. Since the battery would have stayed powered up until you found it, and you have video it may just be that board. Fresh battery when testing?
 
Wondering if you have cooked the flight controller. If it’s fresh water, you may have got away with not nuking all your esc’s at once. Are you able to plug it into Betaflight and go into the motor tab to see if you can move your individual motor sliders (props off)? That will prove your FC is ok, if not you may need a replacement.
The wizard from memory run either an F3 or F4 board which are cheap as chips and easy to replace. Since the battery would have stayed powered up until you found it, and you have video it may just be that board. Fresh battery when testing?
so yeah I can plug it into betaflight and I can move the sliders but the motors don't spin at all. Yeah ive plugged a fresh battery in but still the same
 
  • Like
Reactions: Phantomrain.org
so yeah I can plug it into betaflight and I can move the sliders but the motors don't spin at all. Yeah ive plugged a fresh battery in but still the same
Ideally you could check to see if you have 5V on your board (need that meter). If you have lights on your FC when plugged into Betaflight and not when you plug in a battery (the usb cable is supplying 5V) then that’s usually a sign the board is cactus. The esc’s may be fine but you won’t know until you replace the FC.
All good though as there are much better esc’s and FC than the original parts. I rebuilt my three wizards many times before I just spent the little bit extra and made them much more reliable. Maybe try conformal coating to give you little bit extra water protection when you rebuild it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mrmund
Ideally you could check to see if you have 5V on your board (need that meter). If you have lights on your FC when plugged into Betaflight and not when you plug in a battery (the usb cable is supplying 5V) then that’s usually a sign the board is cactus. The esc’s may be fine but you won’t know until you replace the FC.
All good though as there are much better esc’s and FC than the original parts. I rebuilt my three wizards many times before I just spent the little bit extra and made them much more reliable. Maybe try conformal coating to give you little bit extra water protection when you rebuild it.
The lights on the FC work when plugged into a battery by itself and also when in beta flight. When its in beta flight it still recognises when the drone like being tilted not sure if that helps identify the problem
 
The lights on the FC work when plugged into a battery by itself and also when in beta flight. When its in beta flight it still recognises when the drone like being tilted not sure if that helps identify the problem
Sorry but short of time with work. Try this quick link to rule out some of the possibilities when the quad wont arm:
Hopefully you know your way around Betaflight a little bit, it’s pretty straight forward
 
The lights on the FC work when plugged into a battery by itself and also when in beta flight. When its in beta flight it still recognises when the drone like being tilted not sure if that helps identify the problem
Another quick thought, when powering up the quad with a battery, can you hear the five chirps/tones from the FC and esc’s? That’s them ‘talking’ to each other and letting you know that the quad’s electronics are mostly intact. The beep you hear from quad from that little wire is probably from one of your esc’s as the quad doesn’t have a speaker (beeper yes, but activated by a switch on your controller)
 
Ive gone through that link and like the gyro and everything still works. It did make a noise when I plug the battery in even when the remote was not connected just like it did before it went under water but now there is no initial twitching from the motors but since I accidently pulled one of the wires off the FC it no longer makes any noise at all. The ESC and FC feel slightly warm when they are plugged into the battery not sure if that means much. The blue light on top flashes again not sure if that helps at all
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20210331_125520__01.jpg
    IMG_20210331_125520__01.jpg
    855.1 KB · Views: 7
Can you reconnect the fc and the escs? If they still will make the initial five chimes (three initial for escs and the next two for the fc) that means that your esc might still be ok but the motors could be fried. Do you have another motor to test?
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
6,012
Messages
44,355
Members
5,308
Latest member
darshan rajput