Night Vision Reap IR battery housing issue? Cracked.....

[GUNNER75]

Anyone have a REAP IR that has issues with the battery housing (not extension) cracking?

From day one mine appeared to have very very small cracks in the main housing. Appeared to be a forged part and the press in sleave stressed the housing.

Well, went to pull my unit out of the case and one of the cracks grew.

Should have taken a picture of it, just forgot.

Received by Trijicon today. Hope for a speedy turn around.

***This unit has had only about 50 rounds under it (223). Used as an detection/observation unit mostly.

 

[jrweston]

Trijicon has taken care of various issues ive had with my Trijicon thermals. It has taken about 3-4 to get it back, and they have paid for shipping both ways. I’ve been please with their customer service.

 

[GUNNER75]

Good to know, I shipped mine in on my coin, but I got a card in my pocket as I happen to know a "big boy" at Trijicon. Might play that card as 3 to 4 wk turnaround isn't what I want to hear. Will see what happens.

 

[WhereNow&How]

@GUNNER75 Man, you having some bad luck with design defects from so say "High End" manufacturers.

Triji is another long time Military supplier that knows how to make good stuff. However there is not to my knowledge any Mil Spec rifle mountable Thermals that have "in line" with the bore battery compartments that are subjected to recoil in that manner.

Point being, that is a known inherent design defect. Thus their redesigned Reap 2 with 90 degree axis battery compartment now. So replacing/fixing a known design defect with the very same configuration just leads to another potential and likely failure down the road at some point.

If it were me and I knew someone "high up the chain" I would see about them replacing that Gen 1 Reap with a known inherent design defect with the new Reap 2 and also ask them to make sure it will run with rechargable RCR 123 batteries.

 

[GUNNER75]

I inquired about that at SHOT WhereNow&How. Fingers crossed I get the upgrade.

Having two units fail at the same time really made for a bad couple weeks. My stuff is mostly demo use and a little bit of night hunting.

 

[WhereNow&How]

@GUNNER75. Yes Sir. You spent serious money with real solid companies. They are obligated to make you whole. Hold their feet to the fire.

 

[GUNNER75]

I received an email from Trijicon just minutes ago. $5K to repair and replace items on a $7.5K unit. Details on when purchased where, etc later if need be but my initial shock response is to tell them to F>>>>>>>S>>>>>>>>>>M>>>>>>>>>>>>>C>>>>>>>>>. Zero options other than to money up. I'm not going to pull the card in my pocket until I feel I might have to.
For those who have had great experience with Trijicon Electo Optics. Outstanding. 3 others are floored as well as they know my unit well and theirs has been flat used.
I'm at a loss at this point. Will update when I gather my shit.

 

[WhereNow&How]

I received an email from Trijicon just minutes ago. $5K to repair and replace items on a $7.5K unit. Details on when purchased where, etc later if need be but my initial shock response is to tell them to F>>>>>>>S>>>>>>>>>>M>>>>>>>>>>>>>C>>>>>>>>>. Zero options other than to money up. I'm not going to pull the card in my pocket until I feel I might have to.
For those who have had great experience with Trijicon Electo Optics. Outstanding. 3 others are floored as well as they know my unit well and theirs has been flat used.
I'm at a loss at this point. Will update when I gather my shit.

Gunner, that really SUCKS brother. Don't give up hope.

If they continue to try to stiff you, you have avenues available to raise some hell about it that likely will make them remedy their problem. What don't make sense is the housing can't cost much. Hell, in a couple hours surely there personnel could swap your guts and lenses into a new housing. Sounds like f...king highway robbery at $5K. Hell its their design defect that caused the break.

Keep us posted and thanks for the update.

 

[deersniper]

Holy s. F them. Il never buy one and tell others to steer clear.

Hope you post this on ar15 and lonestarboars

 

[WhereNow&How]

Holy s. F them. Il never buy one and tell others to steer clear.

Hope you post this on ar15 and lonestarboars

Yep they need to change the name of it from the Reap to the RAPE.

