A hint from some one who cleaned and adjusted microscopes professionally, using aluminum foil as a work space covering works fantastically. When you unwrapped the foil, it is guarantied there is zero dust or lint. Also this eliminates any static charges. So lay down a layer of foil to work on. You will thank me.

The amount of smart people in this comment section is giving me hope.

My fbi agent watching my youtube history become full of "how to perform a ambush", "how to build a pvs 14", "night combat", "guerilla warfare", "what materials can be used as ballistic armor?"

If you're going to be just using a Pvs14 you may want to look into swapping the standard battery compartment to an NL914C housing. It's lighter, allows you to use either a AA or a CR123 and has all the controls placed more conveniently.

From somebody that has been building ANVIS units for more than 20 years now there were a couple of steps left out. Setting the infinity focus (ocular lens) and diopter (eyepiece lens) focus. That is where that little spanner wrench comes into play, you really need 2 of them. One to hold the lock ring and one to tighten the lens ring. Generally they are double sided, one side for the eyepiece and the other for the ocular lens. Simply screwing the lenses in all the way is not going to give you the ability to close and far focus. You should be able to focus anywhere from about 2 feet to infinity using the ocular focus. With the diopter set at 0 the eye lens should be somewhere about 3 and half to 4 and a half turns out. The ocular lease somewhere from 4 to 6. That is a cleaver way to get around a pressurized purge though you should do it with both else’s set to the outer most travel setting after the diopter and infinity focus is completed. That way once you plug the purge port as you adjust the lenses in there should be an increase in tension, especially noticeable on the eyepiece. If there is no increase in tension (which signals an increase in pressure inside the housing) then you have a leak somewhere and purging wont do you any good. By the way it looks like you put the retainer ring in upside down, this can damage the IT especially if it is torqued over the value of about 8 inch ounces.

I was a radio repairman (29E) in the Army back in the early 90's. In our shop we also had an MOS that repaired sundry other electronics that weren't radios. We used to call them "Flashlight Repairmen" because mostly all they did was replace Image Intensification Tubes, power switches, and IR LEDs in PVS5's and PVS7's. It's been a lot of years, but I don't recall them taking any of the care you've displayed here!

This is awesome. You could sell the curated part kits and spare parts, develop this channel as NV for dummies. Lots of fans of this kind of DIY stuff.

That was 1000x simpler than I could have ever imagined. It is simpler than any project that was on my bench in many years. I'm shocked and disappointed in myself that I hadn't considered this route. I even have stuff that I could probably rig to purge. I fkn love you dude. Thank you. I've been selling high value items in order to fix my NVDeficiency. I assumed I was still way off. Maaaaaybe not. Fkn hero.

You’re leaving out a great reason for “building” your own, which is understanding through firsthand experience how these things are put together and assembled. Assembling something yourself gives you firsthand knowledge of each part within your piece of equipment and somewhat of an idea of what each piece does. Stuff like this is key to understanding your gear on a more realistic level. Keep on rockin man. You’ve done monumental work in this field 🤙

Seeing as argon is quite dense, I'd consider getting a long inflation needle, grease needle, or blunted veterinary needle- Determine a route through the purge hole with which you can go deeper into the case. That will allow the argon to "push" and flood everything out in a vertical configuration. Go slow, do multiple additions over several minutes, and I bet one could get a dang good purge.

I've used the reverse thread trick for years, and this is the first time I've ever heard anyone else use it. Nice!

That’s insane bro! These things were like $12,000 when I was in. Scared af to lose one during field rotation 😂

If you go the wine preserver rout remember: Argon is a Noble gas 1.38 times heavier than air. When you use the gas hold the hole in an upright position and flow the gas into the body. The weight of Argon will displace the air in the chamber helping to purge the air out.

