The red dot on my Mini-14 lit up nicely several times this past week, but was installed Sept 2017.
It
might have dimmed right in the middle of a zombie poodle invasion from the local Pet Sematary.


(Batteries and bulbs get dated with a Sharpie when installed.)

I better check all the rest. Great way to spend an entire Saturday morning.

Coincidentally, when I pulled my AR out of the safe the other night, just to check on things, I found the optic was deader than a door nail. Sure enough: The battery that should have had at least a couple more years on it was dead. Stone dead, too. Registered zip on the battery tester.

Meanwhile, the much older optic on the M&P 22 was still working. Go figure.

Yep, even worse when the single AA battery in your el-cheapo Primary Arms sight has leaked and corroded rendering the sight useless. It was on a .22, but still, I liked that sight.

Only recently have I gotten serious about this. Aimpoint and Trijicon red dots should be good for years of use on the same battery (even when left on continuously), but 2032s are cheap enough that I now change them all on January 1 each year.

Great reminder, absolutely vital. Thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by SigM4:
Yep, even worse when the single AA battery in your el-cheapo Primary Arms sight has leaked and corroded rendering the sight useless. It was on a .22, but still, I liked that sight.

I had an Aimpoint with factory Duracell batts and, just prior to selling, found one of the batts leaking. Luckily, my practice is to store all electronics not in use with batts removed, so other than slightly discoloring a small bit of the box foam storage, no damage done to the optic and all that it required was a new set of batts.

Check or replace those batts frequently!

^^ I hate Duracell batteries for that reason. I recently upgraded my thermostats in our house, and the Duracell batteries in both the original ones were leaking.

It doesn't matter that the battery could go for 3-4 years. I change all my personal guns once a year on my birthday. At work we change them all in January.

quote:

Originally posted by tigereye313:
^^ I hate Duracell batteries for that reason. I recently upgraded my thermostats in our house, and the Duracell batteries in both the original ones were leaking.

Years ago I knew a man I both respected and admired. He built a successful business in which he sold electronics and batteries to various government departments and agencies.

In his professional experience, Duracell batts performed the best and lasted the longest and were the ones he sold to the government. Based on his recommendation I've been biased in favor of using Duracells and so I was happy to see that Aimpoint supplied them with their optics...however I know little about battery design and it's entirely possible that Duracell has changed their batt design from when he recommended them.

quote:

Originally posted by Chowser:
It doesn't matter that the battery could go for 3-4 years. I change all my personal guns once a year on my birthday. At work we change them all in January.

This is the way.

Pick a date that you will remember. Change all batteries on serious use guns on that date.

quote:

Originally posted by SigM4:
Yep, even worse when the single AA battery in your el-cheapo Primary Arms sight has leaked and corroded rendering the sight useless. It was on a .22, but still, I liked that sight.

I feel your pain. I've lost various electronics to battery leakage. I have since switched solely to lithium batteries. Worth the slightly higher per-battery cost, for no leakage.

Duracells leak for me. Almost like it's a feature, not a bug.

Black Friday. That's when I change all my optic batteries. Easy to remember, it never sneaks up on you, batteries are on sale.

New Years cleaning / MX of all weapons leads to mass battery changes. Lights too.

I had to qualify with my duty rifle about six months ago, checked the batteries in the Aimpoint PRO the week before.

Red dot dies literally as I’m walking up to the line.

Shot with backup irons.

All batteries changed on optics and weapon mounted flashlights on 1 Jan each year.

In addition, I file ATF 5320 forms on 1 Jan for all Class 3 items that are likely to travel that year.

Simple, Easy

Andrew

I have used Kestrel wind meters for many years now. My first model consumed a set of batteries every year. The Kestrel had a battery power gauge, which seemed to drop a percentage point or two every day that I used it. When the batteries corroded one winter, the electronics were damaged, and I threw it away.

I upgraded to a Kestrel 5700 a couple of years ago. It uses a single lithium battery. The battery power gauge has remained at 100% all this time. I figured the gauge was useless or the batteries really last a long time.

I used the Kestrel to determine air density altitude and wind speed on a weekly basis for the past couple of months. No issues. Tried to turn it on a few days ago at a rifle match and the Kestrel was unresponsive. After a few moments of scrambling to get data from another shooter, I'm back in the game.

A trip to Walmart that evening for new batteries and all was good. Going forward, I will have a spare Kestrel battery in my range bag and my competition pack. Too bad the battery power gauge doesn't seem to work.

Not just optics, but other items also use batteries. A few months ago I went out to chronograph some loads only to find the battery in my chrono was dead. No spare in the range bag. Another time I went out to do some timed-fire practice. Dead battery in the shot timer, no spare. Now I keep a box of spare batteries - AA, 9V, CR2032, CR123 - in my range bag. None of them are Duracells. I've had enough electronic devices damaged or ruined by leaking Duracells.

quote:

Originally posted by IntrepidTraveler:
Duracells leak for me. Almost like it's a feature, not a bug.

USE LITHIUM BATTERIES ! They won't leak....

At my employer, we have some equipment that costs $8,000 a piece, run on AA batteries. The manufacturer rep only says use Energizer batteries. They have battery leakage claims up the wazoo from Duracells.

Alkaline batteries leak. Even Energizers. I know some folks and some companies swear by Energizer or Duracell or whatever brand, and claim the other brand is terrible. But all alkaline batteries leak.

Just use lithium. Especially if it's a lifesaving piece of equipment. Especially if it's going to sit around indefinitely without being used. But use lithium on everything else anyway, just to save the headache. I don't even keep alkaline batteries around anymore. It's not that much more expensive to just buy the bulk packs of Energizer Ultimate/Duracell Ultra lithiums*.

(*With the caveat being that it's not that much more expensive for a lone person or a family. If you're a humungo corporation who spends 1.2 billion dollars on batteries each year, then that extra 0.6 billion dollars might be too expensive, and you would rather just accept that a certain percentage of your equipment is going to be ruined by the cheaper alkaline batteries, and you will still come out ahead financially.)

I'd agree with that in principle. But some stuff cares about the difference in voltage or regulatory certification. So its not a 100% no brainer.

I use a spread sheet to keep track of every battery in my house. My tv remotes, the garage door remotes, the gazillion kids toys, the igniter in my gas grill, the backup battery to my garage door opener, and the million flashlight and red dot batteries in my safe. You get the idea.

Also, it makes it easy to keep track of each and every (expensive) item, to check anally to check for corrosion or leaking batteries before it gets out of hand. Also do voltage checks to look for weak batteries that need replacement.

My OCD gets the best of me some times, but I like the orderly fashion of knowing what needs batteries, what doesnt, etc.