Thermal Owners

Originally Posted By: igorI only checked one website for the price on a T60. Is it really worth $19600?


Only if you use it a lot like I do for long range shooting.

Instant ON, 0.5X WFOV or 1X, can take up to 18X magnication day optic, no adjustments besides black hot or white hot, mil-spec.

Any thermal clip-on that can handle 500 yard shots at night is going to be very expensive, like the T-75.

This is a FLIR T-60:

T60%20Boar.jpg
 

It's great to be able to afford those high-dollar optics, but they are just out of my league so there's no need for me to even consider one. No doubt they are top notch scopes, and they should be for that kind of price. Guess I'll have to settle for low-end thermals.

Question: Have any of you had thermals repaired (speaking of the general Pulsar, Flir, ATN etc., or are they generally replaced with a new one?

 
I had both repair and replace from Pulsar. The repair was for a couple dead pixels near the center of the screen. Turn around was quick, out of my hands less than 2 weeks.
 

That’s great Thom, the way it should be. I am glad you are able to experience good products like that. A guy spends a good chunk of money and shouldn’t have to be dealing with all these returns and / or repairs. If we purchase a $3,000 to $4,000 TV we would expect it to be trouble free for a long time. Same for cell phones. They get dropped frequently yet continue working with the exception of an odd one here and there.

I think maybe this thermal craze has us all going crazy to the point that we have overlooked some issues. I read where someone stated it’s not a matter of “if” but rather a matter of “when” a unit will need repair or replacement. Thermal certainly is great technology and has brought about a big increase in success. Now that I own one I can’t image not having one. Hopefully one day the scopes will be more reliable.
 
Have a Flir RS 64 35mm 5 years old on the same rifle and still holds perfect zero but the internal battery will not hold a charge . No problem I use a 10,000 maH battery pack . Also a 4 year old Flir RS 64 35 mm that has been on the same rifle with no problems at all. Finally a Flir RS 64 60mm that is 3 years old and also on the same rifle with absolutely no problems.
 
Originally Posted By: Pa. MickFollowing you guys on these, I find it pretty sad so many issues & returns for the price of this equipment !!!

I know! Reading some of this doesn't make me to confident to buy another Pulsar trail. I've been wanting to get another one to go mount on a rifle. The POI issue has me concerned, considering how the temps in WI flucuate quite a bit. I've had no problems with my XQ38 but I only use it as a scanner.
 
Below is what I've owned to date.

-Trijicon MKII 35MM-
Owned for 1 year now (currently still have).Sometimes while NUC'ing the screen will go to snow. Refreshing it again will take care of it, more annoying than anything. I'm told Trijicon will fix it, but I just don't feel like sending it in yet. Best thermal I have owned, built like a tank, turrets are awesome when hunting in the Iowa winters, and the picture is awesome.

-Pulsar XQ38-
Owned for about 6 months now (currenlty still have for my buddy gun). Few issues I've experienced to date would be the battery cap has popped off a few times from the rifle recoil, and there are some flickering lines that will appear on the screen.

-Armasight Zeus 336-
Owned for about a year, buddy owns it now. Probably wouldn't purchase this scope again due to the price compared to others available, like the Pulsars. Did have to send it in once due to the blue screen of death. Customer service was pretty good, didn't have any issues on that front. Biggest complaint with that scope would be that it was a battery eating fool. I had to build a coat for it in the winter and shove hand warmers in it, otherwise it would eat a fresh set of batteries in 15 minutes or less. Would never recommend the 60hz model for anybody looking.

-ATN Thor HD 640-
Owned for a year or so. Didn't care for the display screen that much, it had this wide screen type view that was hard on my eyes. Also, this was the scope that made me realize I don't need all of the options it had. The menu was ridiculous with "features", took forever to get to where you needed, and forget doing it quickly in the winter with gloves on. BUT............. I know people love to hate on ATN, this was the only scope out of all the ones listed above that never had any sort of technical issue with it. While I didn't care for some of the feature and functionality, the picture was good and it always worked.




