Unhappy with Armasight

kryptekman

kryptekman

LSB Member
I have an Armasight Predator and I purchased the Armasight Extended Battery Pack and Im very unhappy.

I started with the batteries included, Samsung 18650 pink. The batteries showed critical low level when fully charged combined with horizontal distortion like on a dying battery.

Purchased some Nitecore batterys and charger, same issue. I get worse image quality when using the Extended battery pack and I can never tell when the batterys are actually low.

Anyone else having these issues? btw armasight sucks at responding to technical issues
 
wigwamitus

wigwamitus

LSB Active Member
Hum, I haven't tried the extended battery pack yet, but it is on my "wish list" ... for q-14.

I have used the Armasight DVR as a battery backup for the Apollo and never had a problem and did not have image quality issues either.

I have called Armasight on several occasions and gotten useful tech support every time. Sometimes the person on the phone needs to turn me over to someone else more technical. But that has happened several times and been relatively seamless.

Armasight has (so far) always done right by me and those I know who have their products. My only complaint is speed of return shipping. They tend to ship things back to me via "slow boat" even when I asked for something faster.

Consider your post to be your practice ... and call them again and tell them all these things and see if you don't get a better response. I would expect a better response.

You might ask for a replacement on the extended battery pack, sounds like there might be an issue with the one you have. You've changed the batteries.

Another thing you could do (which I should do) is get a voltmeter so you can tell the volts on the batteries. If I am using rechargeable batteries, I set them aside for 12 hours before I use them to allow them to "cool off" after charging. So I have 5 "stations" for rechargeables:
01 - In the device being used
02 - Out of the device waiting to charge
03 - In the charger charging
04 - Out of the charger waiting 24 hours
05 - In the ready to be used box
With a voltmeter I would be able to tell more quickly when the post-recharge batteries have "cooled off" to the point where I can put them in the ready box.

Does the Predator work fine when not using the extended battery pack??
 
kryptekman

kryptekman

LSB Member
wigwamitus said:
Hum, I haven't tried the extended battery pack yet, but it is on my "wish list" ... for q-14.

I have used the Armasight DVR as a battery backup for the Apollo and never had a problem and did not have image quality issues either.

I have called Armasight on several occasions and gotten useful tech support every time. Sometimes the person on the phone needs to turn me over to someone else more technical. But that has happened several times and been relatively seamless.

Armasight has (so far) always done right by me and those I know who have their products. My only complaint is speed of return shipping. They tend to ship things back to me via "slow boat" even when I asked for something faster.

Consider your post to be your practice ... and call them again and tell them all these things and see if you don't get a better response. I would expect a better response.

You might ask for a replacement on the extended battery pack, sounds like there might be an issue with the one you have. You've changed the batteries.

Another thing you could do (which I should do) is get a voltmeter so you can tell the volts on the batteries. If I am using rechargeable batteries, I set them aside for 12 hours before I use them to allow them to "cool off" after charging. So I have 5 "stations" for rechargeables:
01 - In the device being used
02 - Out of the device waiting to charge
03 - In the charger charging
04 - Out of the charger waiting 24 hours
05 - In the ready to be used box
With a voltmeter I would be able to tell more quickly when the post-recharge batteries have "cooled off" to the point where I can put them in the ready box.

Does the Predator work fine when not using the extended battery pack??
Click to expand...

Yes the predator works perfectly without the extended pack besides the fact I only get about 20 minutes in Alaska's sub zero conditions. Also the batterys are room temperature and then taken outside so they shouldnt be loosing any juice. I will try to contact armasight by phone, there email responses have been lackluster.
 
Curly Shuffle

Curly Shuffle

LSB Active Member
SUS VENATOR CLUB
LoneStarBoars Supporter
I have a Predator in the 3ohz and I run just the Energizer 123s and get close to 5 hrs and that is with punching buttons and running through things. The sub zero dealy??well?? I have no idea It sounds like the unit may also have a trouble spot. If it were me I would ship the whole thing to them and have them look at it to try to fix the problem, other than that try the energizers they seem to work just fine for mine. Best of luck to you and sorry you are having troubles?? BANG BANG!!
 
wigwamitus

wigwamitus

LSB Active Member
I've had Apollo battery performance vary from 2 hours down to 30 min based on temp. At 0-(-10) the batteries get down into the 30 min range for me, but in most of the year, I was getting 2 hours. I ran the Apollo has a spotter as well as to shoot with, so it was usually on continuously when I was out.
With Zeus, I don't leave it on continunously, so harder to judge pure "on time" if I did leave it on. I'd say batteries last 1-3 outings though, about that range, depending on how much the Zeus is on. But if I had to guess, I'd say it is about the same as the Apollo. The Apollo was 60hz, the Zeus is 30hz, but the Zeus is 640 and the Apollo was 336.
The q-14 (640-30) is about 45 min so far on 1 x c132. This is where I was hoping the extended battery pack would come in handy. I haven't been able to get the option to use the "pink" battery to work :(.

Yes, I would CALL Armasight, I believe you will get better results.
 
Jhop

Jhop

LSB Active Member
SUS VENATOR CLUB
The 18650 batteries maybe more susceptible to the sub-zero cold weather than the CR123A's are. You might want to look into that. Does your scope act the same way indoors out of the cold? I've never had a problem with the same batteries you have in your extended battery pack. In fact I'm getting over 10 hours of use out of mine and they never show as being low. Now thats not a straight 8 hours of use but combined over a 10-12 hours of hunting in one night.
 
kryptekman

kryptekman

LSB Member
The batterys were first installed in room temp~72F.

and I may get several hours with the battery pack i cannot tell, it shows zero battery. Using just a two CR123 and no pack I get 20 minutes outdoors.
 
kryptekman

kryptekman

LSB Member
Jhop said:
The 18650 batteries maybe more susceptible to the sub-zero cold weather than the CR123A's are. You might want to look into that. Does your scope act the same way indoors out of the cold? I've never had a problem with the same batteries you have in your extended battery pack. In fact I'm getting over 10 hours of use out of mine and they never show as being low. Now thats not a straight 8 hours of use but combined over a 10-12 hours of hunting in one night.
Click to expand...

are you using the predator?
 
FrankT

FrankT

Destin FL
LSB TURKEY BUZZARD PRESERVATION SOCIETY
LoneStarBoars Supporter
Curly Shuffle said:
I have a Predator in the 3ohz and I run just the Energizer 123s and get close to 5 hrs and that is with punching buttons and running through things. The sub zero dealy??well?? I have no idea It sounds like the unit may also have a trouble spot. If it were me I would ship the whole thing to them and have them look at it to try to fix the problem, other than that try the energizers they seem to work just fine for mine. Best of luck to you and sorry you are having troubles?? BANG BANG!!
Click to expand...

5 hrs w/o shutting off? I get about 3 hrs steady
 
Ratdog68

Ratdog68

LSB Official Story Teller
LSB TURKEY BUZZARD PRESERVATION SOCIETY
SUS VENATOR CLUB
LoneStarBoars Supporter
And remember, folks here have reported that 60hz units get about half the battery life than do the 30hz units.
 
DaveABQ

DaveABQ

Albuquerque, NM
I got in a new battery pack I'm testing. It will hold up to 6 18650 batteries, should get a long time with it. If I get time, I'll test it out this next trip. It has selectable voltage so I didn't need to modify the circuits.

It will be heavy though if running with all 6 18650 batteries, but it will also work with only 3 installed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top