Thread: Thermal plays up in cold weather

Bought a handheld thermal monocular a few years ago - not a cheap one, a 640 sensor and 18650 batteries - from a reputable NZ agent.

Unfortunately it fails quite often within a minute or two - the screen goes to static with horizontal bars. This happens when I go hunting in the central NI roar, which is a bit annoying to say the least. Its pretty much useless.

Changing batteries doesn't help, I've been through a bunch of high spec batteries.

It's been back to the agent four times he can't find a fault. Suggested I keep it warm, which is quite hard to do when hunting - and makes it prone to external condensation when a warm unit hits cold air. Then as it cools.... it fails. My mates have thermals of different brands and they just work fine without any palaver.

After much head scratching I have been able to recreate the problem - if I keep it in the fridge overnight at 3-4 degrees it craps out. Does this across different batteries,.. As it warms up it works fine.

Has anyone else had similar problems with a thermal and figured out a solution? The agent is "it's fine" and - its not. Its not like I'm hunting in snow or anything - and even then it should work.

I won't name the product or agent at this stage as I am trying to find a constructive solution to this issue.

Really interested in experiences of people running thermals on a cold day, especially brands with 18650 batteries.

Only issues I have at work using thermal in the cold is batteries don’t last long

What's the spec's say for working range temperatures? If you can recreate the problem within those temperatures, then it's faulty and the agent needs to stand by it. Or use the consumer guarantee act if they don't. There's unlikely a fix that you can do. And if you do try something it would most likely be an out for the dealer and manufacturer to walk away from. You really need to check it's operating spec's and go from there.
Good of you not putting out names etc until you've exhausted all your options.

Sent from my SM-A145F using Tapatalk

The user manuals for the product say operating range is -20 to ~50 degrees C.

It's within specification. It fails at 3-4 degrees from the fridge and the central NI maybe gets to -3 or -4? Certainly not -20. Even a day without a frost it fails.

The challenge seems to be that I can recreate the issue and the agent says he can't. But I don't think thats a valid argument. I'm not like I'm sending it back to him for the fun of it.

Frankly I think he's providing really poor customer service. Consumer Guarantees Act is pretty clear. Kind of reluctant to go legal but I'm getting gaslit.

Is it still under warranty?

As r87mm says, check that is operating within specs or not. You say you’ve had the unit a few years, just remember the sensor has a limited hours use lifetime. Some of the earlier ones and later cheaper ones are bad for this. One reason I’m weary of buying s/h. My early Hikmicro can be a bit poor at temps below about -7C but an early Pulser was just as bad and crapped out at about 400 hrs use. Inversion layers can also upset thermal function at times. I’m a bit cynical but don’t expect them to last much longer than their warranty period especially if used often, eg. 5-9 hrs/3-4 nights a week for say six months per year.

Originally Posted by Fat ninja

Is it still under warranty?

The warranty has expired recently - but the fault was raised within months of purchase and has been back to the agent multiple times during the warranty period (for months!) without resolving the issue.

Given that it's been defective from day one it's more the tardy nature of the service that has dragged this out. I should have probably gone legal earlier in retrospect.

Originally Posted by woods223

As r87mm says, check that is operating within specs or not. You say you’ve had the unit a few years, just remember the sensor has a limited hours use lifetime. Some of the earlier ones and later cheaper ones are bad for this. One reason I’m weary of buying s/h. My early Hikmicro can be a bit poor at temps below about -7C but an early Pulser was just as bad and crapped out at about 400 hrs use. Inversion layers can also upset thermal function at times. I’m a bit cynical but don’t expect them to last much longer than their warranty period especially if used often, eg. 5-9 hrs/3-4 nights a week for say six months per year.

Its had bugger all use. Might be 20 hours and most of that would be trying to troubleshoot the problem. Wonder if I can find the hours somewhere in the menus.

take it back for a refund, if the issue was raised within warranty youll be fine.its an electronic fault.stop mucking round and get a refund,if the supplier gets niggly let us know.

Yeah I think I've unfortunately made it worse by trying to be nice to him and participate in endless troubleshooting. Hopefully I don't end up losing nearly 5 grand because of it.
I certainly couldn't sell it on without disclosing the issue - although I'm not sure theres anyone in their right mind who would buy a defective thermal.

Funny story though, a few years I had a Markhor daypack that started to come apart (from my overloading it with venison I think, not a fault), I rang the agent to ask if they could repair it (at my cost) and the guy said he would just send me a new one. I said wow thats amazing customer service - and he said "Mate, all my customers have guns" - I have quoted that example many times to companies and in lectures.
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Sounds like an electrical contact or joint is not making proper contact below x temperature (a manufacturing fault). If x temperature is within the operating spec they need to replace it.

It's clear case under the Consumer Guarantees Act, the retailer needs to remediate or refund. Also note the warranty date is irrelevant under CGA. Worse case scenario you drag him into small claims.

Originally Posted by vulcannz

Sounds like an electrical contact or joint is not making proper contact below x temperature (a manufacturing fault). If x temperature is within the operating spec they need to replace it.

It's clear case under the Consumer Guarantees Act, the retailer needs to remediate or refund. Also note the warranty date is irrelevant under CGA. Worse case scenario you drag him into small claims.

Yeah, I'm just surprised the agent hasn't figured that out. From my experience in business the best thing you can do with complaints is deal with them promptly and not let them fester. Understanding the relevant legislation (Consumer guarantees, fair trading, privacy etc.) is not that hard. I used to tell people "just treat customers how you would want this business to treat your mum"

Get some video footage of it not working, use that when the agent denies that there is a fault.

There is a portion of society that will just try it on everytime, whether it's not paying bills or not honoring a warranty, they work on the principle that if 10% of people give up and go away, then 10% of the time they are winning, where they would have lost. So don't feed the behavior any further, my read of it is that you already know the thing is faulty, it is faulty and it shouldn't be your job to faff around finding special batteries that work.

No one would put up with being told they had to keep their rifle warm, it should be the same for a 5k thermal. I am no expert on small claims court, I have only been once, but I would expect you would win your case if it got that far.

Been out in minus 16 last winter and mates thermal had no issues.we however froze!!!

If you cant get a resolution with your supplier, I'm happy to help out with a 640 thermal at wholesale price.