Sun damage to Hik Micro Condor CQ35L

[Fia]

Hi,
I recently purchased the above unit.
I caught some sun on the Horizon whilst scanning a hill. Initially it put a large mark on the sensor. Since then a slight mark comes back when the unit is switched on for about 20 min. It seems to be steadily fading but it has been a week now and it's still not fully gone.

Has anybody experienced this? Can I expect it to fully dissappear? It has a vanadium oxide sensor.
Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[dlz90]

I was walking with my pulsar one very bright day a few years ago helion xq38f not that there was many Bright days over here.lol

I was carrying my unit over my shoulder going up a very steep hill the unit was switched on lens cap open very strong sun behind me lens must have pointing directly at the sun while i transversed the hill.

Anyway when reaching my vantage point just above the crest of the hill, I was horrified to find the image of the sun all over the sensor a very zigzag pattern all over the screen because I was walking upwards it wasn't in one place it was all over the screen some places where I had obviously stopped looked like deep sun damage I thought it was fkd to be honest,


I tried refreshing the screen it didn't go away I turned it off continued my walk every now a then turning on the unit to see how it was doing it improved every so slightly but still terrible I turned it off again returned home and after it had fully cooled the image faded away it took a few hours but thankfully mine returned to normal and is still going strong without any issues since.


I can't speak for other thermal units but I find the pulsar thermal virtually indestructible.

Hope yours returns to normal but a week in is a long time.

Maybe some more knowledgeable can shed some light on the matter excuse the pun.

D

 

[mealiejimmy]

As long as the sensor was not exposed to direct sunlight for more than a few seconds, the mark should eventually disappear
Lesson learned I hope

Cheers

Bruce

 

[Fia]

As long as the sensor was not exposed to direct sunlight for more than a few seconds, the mark should eventually disappear
Lesson learned I hope

Cheers

Bruce

Thank you for this. The unit had the burn protection turned on and it kicked in.
Both my friends have Infiray units and they recovered after similar situations.
But it's been a week and whilst its improving its not back to perfect yet.

 

[Fia]

I was walking with my pulsar one very bright day a few years ago helion xq38f not that there was many Bright days over here.lol

I was carrying my unit over my shoulder going up a very steep hill the unit was switched on lens cap open very strong sun behind me lens must have pointing directly at the sun while i transversed the hill.

Anyway when reaching my vantage point just above the crest of the hill, I was horrified to find the image of the sun all over the sensor a very zigzag pattern all over the screen because I was walking upwards it wasn't in one place it was all over the screen some places where I had obviously stopped looked like deep sun damage I thought it was fkd to be honest,


I tried refreshing the screen it didn't go away I turned it off continued my walk every now a then turning on the unit to see how it was doing it improved every so slightly but still terrible I turned it off again returned home and after it had fully cooled the image faded away it took a few hours but thankfully mine returned to normal and is still going strong without any issues since.


I can't speak for other thermal units but I find the pulsar thermal virtually indestructible.

Hope yours returns to normal but a week in is a long time.

Maybe some more knowledgeable can shed some light on the matter excuse the pun.

D

Thank you. I hope the Hik recovers in the same way. I really don't want to return it mid season.

 

[jackblack56]

Same happened to me on my 2nd outing with my Condor - thought I'd ruined it!

I found that refreshing the screen (pressing and holding the button closest to the eyepiece till you hear the mechanical click) a bunch of times helped.

No more marks on mine, it definitely disappears with time.

 

[Fia]

Same happened to me on my 2nd outing with my Condor - thought I'd ruined it!

I found that refreshing the screen (pressing and holding the button closest to the eyepiece till you hear the mechanical click) a bunch of times helped.

No more marks on mine, it definitely disappears with time.

Thank you. The last thing I want to do is send it back?

 

[jall55]

Had the same with my accolades - was looking at the sun behind some trees - stupidly in the early days - thinking it was something in a tree!
Mad my eyes cringe when i put the unit down and looked into the sun !

