well got my new eotech 557 with 4x magnifier!  Super stoked!!!

set it all up and took it out with my NV, and FAIL!

Works fine in regular mode BUT when in night vision mode the aiming dots are NOT crisp - they are more like semi-circular dash or swoosh. After noticing this with my NV I tryed another set to make sure it was the Eotech and NOT the NV. Then I took the Eotech indoors in a very dark environment (so I could see the recital in NV mode with my naked eye) and switched back and forth from normal to the NV mode...the outer retical shifts up and left and the aiming dots go from sharp precise dots to a blury elongated comma shapes...definutly not right...my luck sucks ass...

just sent eotech an email...i know they will fix it but im not happy im going to have to spend 15 bucks to ship it to them and wait 2 weeks to get it back...


Title Edited ~ 82nd

My recommendation is to take three deep breaths, and enjoy at least as many of your screename.  

It is always disappointing when new gear, especially presumed high quality stuff, does not perform as expected, but that happens sometimes.  This is why one should shake things down pretty thoroughly before running them where they will be depended upon.  Hopefully, it will all work out well in the end.

Quoted: My recommendation is to take three deep breaths, and enjoy at least as many of your screename.   It is always disappointing when new gear, especially presumed high quality stuff, does not perform as expected, but that happens sometimes.  This is why one should shake things down pretty thoroughly before running them where they will be depended upon.  Hopefully, it will all work out well in the end.

ya its not the end of the world...just one of those "why me?" moments...

i have dealt with eotech before, im not woried about them making it tight...just hope it happen very fast...ill updat this thead as soon as they return my email...

Quoted: Quoted: well got my new eotech 557 with 4x magnifier!  Super stoked!!! set it all up and took it out with my NV, and FAIL! Works fine in regular mode BUT when in night vision mode the aiming dots are NOT crisp - they are more like semi-circular dash or swoosh. After noticing this with my NV I tryed another set to make sure it was the Eotech and NOT the NV. Then I took the Eotech indoors in a very dark environment (so I could see the recital in NV mode with my naked eye) and switched back and forth from normal to the NV mode...the outer retical shifts up and left and the aiming dots go from sharp precise dots to a blury elongated comma shapes...definutly not right...my luck sucks ass... just sent eotech an email...i know they will fix it but im not happy im going to have to spend 15 bucks to ship it to them and wait 2 weeks to get it back... This is VERY unusual and I have never heard or seen this before.  Do you see the NV reticle with your naked eye in all intensity settings and does this occurrence happen in each of the NV settings?  (I think there are  4 NV intensity settings?) Vic

I can only see the NV recitical with my eye on the top brightest 2 settings...and that in a pitch black room...try it, you can see it if you turn it on nv and turn the brightness up AND are in total darkness...

and yes, the dots are messed up and all brightness levels in NV mode...they dont chage at all in NV mode from the different brightness levels...

i went down and inspected it a little more and notices that it also does it in the 2 dimmest setting in normal daytime mode as well...

so basicaly in the dimmest 2 regular setting and all 4 NV settings...its like after it gets to a certain point the whole retical shifts postiions and the dots turn into long semi-circular dashes...

here is what it looks like...

normal on left

2 dimmest settings and all NV settings on right...

Just wondering, is your NOD behind the 557 and 4x magnifier, or did you remove the 4x magnifier?

Quoted: Just wondering, is your NOD behind the 557 and 4x magnifier, or did you remove the 4x magnifier?

Tryed it both ways, and same messed up sight picture on both...

At least you got yours.  Been waiting on ours forever

Heineken,

Just received my MPO set-up today so I thought I would test mine for the same kind of behavior.  DOES THE SAME EXACT THING.  Have you gotten anywhere with Eotech?  Anybody have this set-up and not experiencing this???

Quoted: Heineken, Just received my MPO set-up today so I thought I would test mine for the same kind of behavior.  DOES THE SAME EXACT THING.  Have you gotten anywhere with Eotech?  Anybody have this set-up and not experiencing this???

Eotech sent me a return item number, one of the guy who fixes them emailed me as well and told me he guarenteed they would take good care of my sight...mine is on the way to them right now...

