lagCisco

ok so i did it, i got careless and drunk my airplane into a body of water, completely submerged, all wet now

its a 40sized airplane with a 4stroke nitro engine
5 servos, battery receiver, how do i care for this now?

the airplanes in my backyard right now and still wet what should i do to minimize damage if possible?

should i send electronics in for a checkup? what about the engine?

hopefully someone responds so i can minimize damage, thanks in advance!

JimCasey

My Feedback: (1)

1. Rotate the engine by hand backwards for at least 10 revolutions. Then start the engine. Run a tank of fuel through it. This will get it warm and help evaporate the water in the bearings. Squirt some machine oil or motor oil into the crankcase breather port to lubricate and protect the bearings. See remark later in the message about corrosion-X

2.Check the radio to see if it still functions. Any servos that are questionable should be opened and dried. Open them and place them in a warm dry area. On top of a water heater is a good place. The receiver case should also be opened and the receiver placed next to the servos on the water heater. Blot any visible water with a paper towel, then let it dry.

3.Remove any soaked foam from the interior and squeeze the water out. Let it dry.

4. drain any water still in the fuselage. Dry it with paper towels, rags, whatever. let the fuselage dry in a warm dry place.

After a few days, reassemble and check. You should be OK, but it is best to dry the components immediately after they are dunked. It happens to all of us.

In the US, we have a product called Corrosion-X. It prevents corrosion of circuit boards and connectors that have gotten wet. (www.corrosionx.com) It is also a good lubricant. Spray the dried servo circuit boards and receiver circuit board, and als spray the switch and all the connectors. If you can't get this perhaps you can find a comparable product in your country. A marine electronics vendor might have something. WD-40 is NOT recommended for circuit boards.

lagCisco

thanks for the tips jim, i did some searches and was able to find some posts and a few people mentioned dipping the electronics in alcohol so I did that, just the receiver, I opened up one of the servos and didnt see any water inside the servos, the rx did have water so i dipped that in alcohol and dried it off then dried the rest with a heat gun, tested everything, working fine, its later on that im worried, but i really want to try that corrisionX product you mentioned and apply it to everything

now my engine, well, i lost my damm glow igniter, so I wasnt able to start up the engine, ill have to buy a new one, then run the engine, i did turn over the engine a few dozen times though, ill let everything dry out for a few days, and if everything works fine ill go fly again.

Smoky

Most planes will sit inverted floats up, at about a 45 degree and nose down with the engine in the water. If yours ends up like this, DO NOT right it immediately after taking it out of the water. Hold it in that position (upside down/nose down) until the majority of the water drains out. Ussually the water will be at the top of the cabin and if you don't right the plane it will drain out the top of the cabin. Thus leaving your receiver and Electronics dry(at the bottom of the cabin) which will be above the water. after the Heavy water is out then you can do what you must to get the last of it out. and it is best to turn the engine over a fer times to expell the water. DO NOT use an electric starter for this, as it may be hydroclocked and you will damage the engine. IF it is Hydrolocked then you will have to remove the glowplug to turn it over.
after you can turn it over freely, it is best to start the thing as soon as posible to get the rest of the water out and fresh oil on the bearings. Even if you can't fly it due to damage. try start the engine and let it run until hot. Then Do everything that CAsey mentioned.
we've all Dunked em at one time or another, sometimes twice in one afternoon! LOL.
Smoky.

PeterC

Amen to what Jim and Smokey have to say. The only plane I have never come close to flipping is my Northstar. I was reading in one of the threads where someone had one blow over on the water; That must have been one h*** of a wind. All I can add to what Jim said is to take the glow plug out and then crank it over for a few seconds with the starter. after that start it and let the heat of running the engine dry out the innards.
Some preventable maintenance is in order too. I try to paint the inside of all my sea planes with some clear paint out of a spray can. This will seal the wood and prevent it soaking up water. I have also changed to closed cell foam and bubble pak to wrap the receiver and battery pack in. won't absorb water. Mount the servos about half way up (or down) in the fuselage so if it does flip they will be out of the water. If you do this you can sometimes be flying within an hour.
Smokey's description of floating upside down with the nose in the water brings to mind a term we use when a plane does this embarrasing maneuvor, It dates back to the Apollo program when the capsules ended up floating in the Ocean. If they came to rest upside down it was called "Stable Two" position since they were stable in either the desired position or the less desireable one.

Smoky

LOL pete! thanks for the info, and great Idea about painting the wood! wish I'ld of done that to my Beaver!.
Smoky.

lagCisco

the airplane i dunked wasnt a seaplane but it was an ARF, and I dont know what kind of glue they used, would water of wood glue mess up the glue jointz? (CA glue is fine in water if i recall correctly)

last thing i need is for the plane to be in the air and fall apart!

donkey doctor

Hello; We had that scenario happen at the Lake this monday; after a good flight (Sig LT40) while taxiing back to shore a gust got under the wing and flipped it over. By the time we got it back to shore it had been sitting upside down for 10 minutes or so. After we dried out all teh obvious stuff, and spun the engine over with the plug out, we had no rudder servo. We took it out, it was full of water. that was all the flying for that day. Bill (the owner) dreid the servo out on top of his water heater, then tested it and re-installed it. Some servos have rubber gaskets, which keeps water out but these Hi-tec ones didn't.

Just something to look for.

JimCasey

My Feedback: (1)

lagCisco: ARFs are usually put together with hot-melt. Not water soluble....just heavy and weak.
As long as you get it dried out before the mildew blooms, you should be OK.

I have had a coupla' ARFs that I thought would be cool if they were real airplanes: Balsa and superglue (or Polyurethane adhesive, my favorite duJour)

dirt dummy

My Feedback: (1)

My ultra stick 60 dried out in 3 day's

Smoky

HEY D.D. Where is the floats! LOL.

Thanks for the pic's.
Smoky.

4*60

My Feedback: (41)

Run that engine as soon as possible! Borrow a glow driver!

This Fall I dunked my Cub (inverted, floats up ) and it was definitely important to leave it inverted out of the water and let it drain. I had no protection for the electronics, but I let it drain, cranked the engine by hand and pumped loads of water out, ran the engine, let it all dry over night and was flying the next day and so on with no problems.

Strykaas

Think about dismantling your engine completely. Even after having run it, some water is still in the inside and may cause rust.

PeterC

I guess I don't crash enough, my basements getting full and I have lots more projects waiting.
Hey Smokey, look up my e-mail and drop a line. you arn't too far away and I would like to keep you posted about some float flys in Alberta.
Peter