Tritium Night Sights

[dagger dog]

Hey Guys,

Does anyone know if glow in the dark night sights (tritium I think) can be rejuvinated, or do they have to be replaced?
I really don't want to cough up the extra $ for new ones, plus the Sig 226 that the current ones are installed on would probably require that I buy a sight pusher-installer which is another few $.

Who makes fiber optic sights for the 226, these look like an option. Has anyone used the fiber optic?

 

[jlbraun]

Tritium sights are powered by the decay of radioactive materials in a small glass ampule. They cannot be "recharged", but must be replaced.

I will however say that you should make sure they are clean. The light goes down quite a bit if they are sooty.

 

[CWL]

The tritium gas in the nitesights will eventually go dark because of natural decay. With a half-life of 12.3 years, this means that there will only be one-half as much tritium in the tube after this time -meaning that the sight will only be 1/2 as bright as when new.

You will not be able to rejuvinate it. But it will be a long time before you will need to replace them.

 

[Darthbauer]

They cannot be "recharged", but must be replaced.

This is true but if you get them from Trijicon they will replace them for less than the cost of just buying new ones.

 

[Lagomorph]

They have to be replaced. The tritium (isotope of hydrogen) emit a tiny bit of radiation that makes the dots in the sights phosphoresce.

The half life of tritium is about 12 years, so they do eventually dim since they're losing half of their energy after each half life.

 

[Cougfan2]

Or you could just put the gun on the hot side of a nuclear reactor for a few days. Of course then the gun would melt your hand off.

 

[AK103K]

How many SIG's do you have?

The sight pusher is well worth the money if you have a couple and want night sights for them. I paid $80 for mine and it basically paid for itself by selling two sets of old night sights on EBay. I got $35/set for them.

Once you have the pusher, you dont have to pay to have it done (and you can also easily adjust your sights ), and you just find the cheapest deal on the web and your good to go. Its a 5 minute job after you do your first set. A new set of Mepros runs between $60 to $80, depending on where you get them and if there are any deals being run.

 

[CWL]

I replaced the sights on a P229 with fiber optics, all I needed was a wooden table-edge. Not an elegant way to do it, and took a little bit of fine-tuning, but the sights have never moved since I put them on.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

The manufacturer should be able to replace just the tritium capsules in the sights. A really good gunsmith might also be able to, but the cost of his labor would probably exceed that of new sights.

 

[chris in va]

this means that there will only be one-half as much tritium in the tube after this time

Actually the tritium doesn't go anywhere, just decays and loses radioactivity.

 

[DAVIDSDIVAD]

The tritium gas in the nitesights will eventually go dark because of natural decay. With a half-life of 12.3 years, this means that there will only be one-half as much tritium in the tube after this time -meaning that the sight will only be 1/2 as bright as when new.

I don't think that's accurate.

I just can't imagine amount of light being directly proportional to the amount of tritium in the vial.

 

[PzGren]

The oldest nightsights that I have (bought new and verifiable)are now 12 years old and still give me satisfactory illumination. They are Meprolights.

In general, most nightsights are younger than that and covered by a warranty. Usually the year of manufacture is stamped unto them, like 04 for 2004.

Before I bought a sight pusher for Glocks, I changed about a dozen sights with wooden dowels or even lead bullets - and still use this method for non-Glocks. WTS customer service okayed this method for sights with tritium vials, by the way.

If you do not want to spend for brand new sights, I would call Rick at Ameriglo and discuss it with him. There is no nicer and more helpful person in that industry!!!

 

[Matt-man]

The tritium gas in the nitesights will eventually go dark because of natural decay. With a half-life of 12.3 years, this means that there will only be one-half as much tritium in the tube after this time -meaning that the sight will only be 1/2 as bright as when new.

I don't think that's accurate.

I just can't imagine amount of light being directly proportional to the amount of tritium in the vial.

The rate of decay is proportional to the amount of tritium in the vial. Since the glow is caused by beta particles produced by decay then wouldn't the brightness be proportional to the amount of tritium in the vial?

Actually the tritium doesn't go anywhere, just decays and loses radioactivity.

When tritium decays it turns into a form of helium. After one half-life half of the tritium will be gone, turned into helium.

 

[dagger dog]

I aquried this pistol in a will. It's a West German made Sig so I guess the sights are just about to the end of their life.
The pistol is my only Sig so I guess a trip to the smith is the solution to my problem. I've seen the tritium sights from Sig in the catalogs for around $85. does that seem in line?

After reading the statement that the tritium decays to helium I could'n resist.

If the sights decay long enough, will I have to install a laynard ring to keep it from floating away?

 

[AK103K]

If the sights decay long enough, will I have to install a laynard ring to keep it from floating away?

LOL. There ya go.

I paid about $75 for the last set of Meprolights I bought, about a month ago. That was just for the sights, I dont know what they charge to install them. SIG was offering a package deal a little while back where they went over the gun, replaced anything that needed replacing, like springs, etc, and also added night sights. I think they were charging something like $130 for it. Maybe call them and see.

 

[Snapping Twig]

I have a set of Trijicon's on a 629 that are about 16 years old and dimming, but they are still servicable. The positive aspect is that once they degenerate, they are still a good three dot system.

I'll replace them eventually because they are just too cool when they are operational.

 

[AK103K]

.....once they degenerate, they are still a good three dot system.

Theres always that, especially if they have the white outline around the vial. Some of the older Trijicons dont. (the ones I removed and replaced didnt. Not sure what the new ones are looking like.)

Even when they are degraded, they do still tend to work, they just are not as quickly picked up as a newer set. The older sets I removed and sold were still working enough that you could see them in a pitch black room, but they were very weak in any other level of darkness and you had to look for them to look at them.

 

[dagger dog]

Mine are about to the point now that if you are inside no light at night you can still pick them up faintly. It was a ex law enforcement sell off, and they are most likley the orignals. For along time I thought that they were just a 3 dot system then one night I had reason to have the gun out under the situations listed above and was suprized to find they were glowing faintly.

WHODA THUNKIT!

 

[CWL]

this means that there will only be one-half as much tritium in the tube after this time

Actually the tritium doesn't go anywhere, just decays and loses radioactivity.

Umm, do you understand what radioactive decay means?

 

[shooter429]

Hey, check out the Sig service plan

SIG SERVICE PLAN:
AVAILABLE FOR YOUR
USED SIG PISTOLS
P & SP
• Detail strip entire firearm, inspecting critical components
• Replace most commonly worn springs
• Install new night sights
• Lubricate, reassemble, and function check
• Return in factory lockable box (if needed)
• P230/P232 models excluded
$129.95
seems reasonable to me
Shooter429

 

[ducktape944]

YES! They can, use some rubbing alcohol on a Q-Tip and rub it on there. It works great.