I have a fairly new eotech 512…maybe six months old. I recently switched it over to a different rifle and i tried to sight it in today and after the first shot the reticle kind of shook a little and then dissapeared. It wouldnt come back on. I took it home and put some new batteries in it and it came back on and seems to be working fine. Is this common behavior for weak batteries in the eotech? or is there something else going on? The reticle was nice and bright when it shut off and i have barely used this thing.
how old is it? are the batteries inline with the bore?
i had a 512 and ran it with the Energizer Industrials, which I do believe are lithium. A few months later, I changed them out with fresh alkalines and they were nothing but problems. I tried a few different sets of alkalines, but performance took a dumper.
Its pretty much new…i dont know what the date code is, but i bought it brand new around may/june 2011…The batteries that were in it ,were the batteries it came with and they were energizer industrial. I tried to put the old batteries back in it and it still wouldnt come on, but it works with new batteries. I am just surprised that it was as bright as it was and after one round it just shut off, like someone flipped a switch. I wonder if something got jarred loose in one of the batteries itself if that is even possible.
EOTechs are notorious for battery box issues. Most last longer than 6 months, though I have heard of some very young failures.
Definitely replace the batteries, I have had a reticle flicker off like that when shooting because of a weak battery before. If its a defensive rifle, get in the habit of changing the batteries routinely. I used to change mine monthly.
Next, buy yourself a spare battery box. Brownell’s has them for about $15. You might not need it for a year or two, but when the contacts on your existing box fail (they WILL eventually), you will be that you can’t shoot for a week until you order one.
Another note - when you mount your optic, there will be a little wiggle in the rail before you clamp it down. Make sure the sight is pushed forward before you tighten it. When the gun recoils, the sight has nowhere to go then. If there is a gap there, it can loosen and move around, affecting your zero, but putting more shock to the battery as well.
Finally, if problems persist, you can always send it back to EOTech. Some people have grumbled about their customer service, but I was very pleased when I sent my 512 back. Had it back in about a week, good as new.
Interesting, I’d never heard any of that… I’ve had mine for several years and its still perfect, although admittedly it hasn’t seen a whole lot of serious use.
My little rubber feeds always fall out or get gummed up and won’t work these days… thanks for the brownells link.
My 557 will slighty pulsate when the battery is low yet will still be bright. Not sure what happens next as I always swap the batteries at the first sign of weakness. Also, use only lithium batteries in any expensive electronic device as alkalines can leak over time and damage contacts. I think lithium’s weigh less too which is another plus.
I’ve had this happen before. Having a “reload” battery box is a must. But if its the connections that fail you, here are some field fixes. Get some thick, AA diameter sized rubber washers, and stainless steel springs to fit inside. Trim the springs to fit. You can find both at any hardware store. If your contacts in the bottom of the box pull out, you can replace them with your homemade units. Also, if you have a battery leak, I use rubbing alcohol and a pencil eraser to clean the terminals up. In a pinch, a wad of foil or a spring out of a ball point pen will work. Fresh batts and a spare box is the way to go.
I would contact Eotech first. I have a 512 that went tits up after a couple of years. I explained the problem and he had the new parts to me inside of a week. I had to replace some connectors or what not inside the box. They upgraded the way they made them since I bought it and the newer setup apears more robust.
Its a backup sight for me so it does not get used a lot, but they took care of the issue.
I like the idea of having a spare battery box too.
If his eotech is new then he should have the newer terminals in the battery box. My older eotech 512 still had those terminals that fall out when you take the batteries out of the box. I bought the replacement part that would fix it for $7.
To me it sounds like the OP saw the reticle flashing, which is the low battery warning, before the battery died. This is why it works just fine with new batteries…
The batteries they include are sucktacular, IMO.
Lithiums are good for several reasons: they can sit in storage without losing strength for 6+ years, they are resistant to -20f up to +140f, and they’re lite weight.
No issues with my 512. I wish the aimpoint pro took AA batts, I’d get one. Trying to standardize on AA.
…Energizer Industrials, which I do believe are lithium.
Negative. They are standard alkaline. Ditch them and replace them with Energizer Lithium cells and life will be much better.
i ended up selling my EoTech, the next optic will be Swedish:D
Sometimes I don’t get it. Is 500 hrs of batt life really a big deal?
Who thinks they’re going to hear a bump in the night and need a loaded carbine with optic ON immediately? As in right the fuck this second.
I think racking the charging handle and pressing one button is more than reasonable.
And if the SHTF, 500 hrs is about a month. If you have a small pile of rechargeables and a solar charger, you’re gtg I think. Who’s doing a 2-month combat patrol with no resupply? Not me.
I’m a big fan of the Eotech’s A65 reticle and for my needs a battery life of appx 1K hrs is sufficient.
However, the Eotech’s control buttons are slower/more difficult to use under stress and Eotechs have more reported problems than Aimpoints (loose/compressed battery contacts, delaminated HUDs, sudden loss of zero, battery drain when turned off, electronics requiring a power-off reset, etc) whether it’s immediately or years down the road.
Give me a more robust/reliable Eotech w/an Aimpoint-style rotary switch and I’d be all over it regardless of battery life.
With that being said, I used nothing but lithiums in my AA Eotechs and had no battery-related problems.
Tomac
Im gonna agree with this…i have used it pretty heavy the last couple of weeks …it has worked fine…Just perfect timing with the batteries dieing…Also regarding lithium batteries…Can this use 3.6volt lithium batteries or do they still have to be 1.5’s?
They have to be 1.5’s, Eotechs don’t have the internal voltage regulator that the Aimpoint M4 & M4S have that allows them to use any AA-sized battery.
Tomac