Will DJI Repair Water Damage? (What You Need to Know)

As fun as drones are to fly and take pictures with, there will be times when we might end up in situations where our drone gets damaged. One such situation is when it suddenly rains while you are flying your drone or when you accidentally landed it on water. In such cases, because consumer drones are not made to be water-resistant, they can get easily get water damaged. So, will DJI repair water damage if you bring your DJI drone to them?

If you purchased DJI Care Refresh, water damage is covered under your policy. This means DJI will repair the damage or replace your drone. If you did not purchase DJI Care Refresh, you can try taking your drone to a DJI Repair Center, but in many cases, they are unable to repair water damage.

That said, if your DJI drone somehow got water damaged, don’t panic because you don’t have to go out and buy a new drone. As long as you purchased DJI Care Refresh beforehand, you can bring your drone to a service center and allow DJI to fix or even replace your drone.

Does DJI Care Refresh cover water damage? #

Drones are sure fun to fly, and it can be exciting to take photos of the ocean or a lake from the air. However, it’s important to remember that DJI recreational drones are not water-resistant, and special care needs to be taken when flying near the water. 

Or, in some cases, your drone might get caught in the rain if you were flying when a sudden squall blew in, or you were out hiking with your drone in your backpack and got caught in a storm.

In such cases, your drone will almost certainly end up getting damaged by water that makes its way through the openings in your drone. And when that happens before you are able to do something about it, your drone’s internal components may end up short-circuiting, which will most likely render your drone unusable.

If your drone does indeed get damaged as a result of water damage, whether from landing in the water or it getting caught in the rain, will DJI Care Refresh cover the water damage and repair or replace your drone?

The good news is that DJI Care Refresh will repair or replace your drone if it gets water damaged. Simply bring your drone to the nearest DJI service center or send your drone over to DJI to have it repaired or replaced.

However, you have to understand that you must have purchased a DJI Care Refresh package for your drone at the time you purchased your drone, in order for you to be eligible to have your drone repaired or replaced. 

The DJI Care Refresh package is basically a drone’s limited insurance plan, which covers some of the different damage that DJI can repair if your drone does indeed get damaged. The price of a DJI Care Refresh package will depend on the drone model that you have as the more expensive drones will naturally have a more expensive Care Refresh package.

But, again, the good news is that DJI said it themselves on their website that water damage is covered under the DJI Care Refresh package. So, if you do indeed end up getting your drone damaged because of an accidental water landing or due to the rain, you can send your drone to DJI for repair or replacement as long as your DJI Care Refresh package is still valid.

Can DJI Repair Service fix water damage? #

Meanwhile, for those who did not purchase a DJI Care Refresh package for their drones, one way of getting a drone fixed for a fee is by making use of DJI Repair Service. For some people, DJI Repair Service is a better option than buying the Care Refresh package, because there is a relatively low likelihood that they will ever experience a damaged drone during the one year time period covered by Care Refresh. Because of that, they will end up wasting money on the DJI Care Refresh package that they weren’t able to use.

While you can have DJI repair your drone for certain damages through the DJI Repair Service, does it also mean that they can repair a drone that has been extensively damaged by water?

Unfortunately, no, DJI Repair Service usually cannot fix water damage because water damage tends to extensively damage drones beyond repair. As such, there is often nothing that DJI can do for your drone if it gets water damaged. Your only alternative now is to purchase a new drone.

This is where the DJI Care Refresh package stands out, as it allows DJI to either repair or replace your drone. And since DJI claims that extensive water damage cannot be repaired, their only choice is to actually replace your drone with a new one as long as it is still covered by DJI Care Refresh.

So, if you are weighing the pros and cons between DJI Care Refresh and taking your chances on relying on DJI Repair Service, this should be one of the major points of consideration that will convince you to give Care Refresh a shot.

How to prevent water damage to your drone #

If you don’t want to end up spending a lot of money for DJI Care Refresh, you can still prevent water damage to your drone by essentially making it “water-resistant”. Here is how you do it:

• Buy a silicone conformal coating, which should serve as the coating you will use to cover and protect the sensitive electronic components in your drone.
• Remove all of the coverings and heat shrink from the drone’s circuit board after opening the drone.
• Properly clean the drone’s circuit board to make sure that you are applying the silicone conformal coating on a clean surface. Use a dry cloth or a soft brush to clean the circuit board. A cleaner surface will allow the silicone coating to adhere better.
• Apply the silicone conformal coating on the circuit board by brushing a layer over all of the electronic components. Leave the buttons, sensors, and connection ports out because these are important.
• Let the silicone conformal coating dry completely. If you have a black light, you can use it to check any spots that you may have missed. Apply the conformal coating on any spots that you missed. You don’t have to apply a second layer of coating on the spots that you didn’t miss.
• Allow at least half a day for the silicone conformal coating to completely dry.