I have been holding back on this subject for a little bit. Didn’t want to jump the gun so to speak. And this may not be definitive or final, but is a working “theory”.
I had a battery die on the Trijicon SRO about 4 months in. Not really a big deal. I mostly run it on manual and in the higher daylight settings. It had a Energizer 2032 battery in it.
Replaced it with a Energizer 2032 from armory stock. Battery died by next day. Next morning when I got up actually. WTH? So I checked the packaging on the Energizer stock and turns out…these were pretty old batteries! Few years beyond expiration date.
Whoops. Went and bought some new batteries. Again…Energizer brand. Popped one in. Seemed fine.
Next day…dead dot. WTF?
Consulted with some colleagues who run pistol RDS professionally. And “off the record” they indicated that Energizer batteries can flex in the slot since they have thinner walls.
Started fiddling with the gun, and the RDS comes back on. Dry fire or racking, the dot will blink on and off. If I unscrew or screw the battery cover, I can make the Energizer battery blink off and on at various points. Off tends to be ALL the way down. Is that flex?
One colleague who wished to remain off-the-record. Probably because he doesn’t want to be sued by a battery company stated, “We recommend Duracell brand batteries for all our red dots. The walls are thicker and do not flex”.
He also theorized that much of the early red dot function drama with RMR’s wasn’t because of Trijicon. But instead caused by thin walled Energizer batteries that would flex when installed.
In full disclosure as of this writing, I am still running the replacement Energizer battery in the pistol. I just backed off the cover tightness a bit and it seems fine. Been this way maybe a month.
Why haven’t I put a Duracell battery in the gun? Two reasons: The first being every time I think about it in a store, they only carry Energizer or are sold out of Duracell. Weird. Second, it hasn’t died again.
My conclusion: Out of an abundance of caution, I will be buying Duracell batteries going forward for all RDS and illuminated reticle scopes.
Sincerely,
Marky
www.John1911.com
“Shooting Guns & Having Fun”
Areas of focus: Defense and National Security, Modern Light Weapons, Small Arms, Weapons Training.
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