Vortex Impact 4000 Cold Weather Issues

sbernier123

sbernier123

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Jul 24, 2017
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#1
I Have had my Impact 4000 for about a year now. Overall I'm happy with the product. Recently I took the unit out for some training in winter conditions. 15 degrees F, light snow cover. Noticed almost immediately that battery life MAX was about 15 minutes, no backlight use. Also, when the laser was fired, the screen would go blank momentarily before turning back on and displaying the range. Once the Low Battery icon flashed the consistency/accuracy of the target ranges became very suspect and unreliable.

Has anyone else experienced these issues, or used their impact in very cold weather? I also understand that this is a CIVILIAN range finder and expectation of performance needs to be evaluated in extreme environments. That being said, up here in the northeast its very cold for months on end and I'd like to understand the capabilities of this unit.

Does anyone have experience using a higher end unit (MARS, Wilcox) in cold conditions and do those units perform similar?

Also for reference, I was using energizer lithium CR123A batteries that had been checked beforehand. The same batteries lasted all day in my Vectronix Terrapin/Kestrel. Thanks for any feedback!
 
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#3
In the big thread on the Impact, the suggestion for winter use is to go with rechargeable batteries, they don't last as long as lithiums in regular temps but do better in the cold, for some reason. That's been my experience as well, granted I haven't used mine in 15F as it's rarely that cold around here but plenty in 30F and the rechargeable have worked much better. I use the Surefire rechargeables.
 
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#4
dgheriani said:
In the big thread on the Impact, the suggestion for winter use is to go with rechargeable batteries, they don't last as long as lithiums in regular temps but do better in the cold, for some reason. That's been my experience as well, granted I haven't used mine in 15F as it's rarely that cold around here but plenty in 30F and the rechargeable have worked much better. I use the Surefire rechargeables.
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Interesting, I wouldn't have guessed that, but it's certainly worth a try.
 
#8
sbernier123 said:
I Have had my Impact 4000 for about a year now. Overall I'm happy with the product. Recently I took the unit out for some training in winter conditions. 15 degrees F, light snow cover. Noticed almost immediately that battery life MAX was about 15 minutes, no backlight use. Also, when the laser was fired, the screen would go blank momentarily before turning back on and displaying the range. Once the Low Battery icon flashed the consistency/accuracy of the target ranges became very suspect and unreliable.

Has anyone else experienced these issues, or used their impact in very cold weather? I also understand that this is a CIVILIAN range finder and expectation of performance needs to be evaluated in extreme environments. That being said, up here in the northeast its very cold for months on end and I'd like to understand the capabilities of this unit.

Does anyone have experience using a higher end unit (MARS, Wilcox) in cold conditions and do those units perform similar?

Also for reference, I was using energizer lithium CR123A batteries that had been checked beforehand. The same batteries lasted all day in my Vectronix Terrapin/Kestrel. Thanks for any feedback!
Click to expand...
About 30+ Impacts on top of rifles at Mammoth Sniper Challenge. I think 29 of them died and had issues. One guy kept his up and running by keeping batteries in his pockets for body warmth.
 
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#10
I had mine out in NWFL two nights ago. Temp was 33-39f and with multiple brand new batteries of various brands it was showing low battery almost immediately. Still have the issue with my remote immediately dying so cant use that either.
 
#13
Mine is having some non battery related issues. After ranging or changing screens the screen turns black in about a second. By the time you look up from the scope you can't read it.



I tried adjusting the backlight settings but doesn't seem to help. Anyone else having this issue?

The Jesspow brand rechargeable batteries I got off Amazon seem to be working well as I never got a low battery warning.
 
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#16
j-moose32 said:
I had no issues with mine at mammoth. I changed the battery the night before. I DID experience issues in cold leading up to mammoth, but surprisingly, none while there
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You honestly had to be one the only ones. What battery were you running. My entire squads went down. My fury were good. But the impacts struggled. Guys were changing batteries every stage. It was definitely a voltage drop from being cold.
 