 

[GUNNER75]

There has to be an issue with this whole deal. I sent the unit in for a cracked housing and reported a split screen on last operation. The unit worked perfectly prior to this last operation (DEMO by hand) . (which was simply to show another what thermal is, not rifle mounted etc).
Repair order is $5k for core items and nothing about housing. I'm gonna drop it, regroup tomorrow and go from there.
WhereNow&How, thanks for the support. I just figured my luck ran out on a few nice products. Well one is good to go, this one has me going nuts. I'm gonna rest on it, regroup in the am, and go from there. If I have to pull that card, I might, but at the same time, I don't expect it 100% covered. I'm all about compromise. Doesn't help I know too much what a REAP IR cost to build. That $5k is basically buying a new unit. Only issue is I paid $7500 for what I have plus $5k for the updated version. I can either have a $12,5K REAP updated unit or a $7500 paperweight. What would you do?

 

[deersniper]

There has to be an issue with this whole deal. I sent the unit in for a cracked housing and reported a split screen on last operation. The unit worked perfectly prior to this last operation (DEMO by hand) . (which was simply to show another what thermal is, not rifle mounted etc).
Repair order is $5k for core items and nothing about housing. I'm gonna drop it, regroup tomorrow and go from there.
WhereNow&How, thanks for the support. I just figured my luck ran out on a few nice products. Well one is good to go, this one has me going nuts. I'm gonna rest on it, regroup in the am, and go from there. If I have to pull that card, I might, but at the same time, I don't expect it 100% covered. I'm all about compromise. Doesn't help I know too much what a REAP IR cost to build. That $5k is basically buying a new unit. Only issue is I paid $7500 for what I have plus $5k for the updated version. I can either have a $12,5K REAP updated unit or a $7500 paperweight. What would you do?

They should cover the whole thing unless there has been obvious abuse.

If they don’t want then civi market plenty of others will fill the void.

There’s a reason people don’t hesitate to buy Nightforce and Vorrex. People would laugh at a scope company acting like Trijicon is.

 

[WhereNow&How]

There has to be an issue with this whole deal. I sent the unit in for a cracked housing and reported a split screen on last operation. The unit worked perfectly prior to this last operation (DEMO by hand) . (which was simply to show another what thermal is, not rifle mounted etc).
Repair order is $5k for core items and nothing about housing. I'm gonna drop it, regroup tomorrow and go from there.
WhereNow&How, thanks for the support. I just figured my luck ran out on a few nice products. Well one is good to go, this one has me going nuts. I'm gonna rest on it, regroup in the am, and go from there. If I have to pull that card, I might, but at the same time, I don't expect it 100% covered. I'm all about compromise. Doesn't help I know too much what a REAP IR cost to build. That $5k is basically buying a new unit. Only issue is I paid $7500 for what I have plus $5k for the updated version. I can either have a $12,5K REAP updated unit or a $7500 paperweight. What would you do?

I would really push them to make it right as I believe all those type failures are their responsibility. They know they have a design defect. I am a firm believer in I pay for may mistakes and others pay for theirs. However, if you exhaust all efforts and they do not want to fix it for less than $5,000. I probably know how to fix the cracked area where it will never fail there again, however, it could fail elsewhere from where the repair to the housing is made.

If worst comes to worst I can probably walk you through how to repair that area.

 

[GUNNER75]

I'm going balls deep in this one. In process stand by. Quick text back was positive.
Did I just dive in at the wrong time on toys or what?????????

 

[Jgunner]

Wow, trijicon pulling something like this? Either they think its not their fault or they are going down the shitter. I hope they step up, even if its not their fault.

cemented my decision on n-vision. At least they come HERE and are active in threads. That speaks volumes. They will have my money.

 

[Geeb]

Any updates from Trijicon?
From what you've stated they're not quoting 5k to fix the battery housing, I still can't see the core costing that much to replace, it is a large part of the cost of a thermal but still.
Had it been dropped or abused? Hope they fix it for you.

 

[GUNNER75]

Where it stands right now is I received a quote to repair for just under $5000.
This REAP IR has not been dropped or abused.
I received an email due to my response on the quote stating I couldn't see myself investing $5000 in a $7500 unit, and asked them what they would do if it were their own.
I received an email back stating they would pass it along to the manager.

 

[j-huskey]

Fwiw,
When IRD started the unit lines with in-line battery compartments, they didnt forsee the problems that were coming.
They put out a product that met a need/market niche that Flir and other companies werent willing to produce.

Early on there were some battery box power connect failures, un-recognized as such. Units sent back, worked and tested fine off weapon.
IRD would send out a new unit. Customers made happy.

