Soliciting some PVS-15 advice

[Keystones]

Following a evening of 'liquid encouragement,' I managed to make a impulsive/negligent purchase and bought a set of used PVS-15A's from eBay for around $4,000
The listing description described these as being in very good condition, but missing the IR flood lens, a missing dovetail mount and being sold "As Is."

I figured I didn't necessarily 'need' the little IR lens, and PVS-15A Wilcox dovetail mounts are $30, so whatever.

None the less, I have two concerns with what I purchased after actually holding these in my hands.

Fortunately- they turn on, IR works, they focus well- and the tubes look decent. However:

1: The Dovetail mount is not only missing- but the dovetail mounting interface appears broken which seemed to be a common problem with these PVS-15A housings.

2: One of the eyepiece lenses appears to be cross threaded- so it's slightly canted in the housing.
• I suppose this indicates that they are not only no-longer water resistant, and probably need to be purged
• Also generally just want to correct this issue.

So requesting some advice.

• Dovetail Mount:
What's the best course of action to affix a dovetail mount?
I've ordered a Wilcox dovetail, and I am thinking of inserting a 'threaded insert' into the screw-hole. Upon closer inspection and after cleaning the screw-hole, I do see patterns reminiscent of a threaded insert- so this may have been the factory method. Short of a new housing, I can't think of another method.

• Cross threaded eyepiece lens:
I've removed the tiny retaining screws- but for the life of me I cannot seem to unscrew the eyepiece lens to correctly thread it back into place. I am considering applying some heat using a heat-gun to the housing in an effort to 'loosen it' some to back out the eyepiece threads, but not sure if doing so will damage the image intensifier.

Any thoughts?

 

[patina]

Hate to be negative but I would use whatever leverage you may have with eBay and attempt to return them. $4k for a busted set of 15a's is highway robbery.

If you're determined to keep them, I'd send them to an expert for repair if you are considering using super glue here...

 

[Dogtown]

Filed under: well that sucks

 

[pshell]

I don't have any suggestions about the mount.
Concerning the focus ring, the tube body should be purged/filled with argon. I wouldn't open that up, especially if you can still adjust focus on the eyepiece.

 

[Keystones]

I don't have any suggestions about the mount.
Concerning the focus ring, the tube body should be purged/filled with argon. I wouldn't open that up, especially if you can still adjust focus on the eyepiece.

Agreed, but to be fair-- I did expect to send these out for a purge service following my purchase, so I'm not as concerned at this time re: opening them up.

 

[Keystones]

(Posting in the event Google brings another individual with the same issue to this thread.)

Quick update: solved my PVS-15 eyepiece cross-thread issue.

I delicately heated the eyepiece area of the housing with a heat-gun, and used a precision screwdriver to lift up around the edges of the housing, all the way around the seized eyepiece.

The threads 'popped' into their correct position as I went around with the screwdriver- correcting the threading of the the eyepiece back into the housing, no damage caused. They now screw in and out with ease.

 

[rlsmith1]

Now for some JB Weld on the top and you'll be good to go!

Jay at Sureshot Night Vision could also give you a hand if you want to try and professionally repair them.

ETA: I don't always use the bungees to retain my NVDs, but I would recommend that in your case

 

[Keystones]

Closing the loop on this as I've now corrected both of my issues without having to fight eBay over an as-is set of binos:

For the PVS-15A Broken Dovetail Mount Issue:
After some research, threaded inserts were used during manufacturing for affixing a dovetail mount.

I was able to 'ultrasonically' press a threaded insert into the hole where the factory insert previously was.
No super-glue needed

Was as simple as purchasing an "ultrasonic" threaded insert that was slightly larger in diameter than the hole (Specs of the insert I used below)
Used a soldering iron to heat up the insert while 'pressing' into the existing hole.

Should anyone in the future have a PVS-15A with a broken dovetail mount and you want to repair it, no longer do you need to buy a new housing:

• Buy an ultrasonic threaded insert with these specs:
  • M4 (Screw Size) x 4mm (Height) x 6mm (Diameter)
• Seat the threaded insert onto the hole
• Press the threaded insert to the mounting hole with a hot soldering iron
  • It will melt the plastic around the hole as you press it in, bonding into place once it fully seats.

