How often do you change your batteries?

[Charlie1022]

I started going through changing the batteries in my sights and lasers yesterday and was wondering how often others change batteries. I try and change mine out every year to keep them fresh as you never know when you might need them.

 

[Walkalong]

When they get dim.

 

[gotboostvr]

I do all of them right before the start of deer season every year. Since I'm doing my hunting guns, might as well do all of them.

And as needed if they run out sooner of course.

 

[trackskippy]

Until recently, the only things I have that used batteries were my Aimpoints, and I change them once a year when I change the smoke detector batteries. They are the old M2/ML2 series and only have a 1 year life (I dont turn them off, and have never found one dead yet in about 20 years).

I recently picked up one of the smaller "cheap" red dots for my 22's, and have had the same experience I had early on pre Aimpoint. Forget to turn them off, and they are dead next time you pick them up. So I keep a couple of spare 2032's on the gun with it.

I just picked up a couple of SIG Remeo 5's with the "shake awake" function, and that does seem to work as advertised. Seems like it would take care of putting it away on, but I dont think it will work if you have the gun say in the car, where it would get jostled around as you drive. All you have to do is just tap the gun and the dot comes right back on. So I think Ill still have to make sure to shut them off.

Id like to get a couple of the newer, smaller Aimpoints, just dont want to drop that much cash on them right now. The old M2's are still going strong. Maybe if they take a dump.

 

[jmorris]

When they are dead, unless I am relying on them to be 100%, then before.

 

[Varminterror]

Depends on the firearm and its frequency and criticality of use. For many of my firearms, I pull the batteries and leave them empty, to avoid potential rupture or corrosion of the terminals. For some with relatively frequent but non-critical use, I change the batteries when they appear dim or simply won’t turn on due to dead batteries. For our very limited number of critical use firearms, I typically change annually. Ammo cost for sustaining proficiency with these firearms far outweighs the minuscule cost of battery replacement.

 

[crestoncowboy]

When they get dim

That used to work well. But now with more advanced circuitry and voltage regulation
they just die. No warning. No dimming. Its supposedly not safe to discharge a lithium battery so they cut off before they are dead. Most of my weapon lights use cr123 lithium.

My duty flashlights are innova t4r. They just die. Sometimes they will flicker for 2-3 seconds sometimes not. I generally just leave them on their car mounted chargers which probably isn't a stellar thing to do either. I use their rechargeable batteries but they can also use 123 size batteries.

Back when battery operated power tools came out we used them in construction and I could tell about how long I had by the sound. When I was going to cut a single pipe or something id pick up the saw or drill and hit the trigger and could tell if I had the juice to carry that tool and finish the job. Then when lithium came out they just ran until they didn't. Was annoying. If you were going to put 1-2 screws in or cut a single pipe or something it never failed that the drill or saw you grabbed and walked a mile with ran for 3 seconds and died. The lithium batteries lasted exponentially longer and charged faster though. Now they all have an onboard charge indicator so it's not an issue

For RDS and such the life is unbelievably long nowadays. 10k-20k hours......back in the day if you forgot and left a red dot on the battery was dead the next day. Lol. Zinc Alkaline/silver oxide/nickel hydride/zinc carbon......didn't matter.

Another one was our transits. Our old one used 8 c or d (can't remember) in the sending unit which had a spinning laser and a bunch of AA in the receiver. All would die in 1 long day of use. Of course before that we used a marked stick and a nice telescope but it was a 2 man job and had to be quiet

The ones we use now have a prism and no spinning. They use 4 aa and a single 9v in the receiver. Last several weeks.

 

[Chuck R.]

I vary.

The current HD stuff get's fresh batteries annually, those batteries get rotated into other guns. Other guns get fresh batteries when they start to dim. Prior to a hunt, those optics with batteries get tested and replaced IF needed. All the hunting stuff, optics, range finder, E-caller etc, get their batteries pulled after the season.

 

[Walkalong]

That used to work well. But now with more advanced circuitry and voltage regulation
they just die. No warning. No dimming. Its supposedly not safe to discharge a lithium battery so they cut off before they are dead. Most of my weapon lights use cr123 lithium.

That is very true, many just go from pretty good to nothing. The only one I really worry about is the RMR on my XDm OSP. It gets changed before it dims. All the others can crap out if they want to, I have batteries in the range bag.

 

[twarr1]

I spare spare batteries and a small charger for all my electronics in my range bag.