As above marked it bad for a few hours but then back to normal thankfully

 

[jackblack56]

Thank you. The last thing I want to do is send it back?

It shouldn't come to that hopefully! Have the unit on for a bit and refresh it a good few times. The marks should fade away.

 

[Tranquility]

I was walking with my pulsar one very bright day a few years ago helion xq38f not that there was many Bright days over here.lol

I was carrying my unit over my shoulder going up a very steep hill the unit was switched on lens cap open very strong sun behind me lens must have pointing directly at the sun while i transversed the hill.

Anyway when reaching my vantage point just above the crest of the hill, I was horrified to find the image of the sun all over the sensor a very zigzag pattern all over the screen because I was walking upwards it wasn't in one place it was all over the screen some places where I had obviously stopped looked like deep sun damage I thought it was fkd to be honest,


I tried refreshing the screen it didn't go away I turned it off continued my walk every now a then turning on the unit to see how it was doing it improved every so slightly but still terrible I turned it off again returned home and after it had fully cooled the image faded away it took a few hours but thankfully mine returned to normal and is still going strong without any issues since.


I can't speak for other thermal units but I find the pulsar thermal virtually indestructible.

Hope yours returns to normal but a week in is a long time.

Maybe some more knowledgeable can shed some light on the matter excuse the pun.

D

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I had a question about this specific issue.

I am looking at a set of XP35 Pulsar Merger binos for almost exclusively daytime use but am concerned I will inadvertently glass the sun, especially when it is low on the horizon.

Pulsar's website is kind of wishy washy on the subject of if the sun can damage these units stating "Yes, but only under specific conditions."

How sensitive are they to direct sunlight? If you glass the sun for a second and quickly pan away is that harmful or do you have to focus on the sun for an extended period to cause an issue?

 

[Fia]

Mine were fine. Just needs a few days to recover. Leave the unit on with the lens cap on for a day or 2.
A second or 2 won't cause permanent damage.

 

[Tranquility]

Mine were fine. Just needs a few days to recover. Leave the unit on with the lens cap on for a day or 2.
A second or 2 won't cause permanent damage.

Hey thanks, that's good to know. I imagine you would see flaring or washout in the display if you were looking at something too hot? Sorry for the dumb questions but I know nothing about thermal and just want to know the risks and limitations of using them before I make a purchase.

 

[Fia]

It will leave a temporary shaddow. Just avoid pointing at hot things like fires and the sun

 

[Rural Management Services]

The newer HIK units have a burn protection function. I haven’t purposefully tested its abilities but I do have it turned on just in case.

 

[dlz90]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I had a question about this specific issue.

I am looking at a set of XP35 Pulsar Merger binos for almost exclusively daytime use but am concerned I will inadvertently glass the sun, especially when it is low on the horizon.

Pulsar's website is kind of wishy washy on the subject of if the sun can damage these units stating "Yes, but only under specific conditions."

How sensitive are they to direct sunlight? If you glass the sun for a second and quickly pan away is that harmful or do you have to focus on the sun for an extended period to cause an issue?

Hi

Honestly if used sensibly you won't have any problems at all, if you do happen to accidentally pan into the sun I'm pretty confident it won't do any harm at all, my experience with the above quoted post tells me exactly that, mine returned to normal and I've since moved it on and the new owner says it's perfect no issues whatsoever, and this was with pretty much prolonged exposure.

Get the Mergers you won't regret it.

Good luck

D

 

[jall55]

Hey thanks, that's good to know. I imagine you would see flaring or washout in the display if you were looking at something too hot? Sorry for the dumb questions but I know nothing about thermal and just want to know the risks and limitations of using them before I make a purchase.

You really dont want to make a habit of it
And even worse can be when you take them from your eyes and end up looking in to the sun yourself

Im very careful now and try and work with the sun behind me

 

[hairlesshunter]

The BlazeHunter from Atn as the burn protection function it come up in the screen just if you get close to bright sun light and it also come up with a warning with just a head/ torchlight that too bright too and the shutter will automatically close to protect the unit