Mark, does your only do it in the 2 dimmest settings and NV settings????

is it exactly the same as mine, like the picture i drew...i actually drew the pic a little off, the semi-circular dashes are turned the other way, like a cocked smile not a cocked frown..if that maks sence to you...

anyway, i have delt with thier customer service before and they took good care of me, and got me sight back withing 10 days from when i sent it...

im not sure how they work...but in the higher brightness levels it works perfect and the dots are VERY crisp and clear...its like when the electronics send less power to the rectical so it dims its messing up...mabey a problem on the circute board or something...

i know its NOT right though, i have a 552 as well with a 3x behind it and the dots stay crisp no matter what brightness setting its on, and they are crisp in NV mode as well...

when they look they will have to notice what im talking about...its very obvious when it happons...when i was looking threw it i was like, WTF where am i suposed to aim, the left side of the dash, the right side, in the middle???  for suck an expencive optic im not going to accept anyhting but perfect...

by the way, where did you buy your from?

also im curious as to if our serial numbers are close...i wounder how many people are out there that got dicked up sights?

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Heineken, Just received my MPO set-up today so I thought I would test mine for the same kind of behavior.  DOES THE SAME EXACT THING.  Have you gotten anywhere with Eotech?  Anybody have this set-up and not experiencing this??? Eotech sent me a return item number, one of the guy who fixes them emailed me as well and told me he guarenteed they would take good care of my sight...mine is on the way to them right now... Mark, does your only do it in the 2 dimmest settings and NV settings???? is it exactly the same as mine, like the picture i drew...i actually drew the pic a little off, the semi-circular dashes are turned the other way, like a cocked smile not a cocked frown..if that maks sence to you... anyway, i have delt with thier customer service before and they took good care of me, and got me sight back withing 10 days from when i sent it... im not sure how they work...but in the higher brightness levels it works perfect and the dots are VERY crisp and clear...its like when the electronics send less power to the rectical so it dims its messing up...mabey a problem on the circute board or something... i know its NOT right though, i have a 552 as well with a 3x behind it and the dots stay crisp no matter what brightness setting its on, and they are crisp in NV mode as well... when they look they will have to notice what im talking about...its very obvious when it happons...when i was looking threw it i was like, WTF where am i suposed to aim, the left side of the dash, the right side, in the middle??? for suck an expencive optic im not going to accept anyhting but perfect... by the way, where did you buy your from? also im curious as to if our serial numbers are close...i wounder how many people are out there that got dicked up sights? That would be a tough one!  Wonder if a few drinks would help! Good Luck!

Beers just make the dash even longer and add more confussion as to where to aim

Yes, the reticle behaves exactly the same as you described in the same modes.  Is easily noticeable with the 4x magnifier.  Without it, it is difficult to see.  I also just sent Eotech's service department an email.  

Did Eotech issue a call tag so it is being picked up and shipped back on their dime?

My sight was bought from PK Firearms.  Serial number 4084xx.   Who did you get yours through.  

Is your serial number in the same range?

Anyone have one that does NOT behave this way??

On another note, I noticed when looking BACKWARDS through the 4x, I can see some of the internal lenses and whatnot.   At the 12 o'clock position, there is a sharp upside down triagle (pointing down).  At the point of that triangle, I can see a short vertical "scratch" mark bisecting only the top of the image, almost looks like a jagged crack in the glass.  When looking very closely, you can see a very fine line that bisects the entire image which appears to be normal.  Jagged mark definitely seems like some sort of flaw,  Does your look like this too?  Mark does not seem to affect my picture in normal view but I am concerned that if it is a slight crack, it could become worse during temperature changes/shock.

Last but not least, is the HEAD on the phillips head screw on the bottom of your magnifier pretty heavily stripped?  Mine is.  "Direction of the strip" seems to show that it was from an over-tightening process, not from loosening.  

