Posted: 7/11/2026 2:15:55 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Bebop_941][Edited]
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I've had it just under 2 years now. Had to the change the original battery in under a year which was a surprise. I use it on manual brightness, setting 8, with the buttons locked out. That's half way between the night vision settings and max. I read the factory batteries are not great so I wrote it off as a fluke. When the original battery went out, the dot would flicker or disappear depending on how much sunlight the solar panels were exposed to. I replaced the battery with an Energizer Lithium. It's been maybe 6-10 months and now a new issue has crept up. Now the unit won't wake up on it's own. Still set to manual brightness, setting 8 and the buttons are locked out. I can shake the sight and it will not turn on. However, it I push one of the brightness buttons, it turns on and runs normally. If I press the brightness buttons again after the dot has turned on, or press and hold the + & - buttons together, nothing happens and the dot does not change. So the buttons are still locked out and the unit couldn't have been accidentally turned off. Really want to like this optic but that's twice now that I've picked up the gun and the dot isn't there. It really kills my trust in the optic for a carry pistol. Even more, the issue seems to jump around, affecting different functions, which makes it difficult to diagnose (especially if it's just a battery issue). Anyone else have this issue? Similarly, I purchased a second EPS Carry without the solar panels. This was an attempt to mitigate function issues by reducing the optic's complexity. It's original battery also died after a couple months. Also manual brightness, setting 8, buttons locked out. I replaced that battery but that one sits powered off so who knows if it would have died again by now. For what it's worth, I didn't have any of the strange function issues with that one. Will be contacting Holosun on Monday but they'll most likely want it back, in which case, it'll be repaired or replaced, neither of which really helps with the lack of confidence in the optic. Maybe I need to start replacing batteries on a 6 month rotation but damn, that's like going back to early 2000's battery life expectancy. I know red dots are superior to irons in almost every way, but I'm starting to distrust this one aspect of pistol red dots. Oddly enough, I've never experienced the same with rifle mounted red dots but then all of mine are about 10 years old with simple one/off functionality so who knows how much that plays into it 
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One thing I've noticed, most 1620 batteries seem to be of poor quality, or come already half dead when you buy them, they seem all over the place. I've had some name brand ones die within a month. Also, I think the stated battery life is on setting 6 and with just the dot reticle. I've seen people measure that if you use the circle+dot, it pulls 8 time the amps when on, and others also state they get like 2-6 months when on higher settings, full reticle, and carried daily so it spends little time in the auto-off mode. If you have a multimeter, I'd pull the battery out and measure the voltage to see if it is just a dead battery issue. |
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Originally Posted By D_Man: One thing I've noticed, most 1620 batteries seem to be of poor quality, or come already half dead when you buy them, they seem all over the place. I've had some name brand ones die within a month. Also, I think the stated battery life is on setting 6 and with just the dot reticle. I've seen people measure that if you use the circle+dot, it pulls 8 time the amps when on, and others also state they get like 2-6 months when on higher settings, full reticle, and carried daily so it spends little time in the auto-off mode. If you have a multimeter, I'd pull the battery out and measure the voltage to see if it is just a dead battery issue. Thank you for the reply. To clarify, I originally used the MRS reticle but switched to the 2 MOA dot only when the battery died the first time. Its been on the dot only setting since the last battery change. A multimeter is a good idea. Edit: just thinking though, that lithium batteries are really good at maintaining voltage until they reach the very end of their life and then they drop like a rock. So, theoretically, a lithium battery may be over half way through its life and still read 3v. |
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Originally Posted By Bebop_941: Thank you for the reply. To clarify, I originally used the MRS reticle but switched to the 2 MOA dot only when the battery died the first time. Its been on the dot only setting since the last battery change. A multimeter is a good idea. Edit: just thinking though, that lithium batteries are really good at maintaining voltage until they reach the very end of their life and then they drop like a rock. So, theoretically, a lithium battery may be over half way through its life and still read 3v. |
