Aimpoint just dropped ACRO P-1 MRDS!

[karmapolice]

So the one ACRO I have shot a lot I went through one battery in a month. I ran it on the highest setting a bunch. Plus @TCinVA tested and the Gen5 Glocks heat up faster and get hotter than older Gen Glocks thus it will transfer it to the optic which will effect the battery life on high heat use.

My other one is still on the originally battery but hasn’t been shot at high volume. I think it’s comparable to the pro or even micros if you leave it higher than the “medium” setting it’s going to drain it quicker plus on a pistol you get heat transfer you don’t on carbines.

To me the performance and durability of the optic and the ease of the battery change are still worth it even if I had to change a battery every month. I also run mine on the high setting a lot because I’d rather have a bloom than wash out the dot with a flashlight etc.

So if you are shooting high volume ala training gun you might have to change it more often but to me that's not a bog deal. I since you can get 10 batteries for under 10 bucks, I'm good with spending a dollar a month on a new battery, still cheaper than my flashlight batteries I go through quick as well when I use them heavily. If I had to un-mount it and re/confirm zero it would be an issue but I don't. The change to a smaller battery is what allowed them to keep a smaller form factor and side mounted battery.

[GJM]

So the one ACRO I have shot a lot I went through one battery in a month. I ran it on the highest setting a bunch. Plus @TCinVA tested and the Gen5 Glocks heat up faster and get hotter than older Gen Glocks thus it will transfer it to the optic which will effect the battery life on high heat use.

My other one is still on the originally battery but hasn’t been shot at high volume. I think it’s comparable to the pro or even micros if you leave it higher than the “medium” setting it’s going to drain it quicker plus on a pistol you get heat transfer you don’t on carbines.

To me the performance and durability of the optic and the ease of the battery change are still worth it even if I had to change a battery every month. I also run mine on the high setting a lot because I’d rather have a bloom than wash out the dot with a flashlight etc.

So if you are shooting high volume ala training gun you might have to change it more often but to me that's not a bog deal. I since you can get 10 batteries for under 10 bucks, I'm good with spending a dollar a month on a new battery, still cheaper than my flashlight batteries I go through quick as well when I use them heavily. If I had to un-mount it and re/confirm zero it would be an issue but I don't. The change to a smaller battery is what allowed them to keep a smaller form factor and side mounted battery.

Can you elaborate on the G5 pistols heating up more than previous gens and how that relates to battery life?

[dfeder530]

Makes sense with the heat transfer decreasing battery life, but now I'm curious what the reasoning is that there's more heat transfer on Gen 5 Glocks vs past generations? To me, the slide design changes wouldn't have much effect on heat transfer especially the rear where the optic is mounted. Cowan's dropped battery life makes sense now since he has a slide with a full-auto Glock end plate that he mounted the ACRO to. I suppose as a low volume shooter a typical range session wouldn't be enough to get my gun hot enough to seriously drop battery life hour, but it's just something to remember now if I'm going to or finishing a class/competition.

[karmapolice]

Can you elaborate on the G5 pistols heating up more than previous gens and how that relates to battery life?

Tim had a facebook post he made showing his test but basically the heat from the slide is transferred to the optic itself which the higher level of heat is going to drain the battery. Just like leaving spares in your car in the summer vs inside will degrade the life of the battery.

[GJM]

Tim had a facebook post he made showing his test but basically the heat from the slide is transferred to the optic itself which the higher level of heat is going to drain the battery. Just like leaving spares in your car in the summer vs inside will degrade the life of the battery.

I would love to see the data.

[GJM]

Onboard spare CR1225.

StraightR, I love it — you should partner with Vickers and make a “Vickers Acro spare battery plug!”

Here is my equivalent to the spare Acro battery. Several of my friends teased me about the T20 in my pocket, but now I am feeling at least as smart as YVK.

[YVK]

Would unscrewing the ACRO bolt on timer become a part of your dry fire routine? I mean, train as you fight thing and all..

[StraitR]

StraightR, I love it — you should partner with Vickers and make a “Vickers Acro spare battery plug!”

Here is my equivalent to the spare Acro battery. Several of my friends teased me about the T20 in my pocket, but now I am feeling at least as smart as YVK.

Ha! I'm sure Larry will come out with a purpose build battery holder. You could even integrate a T20 and T10 somehow, I'm sure. If someone wants to take the idea and run with it, it's all yours. Just send me one (or two).

You can actually fit two, back to back, in the blister packs I have. Tip: smash the blister down and around the battery to prevent movement and rattling. And FWIW, I keep one of the Aimpoint tools in my EDC tool kit, which is either with me or close by all the time.

[TCinVA]

Any feedback from folks with the ACRO on advertised vs real world battery life? I've seen a few posts online regarding less than stellar battery life measured in weeks rather than the advertised year and a half on setting 6. Both Aaron Cowan and Jon Dufresne have reported 1-2 batteries dying in their few months of use. Not sure if this is related to batteries themselves or the Aimpoint units. The battery that came with mine was just swapped to a Renata and expiration of 07/23 so I can keep track.

I received the optic on May 10 and turned it on.

I've spent about 3,000 rounds and a fair bit of dryfire working with it and so far I've discovered that the year long battery life setting is essentially useless for my eyes. I highlight my eyes because we all see the world through a bespoke set of hardware that is impacted in radically different ways by age, lifestyle, environment, etc.

