I purchased a Trijicon MRO about two weeks ago, turned the brightness to 3 and mounted it on a couple of rifles. During this time, I played around the house, posted initial 1st impressions and generally spent a lot of time looking through it. Today was was the first range test for it (including the Trijicon lower 1/3 co-witness mount) mounted on a Sig MPX. As soon as live fire commenced, I noticed that the dot started to blink and by the end of the 30 round magazine, it was dead. I quickly thought about possible causes and concluded that it could be a bad (or dead) battery from the factory so I unscrewed the battery cap, looked at the battery compartment setup, turned the MPX upside down and thumped the Pistol with the heel of my hand in order to dislodge the installed battery. I then inserted a new CR2032 battery, turned the brightness to 3, loaded up another mag and started firing. Same exact thing happened. It blinked a few times (this time I paid attention and the blinking got progressively dimmer), and then it would not come back on. I unscrewed the battery cap again and yawed the pistol left and right trying to get a good look at the situation. It was at this time that I noticed the battery sliding around inside the upright contacts. Closer inspection revealed several small shiny pieces of metal. I flipped the pistol over and thumped it again to try and dislodge the metal pieces and the battery came out (along with the metal pieces). A closer inspection showed the the vertical metal battery contacts were bent outwards and it appeared that several were missing. I was pissed beyond belief.



I'm thinking that the recoil from the gun hammered the battery contacts with each shot fired and this eventually caused them to bend outwards and short out the circuit. At this point, I checked the battery cap to get an Idea as to how everything in the battery compartment fit together. It appears as though the CR2032 battery is initially held in place by three sets of 4 upright metal contacts. Screwing in the battery cap applies pressure to the battery via a black rubbery gasket on the back side of the battery cap (this is not the same o-ring that seals the battery cap from the elements on the threads of the cap). It appears as though this battery to gasket contact is what actually secures the battery in place and the metal upright contacts are part of the electrical circuit.






Before you start saying that I cave-manned the battery replacement (which would not explain why the initial issue occurred in the first place), it should be noted that I own several Aimpoints, Primary Arms red dots, and various other optics that take a CR2032 battery. I know to be careful when aligning the battery and I wasn't mindlessly mashing the battery into its compartment. I also found the YouTube video on how to change the battery on the MRO and there is nothing it that video that would raise a red flag pertaining to how I replaced the battery.






At any rate, here are my thoughts on possible causes:






1. Battery incorrectly installed at the factory (bending contacts). Damage did not manifest until live firing and eventually, recoil moved the battery around enough to beat the contacts to the point of failure.



2. Assembly/packaging incorrect for my unit. Battery installed correctly, Battery cover not torqued down enough during assembly/packaging. Low contact pressure of battery cap to battery. Issue manifested during live fire as in item #1






Anyone else see anything like this on their units? Also, how good is Trijicon with their customer service? I've never had to return anything with their name on it and every product of theirs that I have owned (previous to this) has worked flawlessly.






Pic for reference:






(According to Trijicon documentation and media, there should be 12 upright contacts.)






 

The plot thickens...



I got to thinking and if I recall correctly, optics I've ordered in the past haven't shipped with batteries installed. I just checked the box that the unit came in and there is a battery in it. Now I'm wondering if perhaps this was used as demo unit (or something similar). Can anyone confirm that their unit shipped without the battery installed?




 

Nice sticker????

Edit:  Yokes aside....  Call them.  Send e-mail photos, etc....

 
I just sent them an email and included a link to this thread (as well as providing the vendor name and order#). I'm not a happy camper at this point.

I've never used trijicon but I believe they'll do you right.

Also what vendor did u use

Mine shipped with no battery installed.

Same

Same on 2 of them...

Mine arrived with no battery installed

No batteries installed on either of mine.

I've received two new MROs.  Neither came with the battery installed.  Sounds like OP got a used unit.

You may have gotten a returned optic that the original owner had broken by cave-manning the battery install.  
In for Vendor Name as well--though I'll likely go Botach or Optics Planet (unless one is your vendor--then maybe not, since I don't want to get your unit sent to me!).  j/k.
I'm sure Trijicon will make it right--heck, the vendor would likely replace yours and apologize (as they should if they did what I think).

Yikes,  I would be very pissed off if I ordered what I thought to be a NEW optic and got a used or demo unit.  It sounds like that with the above people saying they got there MRO with no battery installed.   The vendor or Trijicon will make it right.

None of the Trijicon products we have come through the shop have batteries installed.

Someone cave manned it in before you got it.

Yep, right there.

 

To provide an update, Trijicon was lighting fast to reply to a support request I sent them. RMA is in progress. So far, I am receiving very good customer service.

Also, I updated the title of the thread to reflect the situation.

You got yours from GA optics, right?

They make a habit of taking basically every unit out of the box and finger fucking it.

They always install the batt for some reason.

 
Nope, not from them. I want to leave the vendor name out of the conversation until I have a clearer understanding of the situation.

Why? The vendor clear clearly is at fault here. Unless you bought it used of the EE...

I think that's a wise call, give them a chance to correct the issue before throwing them under the buss. Now if they refuse to and you know they are at fault... then throw them under the buss.

Arms Unlimited according to this thread here (scroll down):  http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_18/683199_MRO_owners_who_like_them_post_here.html&page=3




 
 

Same here. I think I've always had to install batteries in new optics.

Mine was tested at the shop I bought it at so I assume they installed the battery. I have shot it and it was fine.