EOTech Window Blemish issue

[popawoody]

[SuperSet]

Never seen that before but EOTech's customer service is excellent. They'll take care of it.

[CouchOperator]

*coughcoughbuybackandbuyanaimpointcoughcough*

[popawoody]

*coughcoughbuybackandbuyanaimpointcoughcough*

Probably not a bad suggestion. I DO prefer the EOTech design to Aimpoint and other "dot in a tube" designs (I have a Pro). And I genuinely hope I won't be relying on the thing at 140F or -30F. But the notion of a sight that drifts several MOA is pretty daunting. I may have to get used to looking at a dot in a tube.

[CouchOperator]

People think that they will never have to worry about 140+ degrees, but how hot do things get sitting in the sun? Or in a trunk or backseat case in summer?

[popawoody]

People think that they will never have to worry about 140+ degrees, but how hot do things get sitting in the sun? Or in a trunk or backseat case in summer?

Hey, it's an electronic sight. ALL of them have temperature-induced aim point drift. EOTech's big sin was knowingly failing to disclose it to the DoD when they had a contractual (and moral) obligation to disclose it.

I have a degree in electronics engineering. Shame on me if I don't understand the effect extreme temperatures have on electro-mechanical devices. Hell even my iPhone goes wonky and the display dies if I leave it in the hot sun. And the boys in Cupertino have a few billion more to spend on R&D than EOTech does. (Fun fact: EOTech's $28M settlement with the DoD exceed the apparent $25M the DoD paid them in total for their sights. This is not a billion dollar market. Fun fact #2: The Marines and USSOCOM have not taken the sights out of services and seem to be buying more.)

To your point, I try very hard not to leave ANY optic in the trunk of a hot car or laying in direct sunlight. I don't know how my Leupold and Schmidt & Bender scopes react to sustained 140 degree heat, but I don't imagine it's pretty.

Do I wish EOTech sights maintained spot-on accuracy at any temperature I'm likely to find myself in? Absolutely. I confess I'm uncomfortable that they don't. But EVERYTHING changes with temperature. Barrels warp and change harmonics. Air densities and, hence, bullet ballistics change. Cartridge performance changes. I shiver in the cold and get genuinely pissed off when my b@*ls start to sweat. Welcome to life in the physical universe. It's complicated. It would be swell if my holographic weapon sight was not part of that equation, but it is.

One question I still have regarding EOTech's temperature-induced aim point drift is, "Is it repeatable?" That is, can one predict with any certainty what kind of drift occurs at what temperature? If the error is deterministic, then it should be able to be compensated for or even designed out. I haven't found the answer to this in the DoD information or what the FBI has published about their testing. Does anybody here know?

[Clodbuster]

Does it look like mold? If you have a humidity controlled safe, why seal it in a case where it would be insulated from the humidity control? Camera SLR lenses often develop mold inside the lens this way.

[Clodbuster]

I think people should practice more and worry less about some supposed 5MOA shift from an optic. I just came back from the range and someone with a Nightforce scoped AR was shooting +7MOA groups at 100yds...or maybe the Nightforce has a thermal drift. It was hot today.

People think that they will never have to worry about 140+ degrees, but how hot do things get sitting in the sun? Or in a trunk or backseat case in summer?

[ScottsBad]

*coughcoughbuybackandbuyanaimpointcoughcough*

*coughcoughgot525formysixyearoldeotechcough*

It's Aimpoint for me since my barely used EOTech quit. I can pound the heck out of my 4 Aimpoints and they just keep running. Battery life measured in years not hours.

[popawoody]

Does it look like mold? If you have a humidity controlled safe, why seal it in a case where it would be insulated from the humidity control? Camera SLR lenses often develop mold inside the lens this way.

It doesn't look like mold. It's translucent and looks more like a fingerprint or some sort of crystal structure. More than likely, it's some coating on the inside of the window delaminating. The truth is, I have no idea what it is. In a search of the Interwebs, I did see a picture of a similar-looking blemish, though it was at the edge window and the owner, at the time of his post, had decided it didn't bother him.