Minimum generally useful setting for me indoors is about 5, but that washes out with a Surefire on. So I keep it at a 6 when the gun is on the nightstand because it's still visible, although more difficult to see with a Surefire on and the pistol is a secondary option at that point anyway.

To shoot the gun on a typical range day (bright sun) I need it on max brightness, setting 9.

Leaving the optic on max brightness all the time is not a desirable option because when you go from the bright light of the summer sun to indoors, the dot turns into a giant smear with artifacts spread all over the window. You can see the same artifacts around the edge of an Aimpoint M68 style of optic if you turn it up to max indoors...you see the red halo around the outside of the optic. The difference is that on the ACRO those artifacts can easily be confused for the big smeary dot indoors or conditions of low light when you are presenting the gun to a target.

So, really, management of the optic is going to have to be a part of your routine. I have taken to setting the gun at 8 during the day and dialing it back to 6 when I take the gun off in the evening. That gives me a dot that is likely visible under the most circumstances and saves a bit of battery life.

You also need a battery strategy. Thankfully quality batteries are pretty readily available for the ACRO. Renata batteries can be ordered by the 10 pack for less than 9 bucks from Amazon. I am going to carpet bomb the battery problem by having a 5 pack in my glovebox, a 5 pack in my every day bag, at least 10 in my range bag, and one held in the gun by a grip plug as seen earlier in this thread. I plan to replace the battery about once a month whether it appears to be necessary or not.

There is, in my opinion, an additional concern on the Gen5 Glock pistols...or at least on my Gen5 G17: Heat.

My Gen5 gun heats up quite a bit faster than any other pistol I've used except for the P7 family of pistols from H&K. It also seems to hold on to that heat more readily. ARay gave me a good suggestion to try and quantify it, so I did a little back-to-back shooting with the Gen5 G17 and a Gen4 G34.

Gen5 G17 -
Slide temp: 83.3 degrees F (direct from the holster)
Aimpoint housing temperature: 81.1 F

After 100 rounds (5 yard roundup some bullseye)
Slide Temp: 116.3 F
Aimpoint housing temperature: 92.4 F

After 150 rounds (slightly more rapid bullseye work)
Slide temp: 130.6
Aimpoint housing temperature: 97.8 F

After 3 magazines, rapid fire
Slide temp: 158.9 F
Aimpoint housing temp 110.6 F

Gen4 G34 -
Slide temp: 80.2 F

After 100 rounds (same COF)
Slide temp: 92.2 F

After 150 (same COF)
Slide temp: 98.3 F

After 3 magazines, rapid fire
Slide temp: 114.4 F

Now I wouldn't say this is a statistically valid test because sample of one and I made a general effort at keeping the pace of fire the same but didn't absolutely guarantee it. What is useful from that data, however, is quantifying what I was feeling with actual numbers. The Gen5 G17 is, in fact, getting quite hot. When the slide read 158 degrees that was just below the ejection port...the place I put my trigger finger into register. The muzzle end of the slide was over 170 degrees. I plan to do another hopefully more valid test in the relatively near future where I fire 6 magazines through a Gen3 17 and my Gen5 17 as fast as possible, record the total time, and record the temperatures on the guns before and after at specified points.

I suspect the new finish on the Gen5 guns...an ion-bonded "diamond like coating"...is partially responsible for the heat phenomenon I'm experiencing. There may also be some change in the metallurgy of the gun's components that was made necessary by the finish change. I can't say because I'm not a materials engineer.

Most germane to this discussion, though, is that the heat is working into the housing of the ACRO and elevating the temperature of the optic, too. It gets noticeably warm. The temperature readings I was taking off the optic show that it's getting at or above 100 degrees, at least on my gun.

That is something of a concern regarding battery life because temperature negatively impacts the life of these coin batteries:

http://data.energizer.com/pdfs/lithiumcoin_appman.pdf

As you can see on the graph presented on page 4 of that document, battery life at 40 Celsius (which is 104 degrees F...a temperature that the housing on the Aimpoint is reaching on my gun) is cut by about 40% if the battery operates in that range continuously. That data is for a 2032 battery, but it's probably safe to assume that a CR1225 battery does not have any better performance in that regard than a 2032.

It's hard to say how much heat is actually reaching the battery as the optic is heating up or how long it stays in the zone where it could potentially impact battery output in the ACRO.

My opinion based on what I've observed is that if you notice that the ACRO on your gun is warm to the touch after shooting some rounds through it, factor your shooting volume into your battery change strategy. For me, if I have another range day like I did a couple of weeks ago in the Givens class where I fired about 800 rounds in a single day, I'm going to assume my battery got hot enough to drain some life and I'll replace it a little bit sooner. Or, as cheap as the batteries are, maybe right after that range day and then keep with the same 30 day replacement cycle even with the new battery. I blow about 5 batteries worth of value on a single cup of Starbucks at work so it's not a deal breaker.

If you are routinely shooting enough rounds to put heat into the optic or you are regularly exposing it to situations where the optic's temperature can get above 100 degrees for prolonged periods of time go for more frequent battery replacement than the 30 days I'm trying out.

Hopefully all of that makes sense.

[backtrail540]

Does the slide release get very hot when firing? I wonder if the gen 5's having an ambi release is helping transfer more heat to the slide as well? I'm sure it's a multitude of variables contributing, but I wonder if that's one of them.