#17
Curt193 said:
You honestly had to be one the only ones. What battery were you running. My entire squads went down. My fury were good. But the impacts struggled. Guys were changing batteries every stage. It was definitely a voltage drop from being cold.
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I’m not home but I will check tomorrow when I get there, and post up the battery.

I got there the day before and was on the range and did have an issue with the impact from it being so cold- the screen was acting up but it was still useable . I changed the battery Thursday night and didn’t have a single issue somehow - sounds like I got lucky!
 
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#19
@j-moose32 @Curt193 , I don't mean to be off topic here but by chance we're there any SWR Radius being ran at mammoth? If so, notice any similar cold weather issues?

Reason i ask is because a good friend of mine and I are planning on doing Mammoth Jan '26 .....I have a Radius on its way to me.
 
#20
Longshot85 said:
@j-moose32 @Curt193 , I don't mean to be off topic here but by chance we're there any SWR Radius being ran at mammoth? If so, notice any similar cold weather issues?

Reason i ask is because a good friend of mine and I are planning on doing Mammoth Jan '26 .....I have a Radius on its way to me.
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My radius wouldn’t even remotely hold zero. So that would not be my first choice
 
#24
Sogan said:
Tried both. It’s the spring loaded mount that sucks
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Gotcha, I'm working at a Fabrication shop right now so I'll work up a fix. I appreciate the feedback and sorry to be off topic.

Carry on with Impact 4000 cold weather talk. I'd really like to pick one up one day and knowing how it will perform in cold/extreme cold weather is definitely a determining factor for me.

Does there seem to be any differences in early vs more recent production runs on the Impact 4000 when discussing cold weather performance?

Additionally, has anyone experienced any issues in extreme heat and/or extended hours of use ?
 
#26
This matches up with discussions today with a buddy about his Raptar having no issues in the cold. He didn't state temps but its been single digits without factoring in windchill a lot where he lives and he's been getting out in the weather a good bit as of lately.
 
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#27
Longshot85 said:
@j-moose32 @Curt193 , I don't mean to be off topic here but by chance we're there any SWR Radius being ran at mammoth? If so, notice any similar cold weather issues?

Reason i ask is because a good friend of mine and I are planning on doing Mammoth Jan '26 .....I have a Radius on its way to me.
Click to expand...
Only saw a few MARS and Wilcox. Most them by ML teams. The cold weather stuff almost has to be a programing issue. I think the voltage drop from the 123 batteries are the cause. Thats why people report better results with rechargeable. My only issue is you shouldn't have to use 450mh batteries in the cold when 1500mh lithiums are recommended. 1/3 the life.

Let us know how Radius is. My Fire4000 come today! Im excited
 
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#28
Bravo6niner said:
Envision mars and the Wilcox raptar don’t seem to be affected by the cold in my experience. Used them both in single digit weather.
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Those are also completely different class. The 1050 laser itself right from china on alibaba is still 2200-2500 bucks. 😳

905 lasers in the civilian class LFRs.

There is a company that produces the same product with different lazer options. X4-LRF
 
#29
I’m interested to see how this cold weather issue sorts itself out seems like rechargeable batteries are a short term answer. Sound like the vortex cutoff for Lv is getting triggered from the cold

I got in the Big Dog Steel grip for the remote and it’s been awesome once I got it fitted up.

IMG_8207.jpeg
 

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#30
Maurygold said:
I’m interested to see how this cold weather issue sorts itself out seems like rechargeable batteries are a short term answer. Sound like the vortex cutoff for Lv is getting triggered from the cold

I got in the Big Dog Steel grip for the remote and it’s been awesome once I got it fitted up.

View attachment 8619044
Click to expand...
This is slick, gives me an idea about putting my remote for my thermal in the grip like they have for the Imp. 4k
 
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