All in all, took about 10 minutes- including the time needed for my old circa 1980's Radioshack soldering iron to heat up.

Tested by attaching a Wilcox mount and pulling as hard as I possibly could- with no give.
Dovetail seats perfectly, everything is nice and snug.

Note: Was able to purchase the Wilcox dovetail from "Own The Night" for around $30.

(Was it stupid to do this instead of just trying to get a refund? Probably. But I kid you not, I scoured the internet for solutions and came up empty. So I figured it was my turn to contribute to a very viable solution to a broken PVS-15A mount.)

Will be off for a purging service soon!

My fixed PVS-15A

Example image of pressing in an insert:

 

[BipThatInstance]

Holy shit, you're probably the only person in the world to get a pretty scuffed up set of PVS15s and not immediately off yourself afterwards. Commenting mostly for posterity as those are really good fixes.

Definitely send them off for proper purging and collimation, wouldn't hurt to ask whoever you get to service it to take a look at the intensifiers and make sure the connections look okay and there is not any corrosion, and you can even look for an upgrade down the road.

The 15s use 18mm MX10160s ANVIS drop-ins, Elbit makes some pretty affordable WPs, they're 2000 min FOM / OMNI8 which at the "usual" 64lpi puts you around ~30SNR+ but that can vary a lot and you'll never really know on contract tubes.

You can also go with a Katana conversion to lower the weight a few ounces. Like many others, I had 15s issued and after I got my hands on 31s I made a blood pact to beat the shit out of whoever made the decision to issue us 15s in the first place.

 

[Keystones]

The 15s use 18mm MX10160s ANVIS drop-ins, Elbit makes some pretty affordable WPs, they're 2000 min FOM / OMNI8 which at the "usual" 64lpi puts you around ~30SNR+ but that can vary a lot and you'll never really know on contract tubes.

You can also go with a Katana conversion to lower the weight a few ounces. Like many others, I had 15s issued and after I got my hands on 31s I made a blood pact to beat the shit out of whoever made the decision to issue us 15s in the first place.

Excellent advice and information, thank you much!

I was honestly considering the 31's over the 15's, but circumstances limited my expense.
Perhaps sometime the future I can trade these up with some cash for a set of 31's.

Would you happen to have any recommendations re: a purging and culmination service?
Was looking at Kommando Store- $350 for an entire 'factory' service, including cleaning, culmination and purging.

 

[BipThatInstance]

Excellent advice and information, thank you much!

I was honestly considering the 31's over the 15's, but circumstances limited my expense.
Perhaps sometime the future I can trade these up with some cash for a set of 31's.

Would you happen to have any recommendations re: a purging and culmination service?
Was looking at Kommando Store- $350 for an entire 'factory' service, including cleaning, culmination and purging.

I dont blame you going for 15s, you got a great deal and fixed them up. Your all in price is still a few grand less than DTNVS with some newer Elbit XLSH GPs in them.

Down the road the Katanas are a good upgrade, the 31s are great if you need a batt pack for wearing them all damn day or if the lightweight really really appeals.

Ive known the owner of KS for a few years and he is a great guy with great CS but cant speak to their night vision services. Ive only used Goonin Gear LLC for one-off work on builds personally. You can also reach out to AB Nightvision who does the Katanas and service 15s and even ANVIS10s too

 

[patina]

Excellent advice and information, thank you much!

I was honestly considering the 31's over the 15's, but circumstances limited my expense.
Perhaps sometime the future I can trade these up with some cash for a set of 31's.

Would you happen to have any recommendations re: a purging and culmination service?
Was looking at Kommando Store- $350 for an entire 'factory' service, including cleaning, culmination and purging.

Jay at SureShot

 

[WillHugh]

Send them to Jay at Sureshot for a clean and purge. Ident Marking is also a good resource for pvs15 related issues - they fixed an emission point in my set, and fabbed up a new set of copper rings.