Quoted: Yes, the reticle behaves exactly the same as you described in the same modes.  Is easily noticeable with the 4x magnifier.  Without it, it is difficult to see.  I also just sent Eotech's service department an email.   Did Eotech issue a call tag so it is being picked up and shipped back on their dime? My sight was bought from PK Firearms.  Serial number 4084xx.   Who did you get yours through.   Is your serial number in the same range? Anyone have one that does NOT behave this way?? On another note, I noticed when looking BACKWARDS through the 4x, I can see some of the internal lenses and whatnot.   At the 12 o'clock position, there is a sharp upside down triagle (pointing down).  At the point of that triangle, I can see a short vertical "scratch" mark bisecting only the top of the image, almost looks like a jagged crack in the glass.  When looking very closely, you can see a very fine line that bisects the entire image which appears to be normal.  Jagged mark definitely seems like some sort of flaw,  Does your look like this too?  Mark does not seem to affect my picture in normal view but I am concerned that if it is a slight crack, it could become worse during temperature changes/shock. Last but not least, is the HEAD on the phillips head screw on the bottom of your magnifier pretty heavily stripped?  Mine is.  "Direction of the strip" seems to show that it was from an over-tightening process, not from loosening.

i did not see the flaw mark in mine like you describe...let me check my serial number range when i get home, i have it wrote down...

no stripped screws on mine...

it seems like eotech is going down hill or something...like i said my 552 does not do this at all...the rectical is EXACTLY the same in every brightness setting...

i also noticed i am seeing more and more posts with people having problems with the rectical fading in parts of the window...

im currently very disapointed in eotech...

also they will not pay for you to send it in...which i think is bull shit since the sights was NOT RIGHT right out of the box...its not a warenty thing, its a bran new and not correct thing...

Quoted: My sight was bought from PK Firearms.  Serial number 4084xx.   Who did you get yours through.

WOW...my serial number is 4051xx...so over 5000 units before your...so eather A LOT of people out there have dicked up recticals...or only a few sparatic people...im thinking we just got unlucky...

its very wierd that exact same setting do it...

PS you will have better luck with eotech if you request an RA number on the net...much faster...they only have one lady that deals with returns and she had a throat infecting the last few weeks so she is way behing i bet...

i talked to her once and she said she gets SOOO many calls your better using the online version...

good luck...as soon as i get mine back ill let you know whats up...

my only fear would be they call me like "its working fine" and BULL SHIT, no other modles get all blury and messed up in NV mode...

tag

make that THREE! mine is doing the same thing! I never put it behind the NV until just now. It looks just like the pics you drew. I cant see anything except a big blob, unless i put the 4X behind it, then........
  Chris

Quoted: make that THREE! mine is doing the same thing! I never put it behind the NV until just now. It looks just like the pics you drew. I cant see anything except a big blob, unless i put the 4X behind it, then........   Chris

ok, now i have a feeling there are a lot of messed up sights out there...

i bet a lot of people never noticed because they didnt put NV behind it or turn down the brightness to the last 2 settings...

i bet eotech is gonna start getting swamped with returns...

i know i keep saying this but for people who dont have a mess up up sight to see what we are talking about, im not being anal, its definutly not right, and if they try to say "they are all like that"...or "its not abig deal" or something along thoughs lines im going to tell them to give me a refund and they can have there blurry dash rectical back!  but im getting ahead of myself, i need to say what they say first...

my other concern is i wonder how many of our guys oversees are going to flip on their NV and not know where in the hell to aim when the rectical gets blurry and elongated...turn a 1 moa sight to a 20 moa...

hell, without the 4x on it, all i seeis a big blob with NV on???????

Quoted: hell, without the 4x on it, all i seeis a big blob with NV on???????

ya a 40moa blob is NOT why i payed 1099 for optics...

hell i could make something with a toilet papper tube string and red nail polish that looked as good...

fastford,

I also had this big blob experience when I first tried the NV setting.  It sounds like you have to focus your NV goggle/monocular and it will sharpen (maybe) her  

Also, sent the link to this thread and spoke to where I bought it from asking to exchange mine for a non-defective unit.  They stated that they were considering checking their remaining supplies for defective units.  I asked them if they found one that doesn't have a f*cked up reticle or a "possibly" cracked magnifier lense and a heavily stripped screw, I could exchange.  They stated that they were going to have to check their stock and consider sending any defective ones back to Eotech themselves because they didn't want to sell/ship any defective units.  I, again, asked if they found a "good" one that I could exchange mine for it.  Sadly, I was directed to contact Eotech myself and told that Eotech has a good customer service/repair department.  Disappointed considering I have given them $2600 of business in the last 2 months. hinking.gif

Mine just came UPS on Friday. It looks like crap on all settings even w/o nightvision. The 1 moa dots look like a fuzzy line. After looking at Heineken's diagram, I realize that they all have tails and trail off to the right. This sucks! now I have to send it back to the factory, and pay for shipping to get it there. The sad thing is I'm replacing a Burris XTS-135 with which I've never had any problems.