About the time IRD sold to Trijicon, the battery box problems were surfacing, where weaker springs were causing recoil power disconnect. And there were some repeat problem units sitting on a couple of shelves.

Units sent back were reflashed and tested fine, and returned to the owners. So far so good, until the weak springs caused the power disconnect again.

By then "those people" knew the in-line battery box was a problem and redesigned the units with upright off line battery boxes.

Being one of the people who had a spring/recoil problem, I had a few discussions with 'somebody' at Trijicon. I asked then about the housing replacement and got the same price 5k....

The people were kind enough to explain to me why it cost as much as it did, and I understood. I asked for a new spring and a reflash, and please send my shit back, asap....

That happened. Unit is working fine now on the lighter recoiling platform.

****Those of us with older units are all looking at this same possibility. *****

This is difficult to express appropriately. Brain isnt 100% today.

If I send in my unit, and pay 5k for a new housing and associated parts to install my working core, what warranty or guarantee is Trijicon going to put on that 5k repair ?

That is the issue facing both Trijcon and us, and is one reason the $ is so high.
Say we pay 5k and in a year the now 4 year old once removed and reinstalled glued in core fails, what will it cost us and what will Trijicon cover then....

At some point, the @WhereNow&How fix may be important to all of us.

Lots of questions for Trijicon to answer IF we have to pay 5k..

Food for thought.

 

[WhereNow&How]

@j-huskey

Here is a quick start to the procedure. There are likely plenty of other educational vids on the procedure.

Another important point that I don't think is discussed in this vid is that you need to mask tape off the repair area really good such that you have a contained and refined repair.

Additionally, I have repaired numerous Neutral Density Filters rubber straps that were broken to where you can almost not even tell they have been repaired on a normal casual glance. Black Sharpies work magic. When repairing those it is very important to keep the repair very small at just the break area so that you do not loose the strechyness needed for those NDF to work correctly.

This is an approved fix for carbon fiber Helicopter blades to fix chips.

 

[Hard_ware]

I just sent a IR Patrol m300w for a cracked battery housing. Now I guess I will wait for the email. If not covered under warranty I will repair it myself. But one thing for sure no $$$ will flow from my pocket to trijicon for any product they make if they don’t stand behind the warranty. Many options for all the products they sell, at usually a lower cost. Paying a premium should get premium support.

 

[WhereNow&How]

I just sent a IR Patrol m300w for a cracked battery housing. Now I guess I will wait for the email. If not covered under warranty I will repair it myself. But one thing for sure no $$$ will flow from my pocket to trijicon for any product they make if they don’t stand behind the warranty. Many options for all the products they sell, at usually a lower cost. Paying a premium should get premium support.

What caliber rifle and setup (AR or Bolt) did you have it on. Also how much use do you think you had before the battery housing sh^t the bed. Kinda running a mental log of these events in my head.

 

[GUNNER75]

If I don't receive an email tomorrow regarding my REAP IR, I'm not sure what I'm gonna do. The proposed $5k repair on a $7.5K thermal less than 6 months out of warranty just makes me sick. Not to mention I sent it in regarding a cracked housing and all repairs indicate internals and zero mention of housing. I fully understand I'm out of the warranty. I won't argue that. If it $5k or nothing, someone is going to have a reminder at Trijicon as I will refuse delivery. They can keep it.

 

[WhereNow&How]

If worst comes to worst, maybe Small Claims Court. Max claim amount is $4,000. Don't know if that is an option because they are an out of state company which typically would mean a Federal venue. I would not be so "mean" about it except they know they have a design defect and even changed the design to correct it. Would be worth checking into as a last resort to recoup some of your money.

To dance around the maypole on a unit that is 6 months out of warranty for a known design defect that had to be redesigned to eliminate is pure horse sh^t on their part.

Small Claims Court - Basic Information | Kansas Legal Services

Kansas small claims court was established in 1973 to provide a simple, informal procedure for people to settle smaller legal problems cheaply and quickly. Americans have always had the right to represent themselves in a courtroom. In small claims court, the parties represent themselves on small...

www.kansaslegalservices.org

 

[SkyScrapin]

Hope you get this shit squared away with Trij.