Glad you mentioned purging. Former General Dynamics Electro-Optical Research and Development Technician here. A small amount of water vapor in the air is NOT going to hurt anything until the unit FREEZES. Water vapor is basically optically clear. ICE on the lens is VERY MUCH NOT. Do you live in Alaska? PURGE!, Do you live in Arizona? No big deal. BTW S2...Semper Fi. Sgt USMC

Purging is done because this kind of nitrogen is DRY (so is the argon). The whole idea is to remove water vapor so it won't condense on your optics when your PVS-14 goes from warm to cold environments. "Canned Air" is usually some relative or variant of difluroethane, and over time those chemicals can degrade certain plastics and rubber compounds. You do Not want to find out the hard way that a lens gasket was one of them. Tilting the gas canister too far will result in _liquid argon_ entering the monocular, which is technically not 'moisture'. It will not cause condensation inside the PVS-14 directly, but it will make the housing cold, which _could_ cause condensation if any water vapor is left inside (not likely due to the tiny volume and dryness of the gas). If it happens by accident, just let it warm up and spray the gas in there again. There is a mechanical danger, though fairly unlikely. The liquid is extremely cold, and could cause cold-shock issues like misalignment of the optics, or in extreme cases breaking a lens or the light amplification tube (not likely to happen, and would require squirting a _lot_ of liquid argon/nitrogen in there, probably on purpose).

I'm not the type to comment on videos, I usually like and lurk. This is video is a great example of the type of content I enjoy and they're the reason why I use KZfaq. The fact that creators struggle with censorship, exposure, and being fairly compensated for ad revenue makes me frustrated with the platform. I hate that I have to leave a comment just for the sake of manipulating an algorithm that doesn't even benefit the audience I'm a part of. That being said, here we are. Keep up the good work and fight the good fight.

99% of the time I would agree that building your own whenever possible is the best way to go for many reasons others have already mentioned but the truth is that the best deal I could find for all the parts needed totaled $2,699. But, with a little more research, I found a complete device on sale for $2,499. I think if you have one already and it needs repairs, this is a great idea but buying one at this time is a lot more economical that building it seems.

Pretty good instruction. I was a sealed instrument repair specialist in the military. Primarily AN AVS-9 (binoculars for pilots), but I worked on a few PVS-14's. The comments about setting diopter are correct. Also, depends on your individual eyes (corrected vision to 20/20 or similar) where it needs to be set. I think a 3D printer should be able to make the tools you need to tighten the intensifier tube lock ring and make a screw in purge valve adapter. It is just a glorified brake bleeding tool with an adapter to screw in to the housing and a 3 way valve to put nitrogen into the system. Harbor freight sells the vacuum kit. Just need to 3D print the screw in adapter with a hose barb on the end. Suck it down to -15, open valve to nitrogen, repeat 3 times. The nitrogen is important to stop condensation from drastic temperature fluctuations and pressure changes. That's why modern cars have nitrogen in the tires because the gas doesn't compress or expand during drastic changes and you aren't constantly filling/releasing air out of your tires. Assembly with canned air (which is sterile and dust free) and acetone is what I found worked best. Never use cloth or wipes to clean the lenses or intensifier if you get smudges on them. Blow debris off with air, use a clean Q-tip with acetone in a swirl motion from inside to outside of lense.

Great video, I have no idea this was a thing. A ballpark savings estimate and maybe some links to where you prefer to buy parts (or trust for sourcing quality) would have been great IMO.

Today’s going to be a great day now that it’s starting with an underground vid.

Got lucky and found a guy selling 2 PVS-14s for $800 each... So I messaged my buddy and asked him if he wanted one, and shortly after he sent me money to snag him one haha The quality ended up being WAY better than we expected. Very small blems, honestly I think theyre factory blems... Might have to try this purging method though with winter coming up. We've been doing hikes or drives atleast once a week to get used to them. Definitely need some IR lights and a kill switch for the visible lights on the overcast/moonless nights.

Sometimes I don't even have a clue what you talk about, but the videos are just so well executed.

Here is what I do for a temporary clean room while assembling NVGs. Make a box out of dollar store foam board, about 2ft by 2ft. Lay it on end so you can see through it. On the back end place a cheap 2'x2' box fan so that it is blowing towards you. On the back side of the fan, tape a 24x24 high grade furnace filter. This will create a positive pressure clean box that will have a constant flow of clean air while blowing out any dust or dirt that you introduce. It works great and you no longer have to worry about dust or hairs on the lenses while assembling. And it costs about 30 bucks and you can use it for a lot of purpose. Also works for painting if you turn the fan around.

it might be a good idea to setup a clean room for this, somewhere that you can run an A/C and/or heater to set the humidity to 45 - 55 % relative to avoid static and excessive moisture, or a dry room with very low moisture below 30%. it's not hard to do with a window A/C or portable heater. running both in a small room will drop the moisture down to near 0 if you wish. HVAC 101 from an old timer in the business. welding supply has all the inert gas you need, regulators and bottles are at discount tool shops. it would not be too expensive to get a small bottle and regulator which would let you get Helium for party balloons as well. multi use tools are the best!