To the back of the line please!  But seriously, this blows!

Quoted: To the back of the line please!  But seriously, this blows!

wow...i realy want to here an official explanation from eotech! like WTF is going on and why all thier BRAND new shit is fucked up...

i wonder if this is why they were so far behind on production...cause they have been trying to fix all the problems...

i kind of wish i would have waited for the new batches of the 557 to come out...

the ther thing is im not sure if i even trust them to fix it right...i dont want a jimmy rigged fixed 557 i want a NEW 557 that works right, right out of the box...that is what i payed for!!!!

Got my RMA today and sent my sight and magnifier back today with a lengthy letter describing the problems and diagrams.  Cost me $20 to ship the thing with insurance .  Let's see if their service/repair department lives up to their reputation on the board.

By the way, my sight system had a manufacture date of March 2008.

Just received my 557 w/3x today. Everything looks fine to me. Manufacture date is April 2008. Not sure if this is just an issue with the 4x, just thought I'd let you guys know.

That's promising.  Wonder if they have worked the bug out in the newest production.  

Per Eotech, they had received other complaints of the same type of problem but not in the 557 model!  

TAG/BUMP

Got my eotech back today...AND NOW IM REALY PISSED...

same problem...not fixed at all...its exactly the same...the rectical does the exact same thing on same settings...the elongated fuzzy dashes are going the same direction...

At this point i just want my money back...and i dont think where i bought it from would do it as i had it mounted on my rifle already...

im pissed...

i put my phone number with the sight and said "if you can not see the problem please call me so i can explain it to you over the phone"

WTF?  why would they send it back still broke, i dont get it...

height=8

Quoted: Got my eotech back today...AND NOW IM REALY PISSED... same problem...not fixed at all...its exactly the same...the rectical does the exact same thing on same settings...the elongated fuzzy dashes are going the same direction... At this point i just want my money back...and i dont think where i bought it from would do it as i had it mounted on my rifle already... im pissed... i put my phone number with the sight and said "if you can not see the problem please call me so i can explain it to you over the phone" WTF?  why would they send it back still broke, i dont get it...

I would be pissed... that's terrible service for a ~$1000 sight setup.  I would demand that they next-day you a replacement 557 sight and pay for return shipping on your defective unit.

OMG, you're giving me heartburn.  You need to call them...

Quoted: Got my eotech back today...AND NOW IM REALY PISSED... same problem...not fixed at all...its exactly the same...the rectical does the exact same thing on same settings...the elongated fuzzy dashes are going the same direction... At this point i just want my money back...and i dont think where i bought it from would do it as i had it mounted on my rifle already... im pissed... i put my phone number with the sight and said "if you can not see the problem please call me so i can explain it to you over the phone" WTF?  why would they send it back still broke, i dont get it...

I would take that over the 2month wait so far to even get on in and still not sure when its going to be shipped.

You might be seeing some for sale on the EE soon.  Aimpoint here I come.

Quoted: I would take that over the 2month wait so far to even get on in and still not sure when its going to be shipped.

Quoted: You might be seeing some for sale on the EE soon.  Aimpoint here I come. Quoted: I would take that over the 2month wait so far to even get on in and still not sure when its going to be shipped.

ya ill sell you mine!

This is AFTER I have already sent it in and they sent it back...did NOT have any note or any explanition of what was done, if anything, when I sent it in a put my phone number and instucted that if they could not understand the problem to call me and I would explain it on the phone....as you can tell form the pictures the problem is VERY EASY TO SEE!!!

Well here are some actual pics (I had to take them with the lights out so you can see the rectical since its on the dimmer settings)

Here is a pic on the 3rd to dimmest setting, everything is fine and normal (along with all settings brighter then this):


Here is the 2nd to dimmest setting, this is where the rectical noticable shifs up and left, also the dots get fuzzy and turn to semi-circular dashes...like is said its like if the rectical was ink on paper and you took your hand and smeared it up and left...this can not be right...it is messed up on the 2 dimmest settings and ALL NV settings.  ALSO the image looks a little blurry, this is NOT my camera moving...it was mounted on a tripod...this is what the sight actually looks like...


also it looks like this with no magnification (harder to see, but it shifts and gets fuzzy) also i tryed it with a few other magnification systems and it looks like this in all, its defunutly the sight NOT the magnification...