I had a T50 that had to be shipped back to FLIR. They quoted me almost $3k to fix it, claiming it was the oled and connector cable that needed to be replaced. Ironically, after the entire mess, I literally used it as a paper weight because why not? The worst best part, after about a year, I threw some ultra fresh 123a batts in and all be damned, the thing turned over and lit-up how it's supposed too. Moral - it's not just Trij that will fuck you when you're out of warranty, even for something that doesn't need fixing.

At this point, if it's of relative value and specifically electronic (especially thermals and NVGs), it gets scheduled with the insurance company.

 

[Geeb]

If worst comes to worst, maybe Small Claims Court. Max claim amount is $4,000. Don't know if that is an option because they are an out of state company which typically would mean a Federal venue. I would not be so "mean" about it except they know they have a design defect and even changed the design to correct it. Would be worth checking into as a last resort to recoup some of your money.

To dance around the maypole on a unit that is 6 months out of warranty for a known design defect that had to be redesigned to eliminate is pure horse sh^t on their part.

Small Claims Court - Basic Information | Kansas Legal Services

Kansas small claims court was established in 1973 to provide a simple, informal procedure for people to settle smaller legal problems cheaply and quickly. Americans have always had the right to represent themselves in a courtroom. In small claims court, the parties represent themselves on small...

www.kansaslegalservices.org

It sounds like a 'class action' or 'muti-district litigation' might be a better option. There seem to be quite a few guys having the same issue; team up on them and make them to do the right thing. trijicon should stand behind their product when it is a known widespread issue.
These issues make pulsar seem more attractive.

 

[WhereNow&How]

These issues make pulsar seem more attractive.

At least Pulsar, a foreign owned manufacturer and SightMark a US based distributor have been pretty good at either swapping out units or refunding purchasers of the Trail line from what I have heard. That does command more respect than paying for top line equipment and then getting the stiff.

 

[wompa]

As others have said, I’d be curious as well as to what caliber and setup you had this on.

 

[GUNNER75]

My unit has only seen .223/50gr V Max. Zero'd optic twice and shot a couple coyotes and a pig. Guessing 50 rounds, maybe a few more. Mostly used for observation. PVS30 on the rifle.

 

[WhereNow&How]

My unit has only seen .223/50gr V Max. Zero'd optic twice and shot a couple coyotes and a pig. Guessing 50 rounds, maybe a few more. Mostly used for observation. PVS30 on the rifle.

That is super light use. Makes you wonder if and how they did any testing of the units on various rifles and calibers during the design phase of the device to verify the design was solid.

Most systems are put through many thousands of rounds during the design, testing and evaluation period to verify a reliable design.

 

[wompa]

Interesting, I was expecting a large frame AR.

 

[WhereNow&How]

Interesting, I was expecting a large frame AR.

Totally agree. For use and caliber used totally unacceptable. Id be about ready to go Primeval on Triji if they don't remedy their problem on their nickle.

 

[wompa]

So the hunter must use a different material for the housing compared to the patrol/reap?

 

[GUNNER75]

I figured I'd have some email by now reporting my REAP but as of now, nothing. I made my situation aware with another there (softly) and know it was heard. By this time Thursday evening I'm probably gonna get after it. On the 4th my response was sent to a supervisor. My hope is they are taking a deeper look into the issue. I hope. With that, I'll be patient.
On the housing. I searched my pictures and couldn't find a close up of the unit (in detail). I feel dumb if it isn't, but I'm almost certain mine is aluminum. Like forged. It appeared the brass inner unit was pressed in and that is what I figured caused the splinters in the housing. This was early on. Was never worried about it until 6 or 8 months ago when they appeared to grow a little bit. Skip to the end, the one went to the edge, that led to SS conversations, send it in, typical 2 week turnaround, etc. Ok, cool.
This is where it stands. I'll post a pic of the demo unit I used it on.

 

[GUNNER75]

This was the original set up for my demo work. Lost the DVR and switch shortly after, just not needed for what we were doing. Still use this platform today for a "real world" feel. PS, it was hot and we all swapped cheek sweat.

 

[WhereNow&How]

So the hunter must use a different material for the housing compared to the patrol/reap?

I have been around the Patrol, Reap and Hunter and used each one a little. Although I did not inspect the crap out of them, if memory serves me right they all looked like they were aluminum battery housings just like the main housing.

My 2 buddies that have those units were crying that they would not run on RCR 123 rechargeable as configured originally.