I had a bunch of things to do but this has put a stop to it update im kinda disappointed thought this was a legit diy night vision tutorial

The ITAR rules do more to complicate and limit us than the stated targets. Same thing (IMHO) regarding Globalist ISO "requirements". This video is another example that good ol' American creativity, ingenuity, and the ability to think, still exist out in "the wild". Keep-up the good work S2!!!!!!!!

I’m glad you did this video. I thought about building one before but wasn’t confident enough. Now Im gonna build it for sure

Pro tip for a "dust free" assembly environment: Use your bathroom! Turn the shower on nice and hot WITHOUT the fan on for a couple minutes to get the bathroom all steamed up, then turn the shower off and let the room cool for 30 minutes or so. The steam/water in the air catches all the dust and it all falls to the floor leaving the air dust free!

Wow. Your content never fails to impress, guys.

An Electro Static Displacement mat with wrist and foot connections is recommended for prevention of static buildup and discharge (Faraday cage). If you can get it (one way pneumatic valve), you want to purge with Argon (check specifications for pressure levels). I always wore a full bunny suit working in the clean room, but if you have it a hair net is also a good idea; reducing the particulates in the local air is crucial. Also, I would recommend working on a surface you can get spotlessly clean, wood is not great for optical work. Local floor and tile places will have a nice piece of polished granite you can buy for relatively cheap. (Edited for granite suggestion.)

Thanks for the 100% detailed and informative video. You answered more questions about NV than I care to admit. Keep up the great work.

This is a great one right here, top-tier knowledge transfer!

The purpose of the nitrogen purge is not to have nitrogen, in and of itself. What you are trying to do is have moisture-free gas inside of the instrument. Your argon purge is just as good, even SCUBA air would be good as it is supposed to be free from moisture/humidity.

My bank account is fearing for his life

I want to thank you for sharing so much critical information for those who wish to be engaged in preserving our freedoms from threats foreign and domestic. Your ability to communicate necessary details for any given topic is above precision. I am happy to offer my services to you where applicable.

As someone who works as a Night vision assembly tech purging is highly recommended 👌 good tip on the wine preserver.

Quick tip for your argon purge, heat shrink tubing is great for shrinking the ends of spray straws to be even finer. I've done purging in a similar manner and even gone so far as to shrink the tubing onto a bit of hypodermic needle to get the gas as far into the chamber as possible in hopes to drive out the air without much mixing. Maybe you find the advise useful.

Thanks in the UK its not easy to find a PVS14 so i got a kit and built my own because of your video. Saved some money and was happy with the results 👍🏻

appreciate you mentioning using argon as a substitute, and the benefit of it being heavier than air. Argon is used in purging AC systems in automotive applications, maybe residential as well. As well as it's use in welding to act as a shielding gas and a purging gas with in the pipe. It get's the job done!

Never realized these bad boys were this simple to put together thanks for the knowledge!

I recall that port with the screw would have a valve for the vacuum and purge process. This video is more in depth that my week's work of training for maintenance. The calibration test that was taught requires that expensive equipment you had referenced. Great video.

A bit of advice for watchers: don’t go on and on about how you hate dust and you’re gonna cover and protect your tube, then unwrap the tube and leave it open to the air seconds before blowing dust out of the housing right over top of the tube.

Welder here. Totally guessed argon the whole last half. And I noticed a few optic manufacturers use it. Thanks for the great info.