OK guys, Im going to eamil them these pics and expain it just as above...am i not being clear, is the problem not easy to see, I dont understand what the comunication problem is here?  Why would they send the sight back to me still broken!!!!

You know if this was a 50 doller walmart sight i would not care, but for over 1k this should be made right...and on top of it all i had to spend my money to ship it to them, even though its fucked right out of the box...i can tell you this, im demanding they pay for shipping now...

I know I keep saying the same things in my posts but im seriously fed up at this point...

UPDATE: May 5th 2008

got an email from the tech that "checked" my sight...

he said he looked through magnification and did not see a problem...I asked if he checked on the 2 dimmest setting as thats where the problem happenes...so now Im wating for an answer again...

I asked if they can email me a packing slip so I can send it back and not waist another 15 bucks of my hard earned money as I bought a NEW sight, AND PAID to send it back once already...we will seee

the sight is UNUSABLE with night vision...unless you are trained to use a fuzzy elongated backwords letter J as a point of aim instead of a dot...

HERE ARE MORE PICS TO for eotech to see...Im going to link them to this and try ONE LAST TIME to get my point across (I thought it would be more then easy to see but they must not have checked the dim settings and night vision like i specificaly stated the problem was).

1 - this is the sight working properly in the brighter settings...notice crisp dots


2 - this is what it looks like in the 2 dimmest settings (even though it has to be almost dusk to need to turn the brighness down this much IT SHOULD STILL WORK!!!


3 - here is pics with night vision and in night vision mode (night vision mode is basicaly just the rectical very dim as to not bloom the night vision) so basical once it gets to a lesser brightness level the rectical screws up for all the remaining levels...




Notice the fuzzy long dots are NOT from my camera moving as the rest of the picture is clear and my picture was on a tripod...

***here is my question to eotech...IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO FIX MY SIGHT then at least tell me where should I aim in NV mode???????????


*Should I aim on the left side of the 20MOA semi circular dash - arrow numer 1?
*Or arrow number 2 - the middle of the fuzzy elongated dash???
*Or mabey arrow number 3 - the right side??

Please let me know Eotech as it does not say in my directions...

Ok, I'm sorry to be so condescending and facetious but my point is this:  I paid for a new quality $1k sight that should work corectly...I did NOT see any fine print that said I will have to pay 30 dollers in shipping it back and forth to the manuafture to get it to work as avertised, or spend hours of my time trying to explain the defect, ect, ect...at this point I have had it for almost a month and still not been able to use it...also Eotech has already had the chance (ON MY DIME) to make this right and what did they do???? returned my broke sight...so as you can tell, at this point im boiling angry.

Ill update again when I get an answer...

Yeah, this is not a small issue.  My father and I both have the 557 with the 3X and we have the exact same problem.  It's like the hologram goes out of phase on the last 2 settings and when you go into NV mode.  I spent quite a while trying to convince myself that this was something with my eyes or the 3x magnification, but it's a real issue.

Now, I'm probably never going to use NV, and I'll likely never be in situation where I'm shooting in a completely dark room needing the last 2 settings (such as my master bathroom) but it's the principle of things.  I will be calling through the channels tomorrow to see how we can get this resolved...

Thanks,

Dave

PS, my 557 was manufactured in April 2008, purchased from a reputable vendor.

After seeing those pics, I may invest in some NV gear in the future...looks like fun!

I foresee EOTech coming through on this one, dont judge the company based on one Tech....

Dave

Quoted: After seeing those pics, I may invest in some NV gear in the future...looks like fun! I foresee EOTech coming through on this one, dont judge the company based on one Tech.... Dave

Dave, I own 3 eotechs, I have always loved them!!!

I am just sooo frustrated...I was sooo excited to get the sight finaly, then soooo excited when it got returned...then BAMB let down hard...

anyway, my other wory is by the time they get it fixed its going to have been built and rebuilt at least 3 times...cant be good for the seals and fitting and screws and what not...

Also I wonder how many troops oversees are stuck with messed up sights????  I know thoughs guys use thier NV a lot...