 

[Hard_ware]

Only used handheld. The cracks I think are from the brass insert that was slightly too large and over time caused the delrin to start stress cracks. Was bad engineering from the get go. A smaller brass insert with epoxy to bond and strengthen the delrin would have not had this problem. Part had to be non conductive as to not short out the + and - ends. The brass insert on the + end has a wire soldered to it. It presses in but has some delrin between the brass and the - spring on the bottom to not short out.

 

[WhereNow&How]

Only used handheld. The cracks I think are from the brass insert that was slightly too large and over time caused the delrin to start stress cracks. Was bad engineering from the get go. A smaller brass insert with epoxy to bond and strengthen the delrin would have not had this problem. Part had to be non conductive as to not short out the + and - ends this the brass insert on the + end.

So you are 100% sure that the battery housings are in fact made out of Delrin? If that is a fact, I was fooled from my limited use of them.

I do have some Mod Armory Bridge mounts that have Delrin and Aluminum and you cannot really tell the difference on those unless you really closely inspect them.

 

[GUNNER75]

Interesting. Edited earlier reply as I misread it. Like I stated, I think mine is aluminum. Cracked like it, etc. Silverish look on crack. Don't have it so I cannot verify. I work with extrusions, and that was my first thought by the way the offset housing appeared.

 

[Hard_ware]

Not 100% sure it’s delrin but I am 100% sure it’s not a conductive material. Look inside you should see the brass insert doesn’t go all the way to the bottom.
The housings look like cnc’d aluminium. Front part has oring seal between it and main housing. Battery compartment is non conductive material.
If repair isn’t under warranty on my unit, I will just want it returned as is as it functions fine. Then I will post pics of the dissassembly as I will most likely 3D print a battery housing from nylon, I may make it 18650 compatible if I like the design of the power circuit in the unit. I am pretty sure it’s a dc to dc type regulator.

 

[Geeb]

I looked up trijicon's warranty on their website and it states that the ir-Hunter, ir-patrol, reap-ir, and the snipe-ir are warranted for all optical systems and structural housing defects for life. So at the very least they should repair your battery housing.

https://www.trijicon.com/support/warranty

 

[WhereNow&How]

I looked up trijicon's warranty on their website and it states that the ir-Hunter, ir-patrol, reap-ir, and the snipe-ir are warranted for all optical systems and structural housing defects for life. So at the very least they should repair your battery housing.

https://www.trijicon.com/support/warranty

Great catch.

 

[Hard_ware]

Hope they back it up.
A brand is only as good as the people that are running it.

thanks ?

 

[wompa]

In light of the new information please let us know how it turns out.

 

[GUNNER75]

17th, no reply back from Trijicon. I replied to the service dept early this morning. If I don't hear anything I'll phone later today.

 

[WhereNow&How]

17th, no reply back from Trijicon. I replied to the service dept early this morning. If I don't hear anything I'll phone later today.

Unfortunately, due to the Coronavirus your timing may be horrible to get any results from them or many other Vendors, Manufacturers etc. I am already seeing some crazy stuff in shipments of normal type stuff like packages even in the USPS.

 

[Devildog]

Glad I read this, I started a post earlier stating I had an interest in maybe getting a reap-ir. This really makes me think no thanks!

 

[WhereNow&How]

Glad I read this, I started a post earlier stating I had an interest in maybe getting a reap-ir. This really makes me think no thanks!

The Reap Version 2 with the Vertical Batteries would still be a possible contender as it shouldn't have the battery housing issue.

However, if I was looking at the Version 2 it would have to run on rechargeable CR 123 or that alone would kill it for me. I don't know if they will or won't run on rechargeable CR 123's. Maybe someone with more knowledge of the V2 Reap could chime in and answer that.

 

[GUNNER75]

On 3-20-20 I was contacted via email by Trijicon and informed I would be hearing back on that day. I did not receive any update after that email. With everything going on I'm not sure I will anytime soon. That is all.

 

[Hard_ware]

Same here was told unit was repaired and would be shipped and no further emails received. Hope all well and will just wait till the craziness passes.

just received unit today , new firmware, new display, new battery housing. Looks awesome, was surprised to get it with California under lockdown.

 

[PlinkIt]

Good to hear they fixed your unit @Hard_ware

So about 3 weeks turn around even with the pandemic in play

Any notes about how easy or painful the process was?