Rangefinder in cold weather

[Bucklowery]

I have a Leica 1600 and had so issues with it where I live in north Florida. I went to Kansas last year and was really excited about Longrange possibilities. The first morning there (scouting) it was in the 20's and a light snow. The next morning hunting it broke 20's and a stiff Kansas wind. As the sun rose I pulled the rangefinder out and started ranging objects from 200 - 600 yards and all was well as deer started appearing around the landscape. 20 minutes later a deer appears and I reach for the rangefinder and the LED is faint and no range. It takes me a few moments to realize my battery strength has been lessened by the cold weather I put it inside my bibs to warm up and I would get a few ranges out of it before cold again. This was a fresh battery and worked fine as long as it was warm. Is this something you guys up North and out West fight constantly and how do you deal with it. Are there rangefinders that have more insulated compartments? It does not take long for the black molded plastics to become frigid


Thanks

Buck

 

[WeiserBucks]

I wonder if your fresh battery is defective? My RF works fine in single digits as long as the battery is pretty fresh .

 

[jrsolocam]

I live in NW ND and have never had that problem with Nikon, Leica or G7 BR2 rangefinders. And Im talking -30 F ambient air temps. Send it back.

 

[Mike 338]

Might read the instructions. Sometimes they recommend lithium. I've had cold weather issues with electronics before that were solved by a lithium battery.

 

[Bucklowery]

Thanks guys. Yea I tried multiple batteries that week with the same results. I will give the lithium battery a try to see if that makes a difference. I may not be in that cold weather for long periods any time soon. It has got down to freezing temps some so maybe I will leave it on the dash of the truck and test it out first thing the next morning

Thanks

Buck

 

[FEENIX]

I too have taken my Leica 1600 at -20F without any issues.

 

[Bucklowery]

Thanks again and good to hear. Maybe I just had a bad batch of batteries. They have been flawless in the warm weather of Florida and south Alabama

 

[dmoon]

I use the same rangefinder in Kansas with no problems year round, I can tell you it never got cold enough this deer season to bother even crappy batteries though....good luck, hope it was just your battery!

 

[Buck Buster]

If you spend good money for a range finder why would anyone use cheep batteries? I have a SIG SAUER KILO 2000 and I thought the first time I used it in low light that my battery was dyeing, but it was just another good feature that it has. It is dim in dim light so it doesn't hinder your viewing, then as the day gets brighter so does the illumination. I have had it since mid summer, and have played with it a lot. And Just went to my second battery in November. Don't know if its an energizer but its still going strong! Good luck hunting and be safe.

 

[Bucklowery]

Yea I used two different packs of energizers but next week we will have 5-6 days next week that will get down to 20 so I will test different batteries

Thanks
Buck

 

[Barrelnut]

Just looked in the user guide. Leica says it needs 3 volt "Lithium" batteries like Duracell DL CR2. If you are using non-lithium 3 volt camera batteries, that may be the problem.

 

[Bucklowery]

Yea. Here is what I have. I will be testing it out this next week

Thanks for all the help guys

Buck

 

[ssssnake529]

It may not be a battery issue. My Leica HD-B rangefinding binoculars would not work when they got cold, even with a fresh, warm battery. Apparently, they have some defective parts (according to the Leica rep who posted on Rokslide in response to a lot of people with the same issue.) Call Leica customer service. Your rangefinder might be defective.

 

[CrankEmUp]

I would try Lithiums 1st. However i hunted with mine on Monday and the high here was 22. Worked fine with a lithium. I have the 1200 model.