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Originally Posted By D_Man: Yep, and according to the EPS manual, it should enter the blinking "low battery" mode when the voltage gets to 2.2v. I'd still test it just to know since it's simple to do. Just another example of them not behaving normally since neither of mine have ever blinked to indicate a low battery. They either start acting screwy or just turn off. I'll get out the voltage meter later and test it and post what I find. Edit: reads 2.82v - new one meters 3.28v so it's definitely on the weak end. Ultimately seems to be another battery issue though it's troubling how a low battery triggers different symptoms in the unit. As for the battery life, the marketing is all lies. |
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Warranty it then. I had a older 407C with the battery underneath. I started getting a blinking dot and the intensity would change when shooting. I emailed warranty and I sent mine in and got back current side mount battery 407C. I have 3 EPS', 2 507k's, and a 407C. One of my RMR06's wouldn't zero right out of the box and my Sig Romeo 1 was buggy from day one. Both replaced under warranty. See what Holosun says. |
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In his Red Dot whitepaper, Aaron Cowan recommends Duracell batteries only for handgun RDS use. All others tested (including Energizer) have failed. Sometimes recoil kills them. http://www.kentuckytacticalofficersassociation.org/uploads/4/0/6/1/40615731/sage_dynamics_pistol_red_dot_white_paper.pdf I've taken his advice, only use Duracells, and proactively replace them annually (along with my smoke alarm batteries). I've never had one fail or die on me. I use the MRS circle-dot reticle. |
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Originally Posted By Bebop_941:Will be contacting Holosun on Monday but they'll most likely want it back, in which case, it'll be repaired or replaced, neither of which really helps with the lack of confidence in the optic. I've been using multiple Holosun 510C on handguns since 2019, 507k since 2020 and EPS since 2024, all with the circle-dot reticle. I've only had one malfunction in any way. It was an early 1st gen 507C and it started only working with the single 1moa dot, but would not display a circle or circle-dot reticle. I noticed it acting up early this past December, filled out the RMA form on the Holosun website, shipped it back and got a brand new 507C X2 replacement shipped to me in early January. |
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Originally Posted By dmk0210: In his Red Dot whitepaper, Aaron Cowan recommends Duracell batteries only for handgun RDS use. All others tested (including Energizer) have failed. Sometimes recoil kills them. http://www.kentuckytacticalofficersassociation.org/uploads/4/0/6/1/40615731/sage_dynamics_pistol_red_dot_white_paper.pdf I've taken his advice, only use Duracells, and proactively replace them annually (along with my smoke alarm batteries). I've never had one fail or die on me. I use the MRS circle-dot reticle. The last battery was a Duracell - just my luck I suppose  The fact that you can get the MRS reticle to last over a year when I can't get two different EPS' running 2MOA dots to do the same is nuts. I do take it damn near everywhere though so maybe that's it |
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Originally Posted By Bebop_941: Just another example of them not behaving normally since neither of mine have ever blinked to indicate a low battery. They either start acting screwy or just turn off. I'll get out the voltage meter later and test it and post what I find. Edit: reads 2.82v - new one meters 3.28v so it's definitely on the weak end. Ultimately seems to be another battery issue though it's troubling how a low battery triggers different symptoms in the unit. As for the battery life, the marketing is all lies. Take a sack lunch to work for a week and buy a MBT-1 battery tester. Around $100.00 on Amazon. Coin batteries are a crap shoot. I bought a bulk lot of 100 batteries that were supposed to be "pulled from critical medical device on a short rotation". I have a nice volt meter and a cheap battery tester and sorted them all. About 90% indicated full charge. I started using them and they had an unacceptable short life. I started doing some research for a better way to test the coin cells. What I found was a MBT-1 which puts a load in the battery during the test. It was the best $100.00 I ever spent! I retested the bulk lot and over 50% was half capacity or less! I also reevaluated my battery needs for AA and AAA batteries as I have sights and such that use AA & AAA. My trusted alkaline battery was Duracell as they never leaked like the other "name brands". Something changed! I would see Duracell battery new in the pack with batteries that leaked. That left me with the only trusted AA battery was Energizer Lithium and they are solid good to go... up until you see the cost is factored. SO... I invested in Eneloop and Olight recharable only. It was not cheap when I also got a Olight Ostation 2 Series 3-in-1 Smart Battery Hub for AA & AAA Rechargeable Ni-MH & Li-ion Batteries. $200.00 and worth it. The Eneloop are not to a full 1.5 volts however Olight has a 1.5v AA rechargeable Lithium-Ion smart battery. What I spent for a full transition to rechargeable and a supply of rechargeable batteries was about the price of a new SIG Sauer. (Not counting in the battery tester.) How does that go? Buy once, cry once! Attached File |
So... I find comfort in the fact that if Trump has to work so hard to go to Heaven, then there is a shit load of Democrats that have no f-cking chance to go anywhere but HELL. Sometimes it is entirely appropriate to kill a fly with a sledge-hammer.