My goal for the future will be to turn the MKII into my buddy scope and get a REAP as my main, or see how the N-Vision stands the test of time. Will also probably add a thermal drone at some point in time. And some sort of night vision for walking around and driving the buggy with.

 
Last edited:

Originally Posted By: Bocephuss Pulsar XQ38-
Owned for about 6 months now (currenlty still have for my buddy gun). Few issues I've experienced to date would be the battery cap has popped off a few times from the rifle recoil, and there are some flickering lines that will appear on the screen.

Sounds like we have similar problems with flickering black horizontal lines. My Apex XQ38 has worked fine for a year now with the exception of the lines. Crazy thing is that the lines are there sometimes and not other times. Do you think it’s caused by some sort of interference?



 
Originally Posted By: 6mm06
Originally Posted By: Bocephuss Pulsar XQ38-battery cap has popped off a few times from the rifle recoil, and there are some flickering lines that will appear on the screen.

Sounds like we have similar problems with flickering black horizontal lines. My Apex XQ38 has worked fine for a year now with the exception of the lines. Crazy thing is that the lines are there sometimes and not other times. Do you think it’s caused by some sort of interference? I believe both issues described are similar as they are a connection type issue. I have seen 4 tips on helping with this issue.

1) Calling Pulsar North America support and replacing battery cap.
2) Trim the collars off the top and bottom of the batteries in order to make a better connection.
3) Using an external battery pack.
4) Trying a different brand of 123's.

I have seen posts by other Pulsar Apex users and it seems these are the typical answers and the problem is typically solved by trying these methods.
 
Yea when I first got that thermal, I tried steps 2 & 4 with no luck. I have not yet called to get a replacement battery cap or tried a battery pack. those will be next.
 
Flir Scout PS24
owned almost 7 years
zero problems (it's been dropped, banged, dunked, gunked, etc.)
Image quality is not the best. It tells you there's an animal but that's about it.

Pulsar Trail XQ50
owned 9 months
zero problems (although I did have it set to record on recoil once, but it didn't, could be operator error)
Image quality light years better than the above Flir, but I have nothing else to compare it to. Total and absolute game-changer for hunting armadillos at night.
 
Last edited:

Thanks Kirsch for that information. I have used both CR 123’s and a battery pack, together and separately and still have the same problem. Since the problem still exists when using a battery pack, it seems that it would not be affected one way or another by doing 1, 2 and 4, at least in my case.
 
Originally Posted By: 6mm06Thanks Kirsch for that information. I have used both CR 123’s and a battery pack, together and separately and still have the same problem. Since the problem still exists when using a battery pack, it seems that it would not be affected one way or another by doing 1, 2 and 4, at least in my case. Just what I have heard others say about the same described scenario. If you haven't, I would give North America Pulsar support a call and see what they have to say. Doesn't sound like you are the only one having this happen. (817)225-0310
 
Originally Posted By: Pa. MickFollowing you guys on these, I find it pretty sad so many issues & returns for the price of this equipment !!!

I would be curious to know how many pm members own a thermal unit. If it's as many as I think, this doesn't sound like that many problems to me. I have an apex xq38 works flawlessly for a year and a half. My helion xp 38 same. Two buddies each have trail xp 50's for a year and a half with zero problems.
I can sympathize with those who have problems on such an expensive tool, but the vast majority work as expected I believe.
 
Pulsar Trail XP50 left on and placed in rifle bag caused it to over heat apparently. Look at the hole at the bottom of the screen.

I consider this my fault and Pulsar fixed it under warranty.
dhKAnL.jpg


Pulsar Helion XP38 when in semi cold weather (30's) acts up. Often it will not power on. Other times the screen is full of multi colored vertical lines and battery must be pulled to reset. Same issue with several batteries. I sent it in to Pulsar and they found nothing wrong. We will see about that this winter.

Pulsar HD19a is a work horse. Its old school technology, but it always works even when it's to chilly out for my Helion :)
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: iowayotehunter76 I would be curious to know how many pm members own a thermal unit. If it's as many as I think, this doesn't sound like that many problems to me.

This has been my question too, if the problems we hear about are a minority or if it’s a larger percentage. That’s why I have encouraged thermal owners to respond.
 
Back
Top