I know someone selling a used and heavily blemished PVS-14 image intensifier tube. I dont have a picture but used ms paint to sketch up what it looks like. I understand its a massive blemish in the worst possible spot, but hes only asking $200 for it and im thinking i might be able to talk him down to $100.

Ive been looking for a PVS-14 for some time but just cant swing the $1500+ for a used one or the $3,000+ for a new one. If i can find a used kit to put it in i could be looking at $500 or less for total cost.

Is this a good deal or should i avoid it and save up for something better?

Keep in mind Im not Mil or LE so my needs are limited to looking at racoons in the back yard and maybe night shooting once or twice a year at my parents place in the country.

thanks!

EDIT: seems to be a lot of confusion, i am just looking at a TUBE, no housing, no kit, no other parts.

Consider that a new PVS14 housing ALONE is worth $950-1000 and used ones at $500-750 depending on condition and extras.

Forget the tube inside of it, that is a DEAL on a housing.

Sell the tube on ebay as an untested image tube and some fool will probably buy it sight unseen and at a premium.

From what I gathered in the OP this is just for the tube.

And this is just plain dishonest.

it's pretty much useless with such a big blem

If it's just the tube save your money.   If it's the housing as well that works, make sure it does, it's a smoking hot deal.

For those that missed these parts

I am just buying the image tube. I would need to buy a parts kit to put it in.

And no i would never do that to someone one, thats terrible from a moral point of view plus i have a perfect 100% rating on ebay i dont intent to tarnish by scamming someone.



Agreed, it would be worthless mounted to a rifle as the center is blacked out where the red dot would be, but could still be used mounted on my helmet using a IR laser for aiming, just have to align the target in the unblemished areas i guess. It could might be a good starter night vision monocular for right now. If i really love it and use it all the time i can replace the image tube with a better one later on or If it sits in the safe collecting dust its no loss, i only paid a few hundred dollars for it and could probably get most of my money back that i paid for it.

When it comes to firearms i usually live by the motto buy once cry once and when i do cut corners i almost always eventually end up buying the top of the line item i wanted anyways. But I'm new to NV so it feels like more of a want than a need so its hard to justify the spending the cash for a new unit.

Thank you for this insight into your character.

a blem that size could be the result of a problem that might mean the tube's life is almost over anyway. i would rather wait for a better deal

I would offer $50-100 for the tube, if it is JUST the tube. The pig tail on the MX-11769 sells for ~$50 on ebay. If it is the entire PVS-14 with housing, I think that is a STEAL and I would buy as many as I could. You might also be able to buy a crappy PVS-14 housing for it, and use it as a loaner/cheap setup for a future dual PVS-14 setup.

I've picked up blem housings for $30-50, and scratched lenses for $25-50, too. You can buy someone's corroded dual AA battery housing for next to nothing, and clean it up yourself. If you can build a complete monocular (even a blem) for under $500, it could be worth while.

if by pig tail you mean the wire attached to the tube with a electronic plate with 4 prongs then yes it has that.

I think if im patient i can find either used pieces or the entire housing for a few hundred dollars.

Just made my ignore list.

+1

There are blemishes, there are blemishes I call large but that blemish is a OH MY LORD one... Somebody will buy that tube for a couple hundred bucks as a very bad beater. As others have said she is just a used housing buy. The tube is next to worthless. I got burned once on a milspec tube I took a chance on sight unseen. Guy said it was untested but powered up. I know better but I got greedy and got burned.

Be careful what you buy on eBay is my tip for the day.

Might as well just light the $100 bill on fire; it will produce the same amount of satisfaction.

Adding blackghost to my "never, ever do business with that guy" list.

Is that how they do shit in libtard new york??  What the fuuuuuck man...


And pass on the tube...save the money to put on a non POS tube

I misread the bit about the housing, and for a hundred bucks I don't know if one of those tubes is worthwhile. If you had one to drop it into, maybe a hundred is about fair to have just for fun or to keep in the junk bucket to save for a rainy day project or dissection.

To the morality brigade... my EE feedback score speaks for itself, I sell NV here on the forums all the time with many happy customers using my hobby-built scopes today. There is a reason why many here warn against buying NV on ebay - problem units and broken parts ALL wind up there and circle the drain. I CERTAINLY DO post my trash there, but it is always well represented, photographed, and appropriately described. So you can take your ethical concerns and shove them somewhere else.