I also find it aggrivation eotech act like they have not heard of this problem...just from this thread 5 guys have the problem...how could no one have noticed this before?  I find it hard to believe I was the first person to bring this to thier attention...

anyway, im out of rants for now...as long as i get a working sight VERY SOON I will not dicontinue using and buying eotech products...although i still thinkl i should be reimbersed shipping...

height=8

Quoted: height=8 Quoted: After seeing those pics, I may invest in some NV gear in the future...looks like fun! I foresee EOTech coming through on this one, dont judge the company based on one Tech.... Dave Dave, I own 3 eotechs, I have always loved them!!! I am just sooo frustrated...I was sooo excited to get the sight finaly, then soooo excited when it got returned...then BAMB let down hard... anyway, my other wory is by the time they get it fixed its going to have been built and rebuilt at least 3 times...cant be good for the seals and fitting and screws and what not...

Yup, we'll see what we can do about all of this....as this is my first EOTech, I'm not as impressed.  I'd say that this problem is not isolated to a few, probably a few hundred our there.

Interesting to see that yet another person has added to the thread with the same problem.  I'll bet there are a ton more 557's with the same problem but few people use the 2 dimmest settings or the NV sightings with a magnifier to ever discover it.  

I spoke to Doreen Flummerfelt (Eotech service manager) today on the phone.  She was very cordial and gave me a good deal of her time.  She assured me that if my sight was tested by their service department and they found no problem, SHE would call me before they sent it back to me and if I did not hear from her, I can assume that the reported problem(s) were found and corrected and it would be sent back to me.  

Unfortunately, she also said that they were behind on their repairs for various reasons so the normal turnaround time would be delayed by about a week.  Take two extra weeks, please just send mine back fixed!

Wow...after reading your post i immediately took my NIB 557 out to check for your defects.  My box reads dec 14, 2007 and thank GOD has not the defects you are talking about.  The reticle does not blur like yours does and under 3x and 4x as well.  I almost thought it would be a wide spread recall like problem but I guess it is not. You are right in saying though just how many of us would be able to check that problem being that most of us don't have NV capability and most don't own the 400-700dollar magnifiers. I feel your pain in the deepest way. I hope you get the problem solved.

UPDATE:

Eotech is sending me a UPS prepaid lable to return the sight (since I already paid once)...

They said they would just send me a new sight...

Why don't they just replace it, the symptoms of which you took pictures are not that hard to reproduce  I think the tech just took a quick look, did not read your descriptions and therefore did not follow the steps to induce these symptoms, then pronounced he couldn't find anything wrong to fix

ETA I'm glad they are going to replace it altogether

Quoted: I just received a 557 and magnifier, going to rev it up and take a lQQK.   Vic

Vic, let me know what you see!!! also if works or does not work correct im curious as to the date of manuafacture...

it seems the ones with the glich have a date of feb march or april of this year...onles made late last year seem to work...

Quoted: Why don't they just replace it, the symptoms of which you took pictures are not that hard to reproduce  I think the tech just took a quick look, did not read your descriptions and therefore did not follow the steps to induce these symptoms, then pronounced he couldn't find anything wrong to fix ETA I'm glad they are going to replace it altogether

ya...im not sure about the tech and dont want to comment any further...

anyway...we will see...now my biggest fear (KNOCK ON WOOD) and I probobly should not even say anything to jinx it, is that they will send a new sight that has the same glich...im sure there are a LOT of them out there as 5 peopel have noticed this problem just from this thread...

i asked Doreen to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE check the new sight in the dim setting to make sure it functions properly BEFORE they send it...

i will proboly have to call her, she said they are sending me a prepaid UPS shipping lable and they would send me a new sight...but not sure if they are waiting to send the new one until they recieve mine or what...also did not say weather or not to just send the sight back or the entire system with the magnifier and hard case...im assuming they just want the sight, mabey she will have specific directions when with the packing slip...

all i can do is wait, AGAIN, but im hoping this will all be fixed soon...as soon as i recieve anything ill update...

i can not believe eotech has not put an official statment on thier web sight!!!

i find it hard to believ they did not know about this problem before me...very hard to believe...and if i am the first one that brought it to thier attention they sould give me a new sight AND refund my money as a thank you for bringing this to thier attention and all my time i have had to spend explaining it to them