Night Vision Brand new NOX 18 thermal with issue. Will not power-up.

[Texascbr]

Purchased a brand new Nox18 Friday. Was super excited to get to the range tomorrow and sight it in on a couple of rifles. This evening I'm going through the process of sight-in in the instructions and reading the rest of my manual to make sure I don't waste any time at the range. While doing this I set the unit on the bed, while still turned on, to go help with preps for my daughter birthday party tomorrow. (Have over an hour drive to the range and going to go first thing in the morning then race back to the birthday party before the 100 degree heat hits my area.) Come back about 20 minutes later and the unit is powered off and slightly warm to the touch but nothing unusual from what I have seen from other device when getting hot. Attempt to turn the unit back on and nothing. Batteries don't last forever. Grab another and still no power-up. Getting a little curious I grab a third CR123A from yet another stash of batteries for my night vision and nothing.

One thing of note is that I have had a couple instances where I thought the power button was acting a bit off or would need to be pushed rather hard but chalked that up to getting used to the new device. Now I'm leaning to a possibly wonky power button. Would love to get any feedback as range trips lately have been tough to come by and when they do happen driving and prep can take half the day. I'm already loaded and ready to go this evening but don't want to spend over two hours on the road (round trip) to not play with my new toy.

Not worried about the unit being taken care of by the manufacturer but I'm short on time over the next few weeks. Have a hunting trip in July and this was one of the toys I wanted to have ready. Would love to get to the range tomorrow if it is something silly I may have done wrong or missed and a solution can be found. Really digging the unit till this recent hiccup.

 

[wigwamitus]

check obvious stuff orientation, enuff volts on the batts.
Try the 18650 it comes with also.
Try external batt.
If it still doesnt power up it must be broke !.
call n- vision to get an rma !

 

[Texascbr]

check obvious stuff orientation, enuff volts on the batts.
Try the 18650 it comes with also.
Try external batt.
If it still doesnt power up it must be broke !.
call n- vision to get an rma !

Good suggestions and did all of the above. No dice. Day is already shot with other stuff breaking so perhaps best I did not spend a half day running to the range and back. Will see what I learn tomorrow.

Thanks for pitching in,
Chris

 

[broskibrobro]

Had the exact same issue with my nox, turns out to be a known firmware bug. Called N-Vision and they walked me through the software update process which fixed it.

 

[scott5456]

Likely a software thing. They should get you sorted out tomorrow. I've had issues when the unit dies (runs out of battery) during start up (splash screen).

 

[fanninland]

I’ve had the no-power up issue when changing the batteries on my Halo LR. Usually after a few dozen times screwing/unscrewing battery lid & tapping on it the unit will power up, and no more issues powering up until I change batteries again. Drives me friggin’ crazy but not quite enough crazy that I want to go to trouble sending it in.

(FWIW I was running on battery pack and broke the plug-in receptacle on the Halo due to the way too long plug that juts out on end on cable. I emailed NVision, told them what happened, operator error etc, they issued RMA and fixed my boo-boo at no charge. Whole process took 8 days round trip so my experience resulted in very good CS)

ETA: just saw Scott’s post above so maybe I’ll see if it’s a firmware issue on Halos as well. Thanks for the info

 

[Texascbr]

Working now. Spoke to N-Vision and all was well after running the firmware update process.

 

[Max_R]

I suggest calling N-Vision at 781-505-8360 and asking for support/Chris. He should be able to help.

 

[Max_R]

I suggest calling N-Vision at 781-505-8360 and asking for support/Chris. He should be able to help.

You beat me to it

 

[scott5456]

I’ve had the no-power up issue when changing the batteries on my Halo LR. Usually after a few dozen times screwing/unscrewing battery lid & tapping on it the unit will power up, and no more issues powering up until I change batteries again. Drives me friggin’ crazy but not quite enough crazy that I want to go to trouble sending it in.

(FWIW I was running on battery pack and broke the plug-in receptacle on the Halo due to the way too long plug that juts out on end on cable. I emailed NVision, told them what happened, operator error etc, they issued RMA and fixed my boo-boo at no charge. Whole process took 8 days round trip so my experience resulted in very good CS)

ETA: just saw Scott’s post above so maybe I’ll see if it’s a firmware issue on Halos as well. Thanks for the info

Yes I believe the issue has the opportunity to effect both units. I've seen it more often in my Halo-LR. I get around it by not powering up unless I know the batteries are good, or connect a power pack and then disconnect after it is running. Personally I believe the issue is when the unit dies during start up, specifically the splash screen.

I've been able to replicate the issue multiple times by powering up on dead batteries.

 

[Max_R]

I've been able to replicate the issue multiple times by powering up on dead batteries.

I suggest not overdoing the testing because, at least in theory, this may cause more damage. It's not the best idea to yank the power cord out of the computer when it is starting up. You got it right, both Nox and Halo-LR are most sensitive to the power failure during the startup process. This is when there is a higher probability of the core's memory getting messed up and it has to be recovered via external means. Halo-X/XRF has a build-in recovery mechanism for these sorts of failures.

 

[scott5456]

I suggest not overdoing the testing because, at least in theory, this may cause more damage. It's not the best idea to yank the power cord out of the computer when it is starting up. You got it right, both Nox and Halo-LR are most sensitive to the power failure during the startup process. This is when there is a higher probability of the core's memory getting messed up and it has to be recovered via external means. Halo-X/XRF has a build-in recovery mechanism for these sorts of failures.

Any chance of upgrading the firm ware on the Nox and Halo-LR to get rid of the issue? One of my Halo-LR's should be to your facility today for a different repair.

You are correct about the testing. The other Halo-LR left me stranded without a Thermal while on a trip, so I needed to figure out the root cause as to not have another failure. 2 times in a row was sufficient to prove what the issue was. The fix for me is to make sure I always use a known good set of batteries. After the unit dies once due to power, I never restart on those batteries again. I replace them with the known good set. Using this approach, I have not had an issue since.

 

[Texascbr]

As an additional data point. Support from N-Vision was easy to get on the phone a quick with followup e-mails. I did ask if there was anything I could do to avoid this issue in the future or how to recover should it happen again. I copied the reply below. Very simple steps.

"Biggest thing is making sure that when you have issues powering on, not to continue holding down the power button. Try using an external battery pack and the cable to power it up."

 

[Max_R]

Any chance of upgrading the firm ware on the Nox and Halo-LR to get rid of the issue? One of my Halo-LR's should be to your facility today for a different repair.

Unfortunately, not. The problem happens on the core and our firmware can't do anything about it.