As for "why keep in a case inside the gun safe?" This is the original EOTech case, which isn't airtight. There's no o-ring seal. It does have a small desiccant bag in the case, but I doubt it has any real impact since the environment inside the safe never exceeds about 54%RH.

I keep the sight in the case because the case doesn't take up much room and it protects the sight from damage. Most of the firearms are in socks of some sort for the same reason. No matter how oversized you think your high-dollar safe is when you buy it, it is ALWAYS too full before long. I do what I can to prevent safe-rash on things I think are valuable enough to keep in the safe to begin with.

[popawoody]

*coughcoughgot525formysixyearoldeotechcough*

It's Aimpoint for me since my barely used EOTech quit. I can pound the heck out of my 4 Aimpoints and they just keep running. Battery life measured in years not hours.

The EOTech offfer is to refund what you paid, so this one would be about $529. I may take them up on it. But I have to say I've been beating on the other three EXPS2's for several years and they just keep working. My Aimpoint Pro inexplicably shut down while out doing a "run n' gun" thing in the desert. Never figured out why. Swapped the battery... twice. The second replacement battery worked fine and it hasn't acted up since.

I also have two Burris Fastfire IIIs which I keep on angle mounts next to Leupold glass on 308's and they've never had a problem either. They do burn through batteries though. I have one Trijicon RMR which works great, particularly in bright light. But I know the tritium will eventually die so low-light performance will no doubt degrade. At which point I'll wish it had a battery to replace.

[Clodbuster]

Sounds like salt contamination.
The case does not have to be airtight. Moisture gets absorbed in the foam padding and cannot escape with the case closed. If you keep it in the case, leave the lid open. You can also store it in a pistol sock to prevent scratches.

It doesn't look like mold. It's translucent and looks more like a fingerprint or some sort of crystal structure. More than likely, it's some coating on the inside of the window delaminating. The truth is, I have no idea what it is. In a search of the Interwebs, I did see a picture of a similar-looking blemish, though it was at the edge window and the owner, at the time of his post, had decided it didn't bother him.

As for "why keep in a case inside the gun safe?" This is the original EOTech case, which isn't airtight. There's no o-ring seal. It does have a small desiccant bag in the case, but I doubt it has any real impact since the environment inside the safe never exceeds about 54%RH.

I keep the sight in the case because the case doesn't take up much room and it protects the sight from damage. Most of the firearms are in socks of some sort for the same reason. No matter how oversized you think your high-dollar safe is when you buy it, it is ALWAYS too full before long. I do what I can to prevent safe-rash on things I think are valuable enough to keep in the safe to begin with.

[Clodbuster]

I knew of a competitor in 3 gun that never shut off his Aimpoint. It died in the middle of a stage, and he never zeroed his backup irons because he thought the Aimpoint would never quit on him...

The EOTech offfer is to refund what you paid, so this one would be about $529. I may take them up on it. But I have to say I've been beating on the other three EXPS2's for several years and they just keep working. My Aimpoint Pro inexplicably shut down while out doing a "run n' gun" thing in the desert. Never figured out why. Swapped the battery... twice. The second replacement battery worked fine and it hasn't acted up since.

I also have two Burris Fastfire IIIs which I keep on angle mounts next to Leupold glass on 308's and they've never had a problem either. They do burn through batteries though. I have one Trijicon RMR which works great, particularly in bright light. But I know the tritium will eventually die so low-light performance will no doubt degrade. At which point I'll wish it had a battery to replace.

[ExtremeX]

Probably not a bad suggestion. I DO prefer the EOTech design to Aimpoint and other "dot in a tube" designs (I have a Pro). And I genuinely hope I won't be relying on the thing at 140F or -30F. But the notion of a sight that drifts several MOA is pretty daunting. I may have to get used to looking at a dot in a tube.

You might want to look at the Trijicon MRO...

Due to its larger front objective its supposed to help combat that dot in a tube effect.

[xxINKxx]

Eotech fixed my 7 year old xps30 with reticle dimming. Long gone warranty, fixed it for free. About a week turn around time. I only had to pay shipping to them.