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My 407 did the same thing. Auto live is completely dead but I could set it to permanent on so it’s still functional otherwise. I haven’t had any battery issues but keep it pretty low by default. It was in the center console of my car and the cold apparently did it in. I emailed Holosun with no response. Apparently all you can do is just send it back with the RMA and can’t talk to anyone first. When my 2nd of 3 407’s had issues (this time a catastrophic turret failure) I didn’t even bother. With how everyone praises them I decided to keep it to show off to friends who push the “just as good” argument. I also have a broken Olight for showing people how the internet isn’t always honest. I’m not a Holosun hater either. In fact I absolutely love their pistol lights. I would run irons before I put one on something I’d bet my life on though. |
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Originally Posted By -OdieGreen-: My 407 did the same thing. Auto live is completely dead but I could set it to permanent on so it’s still functional otherwise. I haven’t had any battery issues but keep it pretty low by default. It was in the center console of my car and the cold apparently did it in. I emailed Holosun with no response. Apparently all you can do is just send it back with the RMA and can’t talk to anyone first. When my 2nd of 3 407’s had issues (this time a catastrophic turret failure) I didn’t even bother. With how everyone praises them I decided to keep it to show off to friends who push the “just as good” argument. I also have a broken Olight for showing people how the internet isn’t always honest. I’m not a Holosun hater either. In fact I absolutely love their pistol lights. I would run irons before I put one on something I’d bet my life on though. If you look at page 16 of Aaron Cowan's whitepaper linked above, he collected data from his LE students on somewhere around 11,000 optics in duty use. All brands had numerous failures. Even the vaunted RMRs had many instances of glass failures and losing the ability to maintain zero. This is why I will not install any optic on a gun without usable back up iron sights. It's also important to regularly train with the BUIS. There is no reason not to RMA those optics. They will replace them. I even sent a broken Shield RMS back for replacement once even though it's an absolute piece of junk. At least I now have a brand new working one that I can use on a 22LR or something. Or I can use it for trading fodder. |
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Originally Posted By Bebop_941:The fact that you can get the MRS reticle to last over a year when I can't get two different EPS' running 2MOA dots to do the same is nuts. I do take it damn near everywhere though so maybe that's it  |
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Originally Posted By dmk0210: All optics have failures. A handgun is a very demanding environment for an RDS. If you look at page 16 of Aaron Cowan's whitepaper linked above, he collected data from his LE students on somewhere around 11,000 optics in duty use. All brands had numerous failures. Even the vaunted RMRs had many instances of glass failures and losing the ability to maintain zero. This is why I will not install any optic on a gun without usable back up iron sights. It's also important to regularly train with the BUIS. There is no reason not to RMA those optics. They will replace them. I even sent a broken Shield RMS back for replacement once even though it's an absolute piece of junk. At least I now have a brand new working one that I can use on a 22LR or something. Or I can use it for trading fodder. Yes, everyone makes a lemon, but I haven’t had any pistol dot from anyone else fail, so I will stick with those instead. I’m not going to go through the hassle of returning one for the auto live, and the only reason I would have my broken turret example replaced would be to sell it. At a 66% failure rate I never plan to use a Holosun optic again. The two still functioning stay just because they’re on cheap range toys. That’s the beauty of experience though. If you have had great results, I’m happy for you. I consider you lucky, while you likely think I just had bad luck. I can’t disregard my bad experiences the same way you won’t disregard your good experiences. |
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I have 5 Holosun EPS Carry MRS Green optics. All are mounted to pistols that I carry. I've had to replace the batteries on the oldest 2 after just over a year and a half constant use in Auto Mode. None have failed in any way after over 12,000 rounds total. The oldest one sits on a Sig P365 XMacro with over 6,000 rounds. I trust them all to work as advertised. |
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I have an EPS, EPS Carry, 2 507K's, and an HE508T. I have been carrying a 508T for 3+ years and added the EPS Carry into regular rotation about a year ago. Not a single issue with any of them so far. I only use the dot reticle at around 6 or 7 on brightness. I did a deep dive on the 1620 batteries when I started using the K optics. Energizer has the highest mAh of them all at 81 making them the most energy dense. Panasonic is rated to 78mAh. The only battery that I have had issues with are Duracell. The Duracell lasted about 6 months before I got the blinking indicator. That was on a 507K that was carried frequently at the time. Since then I stick to Energizer which I change out annually. I have had no issues with shake awake failures. I would RMA the optic you have due to the shake awake issue. |
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Originally Posted By LamePostCount: I have an EPS, EPS Carry, 2 507K's, and an HE508T. I have been carrying a 508T for 3+ years and added the EPS Carry into regular rotation about a year ago. Not a single issue with any of them so far. I only use the dot reticle at around 6 or 7 on brightness. I did a deep dive on the 1620 batteries when I started using the K optics. Energizer has the highest mAh of them all at 81 making them the most energy dense. Panasonic is rated to 78mAh. The only battery that I have had issues with are Duracell. The Duracell lasted about 6 months before I got the blinking indicator. That was on a 507K that was carried frequently at the time. Since then I stick to Energizer which I change out annually. I have had no issues with shake awake failures. I would RMA the optic you have due to the shake awake issue. I think the shake awake issue was that the battery was so dead that it wouldn't wake up. Once I changed the battery, it went back to acting normally. Coincidentally, I was using a Duracell and the new battery is an Energizer. We'll see how it does. If it craps out again in 6 months, I'll send it in. |