I don't know exactly why but trashed intensifier's like the OP describe will sell like hotcakes on ebay, ones just like the OP's regularly go for $500 and up, I have done it. At the end of the day if I list an item on a popular auction site as untested, assumed non-functional, AS IS and with no reserve or warranty implied, well that's the free market in action.

DON'T dissect a tube unless you know exactly what you are doing and/or have the proper PPE. There are some things inside that are really not healthy.

A somewhat decent way to imitate this blemish is Get an empty toilet paper roll and add clear tape to one end....dupilcate the blemish with a black sharpie.  

I love free market ! I love searching for deals on eBay. I am aware everything on eBay does not have a problem but everything with a problem is on eBay. I just don't do business that way and have sold many beater tubes even on our EE. I fully inform folks she is a beater and no warranty is expressed or implied. I darn near beg them not to buy it and I am honest to a fault. They still sell. I agree personal responsibility and eduction is the buyers responsibility.

I could outfox many on the EE if I wanted to. I don't because my personal beliefs and reputation are more important then scoring a few hundred bucks over what something is truly worth. I just would not do what you said. I am not the morality police and expect folks to do their homework. However, taking advantage of the uninformed is bad Ju Ju and not a good practice.

You are a very NV knowledgeable guy and I enjoy your posts. I do think you should take a second look at what you are preaching here though. Just my .02

I've never personally had the need to do it myself, but in two seperate threads about tube dissection, this has never come up. Care to elaborate?

I always figured the arsenic in the GAAS photocathode was somehow probably not the greatest stuff.

If you know about a huge blem in the center of the tube, yet call it "untested" and don't disclose what you do know about the tube, then you are not representing the item honestly at all.  Not trying to derail the thread, but that really isn't a practice I would brag about, let alone recommend to others.  Not looking to start a pissing match here; we can agree to disagree on what is ethical and what is not.  People obviously do stuff like that all the time, hence the warnings that come along any time anyone mentions eBay.

Is the cesium oxide at all dangerous?  I know cesium can be radioactive.

As everyone else, I respect your opinion, to say that you enjoy my posts is a HUGE compliment, I will defintely consider your advice Dino.

In my case I was more angry at myself than the seller. I know better and got beat which pissed me off. Ebay is a game you play at your own risk. I am aware of the foxes and rabbits mentality on eBay. Some look at it is if you are to stupid to do your homework I have no sympathy. To some extent they are right. That said I am not one of them. I take it as a challenge to beat me and if you can I won't bitch. I will take my loss but won't do business with you anymore.

I actually understand what you are saying here but that does not make it right. I understand the risk and the game. If I get beat oh well. Taking advantage of the un or ill-informed is not the way though. I would provide a tube photo so someone can clearly see what they are buying. I also would price it at what I felt is a fair price with some room for negotiation.  

Is it any different when I win and score a deal on a eBay tube for 500 bucks when I know the tube is worth triple that ? I took advantage of the uninformed about what they are selling. I paid them what they asked for it and don't feel bad. But, I am informed and sell things for what they are worth. I don't hide any known faults.

There are guys on the EE who do nothing but look for low priced gun deals they can flip for a profit. They look to buy below what something is worth and know they can sell it higher. Are they bad for that ? Who knows... I expect a business to be straight but anytime I am on EE or eBay all guns are at the ready unless I know or have dealt with you in the past. It is a game. The seller wants the most for his product and the buyer wants to pay the least. Hiding damage is out of bounds IMHO though.

I'd do it. I bought a PVS-7a housing on Subguns.com in the mid 90s for around 75, found a good tube for 125 & the seller threw in a new lens.
The facehugger mount was the most expensive thing.

I used it for a bit, then traded it for a minty M1a & tons of mags & armor.

ETA: Nevermind, I thought you were talking about the whole monocular. That tube is trash.

AGREED!! (that's a complete SCUMBAG move)
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Agreed on both counts, I wouldn't waste the $100 on that tube, it's pretty much completely worthless.  You will want to replace it after the first time you use it, put that $100 towards a better tube to begin with.

And it's not an UNTESTED tube if you are well aware that it has a huge blem.  Selling it with any other description than damaged is flat out dishonest.

I'm not a blem nazi but I'd never consider buying that tube. It's unusable other than to see if your PS is working I guess..

[hijack]
This is precisely the type of thing I had in mind while making the following suggestion. Please drop over to the site suggestions subforum.
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_2/1631587_Interesting_feature_that_was_brought_up_in_GD.html
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I'd probably drop $100 on a thrashed tube like that just to see what makes it tick, and where the magic smoke reservoir is located.