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U-G-L-Y, you ain't go no alibi!!! LOL Check out this damage-
This is a 2013'ish PVS 14 green 3rd gen. Customer bought it back then from us. Claims he did not drop it nor did he shoot it on a weapon.
Yet the damage is consistent with this. Could be a really bad fall that caused an arch, could be multiple falls/hits on something hard or most likely in my opinion- Damage from being shot on a weapon.
I've seen customers damage tubes from mounting a 14 on a weapon- which is a no no BTW if you haven't read all the warnings and info we have put out about that over the years. While technically you can often get away with it once or twice, sometimes you can't- especially on heavier caliber weapons.
So bottom line, don't do it. And besides, it's not 2007 anymore, the better options are helmet mounting the 14 and using an IR laser and/or passive aiming with your red dot/electronic sight while keeping the PVS 14 helmet mounted.
We tried a couple of possible things to fix this tube for the customer, none worked. It was postulated from some just seeing the pic that it could be mold on the lenses- it was NOT. And later when we swapped out the tube for a new White Phosphor 3rd gen tube the customer bought, the vacuum on the purge device held well. This showed that he unit still had decent seal. And once a new tube was installed, the view was clean- showing for 100% sure that it was NOT the lenses but the tube.
I still stand with the "weapons mounting damage" theory, however this is a LOT of damage. Could be someone shot a burst off without really looking through the device, or it was used on a Class 3 system and a long burst caused these multiple blems. Could be a combination of recoil damage AND a drop.
Hard to tell. I did give the customer a discount on the new tube and installation in exchange for keeping the bunk tube for further testing. We will also likely place it in a PVS 14 housing and use it as a show and tell type thing at NV classes- in other words "If you don't believe why you shouldn't weapons mount your 14, check out this beauty!..." type of thing. Sometimes when people see the damage that can be done to their INVESTMENT, they decide to get more CAREFUL.
This is a 2013'ish PVS 14 green 3rd gen. Customer bought it back then from us. Claims he did not drop it nor did he shoot it on a weapon.
Yet the damage is consistent with this. Could be a really bad fall that caused an arch, could be multiple falls/hits on something hard or most likely in my opinion- Damage from being shot on a weapon.
I've seen customers damage tubes from mounting a 14 on a weapon- which is a no no BTW if you haven't read all the warnings and info we have put out about that over the years. While technically you can often get away with it once or twice, sometimes you can't- especially on heavier caliber weapons.
So bottom line, don't do it. And besides, it's not 2007 anymore, the better options are helmet mounting the 14 and using an IR laser and/or passive aiming with your red dot/electronic sight while keeping the PVS 14 helmet mounted.
We tried a couple of possible things to fix this tube for the customer, none worked. It was postulated from some just seeing the pic that it could be mold on the lenses- it was NOT. And later when we swapped out the tube for a new White Phosphor 3rd gen tube the customer bought, the vacuum on the purge device held well. This showed that he unit still had decent seal. And once a new tube was installed, the view was clean- showing for 100% sure that it was NOT the lenses but the tube.
I still stand with the "weapons mounting damage" theory, however this is a LOT of damage. Could be someone shot a burst off without really looking through the device, or it was used on a Class 3 system and a long burst caused these multiple blems. Could be a combination of recoil damage AND a drop.
Hard to tell. I did give the customer a discount on the new tube and installation in exchange for keeping the bunk tube for further testing. We will also likely place it in a PVS 14 housing and use it as a show and tell type thing at NV classes- in other words "If you don't believe why you shouldn't weapons mount your 14, check out this beauty!..." type of thing. Sometimes when people see the damage that can be done to their INVESTMENT, they decide to get more CAREFUL.