Steve Anderson Posted July 28, 2003 Share Posted July 28, 2003 Mine did... I was only getting about 75% of the dot in bright sunlight. I was missing a chunk between 12:00 and 3:00. It was fine indoors, although not round. I just got used to it, I guess. It got really bad after our last steel match, so I called C-more and described the issue. She said I needed a new diode. 2 days and 49 bucks later I had a new diode and, Whoa Nellie...what a difference. Firm, round, smooth and bright. I shot that crappy dot for three months!!!! Not anymore... SA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted July 28, 2003 Share Posted July 28, 2003 I've noticed that after a while C-more dots start to dim and go out-of-round. Usually a good cleaning with lens cleaner fixes them, but not always. Note that the dot is a normal LED barely peeking out of the plastic module, so use appropriate cleaners and don't melt anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Anderson Posted July 28, 2003 Author Share Posted July 28, 2003 Yeah, I tried to clean it with a q-tip and it got a little better on the old one. Is there a top secret cleaning technique? I just moistened a q-tip and gave it a little how's-yer- father... SA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L9X25 Posted July 28, 2003 Share Posted July 28, 2003 I have had luck cleaning the modules using a mild household cleaner (Cinch) with fine bristle artists brush and a battery powered Dremel on low speed. I have also learned that I can cover the face of the dot module with a clear adhesive tape and the dot stays bright for a long time without changing batteries. Before using the tape I would constantly change the batteries to keep the dot bright, with little success. Now I can simply wipe the tape clean and the dot is always bright. Leo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted July 28, 2003 Share Posted July 28, 2003 I've used Windex and similar "safe for plastic" glass cleaners with a Q-tip to good effect. Many LED's are in epoxy matrix, so you might be able to get away with Hoppes or something, but I'd only try something that strong on a last-resort basis. Sounds like a perfect marketing opportunity for somebody... High-priced "Dot cleaner". Brian? Eric? Snail-Snot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PistolPete Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 I've only had mine for about 4 months now and no problems here. I got the 12 dot which is great. How long do these things last anyways??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redmercury2 Posted September 24, 2003 Share Posted September 24, 2003 Ive put tens of thousands of rounds thru my open blasters and C-MORES with no probs but battery replacements,and I mean more like three hundred thousand plus,plus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted September 24, 2003 Share Posted September 24, 2003 I've used Windex and similar "safe for plastic" glass cleaners with a Q-tip to good effect. Many LED's are in epoxy matrix, so you might be able to get away with Hoppes or something, but I'd only try something that strong on a last-resort basis.Sounds like a perfect marketing opportunity for somebody... High-priced "Dot cleaner". Brian? Eric? Snail-Snot? The recommended stuff is the liquid cleaner that is sold for camera lenses. The guy who sold me my OKO says he uses it on a Q-tip. He said Windex is abrasive, but I don't know how it could be (?) FWIW: I am in the electronics biz, and LED's usually are encased in some kind of epoxy type of resin that might cloud over with time. If you have one that is too low to use anyway, you could try polishing the light emitting surface with some VERY fine platic polish (maybe even toothpast) to see if it brightens up. The electronic junction inside the LED where the light is emitted should not degrade even over many thousands of hours, it is the surrounding material that is changing in transparency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jspruance Posted September 25, 2003 Share Posted September 25, 2003 A friend of mine had a similar problem and wrote a not to C-More. He got a the response shown below. "Try using compressed air on the hole where the light is emitted. If that doesn't work, try soaking the dot in warm, soapy water for 15 min." I'm not sure how the suggestions panned out. Someone else may want to contact them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcoliver Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Old post, I know, but I didn't want to open a new thread about the c-more dot. I never really paid any attention before about how the dot really looks like until I got myself a cmore. My dot looks like a doughnut, just a red ring and the center is black. Is this normal? I sent an email to cmore a few weeks back but they haven't responded until now. I'm also tempted to use that "warm, soapy water cleaning method." Has anybody tried this? I'm too far for a replacement module if I kill mine, so I was hoping I can get feedback from your guys first. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bret Heidkamp Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 It is totally safe to wash 99% of all electronics - they are washed during production in high pressure board washers using a soap mix and a deionized water rinse. Many are then dipped in isopropyl alchohol to get rid of water under chips. For the cmore dot module, I used to have problems with them getting dirty until putting one of the lens shades over it. Now I don't clean it at all. If yours is dirty, do the Qtip thing with your choice of water based cleaner - 409, etc. Isopropyl works too. Then blow it out with the air hose. Most of my old dots came back fine doing this - but I owned one 8 years ago or so that was just plain badly drilled. I know all the new dots are very round - and cmore will replace them if you get a new one that isn't round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric nielsen Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Bob Londrigan said to put a drop of SuperGlue over the diode, but I like Leo's idea even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Just FYI, LED's do lose brightness over time. A long time. I'd expect 10,000+ hour half-life from a dot, depending on how bright it's used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckS Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Hi all, I have noticed something that I thought I might share. A while back, I got a deal on a C-More from the classifieds (a prize table item) to start my trip to the dark side. The dot looked misshapen and fuzzy. I figured that I got stiffed and got on with life. A friend needed a C-More so I told him to check this one out. He took one look at it powered up, gave me the money and went on his way. Strange I thought but the guy was happy to have this at a reasonable price for a backup. I then got a Docter and notices some distortion also. Just by chance I used my left eye and the dot looked perfect! I have astigmatism in both eyes. My left is a simple astigmatism. My right eye has more second-order effects going on with it. And yup, I am right eye dominant. So, I took the sight over to the optometrist with a sketch of the dot shapes with my glasses on and off. It turns out that the uncorrected left eye dot shape is an exact plot of the astigmatism (a vertical bar about 1 dot wide and 4-5 dots tall!) of that eye. The corrected left dot is a nice crisp dot. The right eye is a mess with multiple blurred dots uncorrected. Corrected it converges to one sort of crappy dot with a bright center and about 1/2 dot of fuzz. I have given some laser treatment a lot of thought but there is so much going on with my eyes (not that I am getting old or anything) I am not sure if it will be worth it. My left eye works great but it would be very weird to try cross dominant shooting but who knows, maybe that is the answer. I had the guy make a pair of single vision glasses tuned for distance only and they seem to work. In fact, the Doc wasn't a gun guy but he had a great time working the problem. I sat in the chair with the lens machine on my face and sighted the gun on the guys wall while doing the "What's better: 1 or 2?" thing. In conclusion, (so I don't get accused of thread drift) I thought my C-More sucked but it was really my eyes! Later, Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcoliver Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Dang! I cleaned my module last night with alcohol and q-tip and I think I pressed on the module too much. I managed to strip off some of the black coating in the module face. However, it's still a "ring dot" but a bit brighter now. I'll try the soapy water later tonight. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmitz Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Purchased my C-more along with a new SVI.38 Super Blaster almost 7 years ago, never cleaned the module; it's still bright and round after all those years and many rounds fired. The only mishap: cracks at the screwholes where the unit is fitted onto the gun. With a Kodak Li-battery everthing still works fine, IMO there's no substitute for the Quality of a C-More. Henny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcoliver Posted August 5, 2004 Share Posted August 5, 2004 Just an update: I tried the soapy water treatment but it didn't work. Feeling brave I tried one more thing. Caution: Follow at your own risk. I tried poking the hole with a very fine strand of wire. I tried a fine plastic bristle, hair strand, a pin but they were either too big or too pliable. After a few pokings, I cleaned the module's face with alcohol. When I turned on the dot...(increased hartbeat and a little prayer, new module here costs ~$80+!)... Brighter, really red and round! Perfect! Just like what a red dot should be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old shooter Posted August 5, 2004 Share Posted August 5, 2004 Now, if they can only get that damn horizontal and vertical adjustment thing figured out............. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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