It’s amazing how many variables that go into the process of night vision... truly interesting... gives good insight as to why it’s so expensive...I’m common folk so my expenses can’t justify buying new but I feel night vision a necessity. A real amateur here... any help goes a long way... nice video, anyone who wants to help old frank in the comment section is greatly appreciated... God Bless

Cool. Seen vids about this before, but you raise some good points as far as availability. Usually the "nitrogen purge" is done mainly to displace moist air, the gas isn't terribly important. As a few others have pointed out, using a longer needle that goes deeper inside the device is going to be a lot more effective with the argon purge. Also, for a DIY nitrogen purge setup, probably looking at a few hundred bucks, but wouldn't be worth doing unless you were going to be doing a lot of 'em just due to storage space.

I hear there's a fire sale on the latest night vision in Central Asia

This is now officially my favorite KZfaq channel

I appreciate all your help and information. Thank You.

nitrogen purging is not about purging the air itself, it is about purging the moisture in that air.

Harbor freight counter top sand blasting cabinet would work great for setting up a clean room that you can set up with a stable atmosphere of argon. You can get a large tank of argon from a welding supply for a fair price and now you have a clean room environment for sensitive electronics without having to mortgage the house.

Wow. Clicked on this off a whim because I recognized your channel as one I subscribed to and like making things… I assumed it was a gun build video. Really glad I found this. Thanks

Thanks for going above & beyond 2 help your fellow Americans! And thank u for ur service!

Argon purging can be done easily in a covered Aquarium full of argon. Its a common welding gas coming cheap in 4 gallon bottles

What a great idea. Love this

Thank you for this video I was just looking at doing this project last week.

Proof that you only fear what you dont understand. Thank you brother for sending me down a rabbit hole

Just a not the retaining ring has an "up side/facing the ocular lens" also. You can tell be the depth of the notch marks in the retaining ring. Also to purge I remove the ocular lens and with the objective lens pointing up 12:00 use the Argon to push the O2 out of the bottom.

Maybe give us a hint on what parts to buy and from where?

One of my favorite gun accessories purchased in the last few years is an electric computer duster. They are about the size of a can of canned air so it fits in a range bag and usb recharges.

This is sooooo handy and great. Appreciate your help on saving people money for sure. Suggestion on filming lock focus and turn auto lighting off and lock at certain gain. Eliminates blur and brightness focus. 👍🏼

I had no idea this was a thing. Definitely piecing my set together now

If you have a welder friend with a 100% argon tank you could do similar as you did in the video, but maybe have it in a tall plastic ware container so it generates a bath of argon for you to work in, and likely much cheaper, while also giving you a flow control so you do not generate much turbulence.

Thanks bro! Great video! I had no idea they required that much info just to be able to see at night! Why am I not suprised! Great info and ty!

That's so cool. I might actually do this, cause I know these devices are not cheap. That's the only reason why I haven't bought one yet. Excellent video by the way ❤

Another comment on the nitrogen/argon Purge- I work with gases for a living and that's the basis for my comment here. It's very difficult to get complete displacement unless the gas also has an exit point separate from where you're pushing the nitrogen or argon in. My suggestion is to mostly unthread another connection, thereby providing another point for the gas to escape. As you said do it several times and then tighten up the connections. I hope that helps. I just had another thought- if anybody's game for this. Another technique to reduce the oxygen inside the unit. Take a large Ziploc type bag, flatten it to remove all air, inflate with gas like argon or nitrogen to fill the bag with your parts inside, do all your assembly inside the bag. Then do the purge as previously described. They make ziploc and other brands in above average sizes like 2 and 2.5 gallon bags. Something around that size seems workable.

Hey, you're right I can make the tool out of my credit card because that's all it'll be good for after buying a image tube for £1500 😂

Love you for this buddy! I just got my first tube, and have been looking at options for housing it!

I will say this, working with and crosstraining with 94Fs my entire Army career, we were never this careful with our parts and everything worked just fine (no dust or fingerprints/oil).

You left out what makes a good parts kit or tube and which ones are desirable. I’m new to this and have no idea what to buy

An easier why to purge is to get a 5gal plastic bucket, place your disassembled kit into it. Then fill it with argon, and since argon is heavier than air it will displace the air then screw everything tight.

Awesome information! Best channel on YT!!

Bro we needed this! Thank you!

If you get a Eisco Hand Operated Vacuum Pump ($44 at fishersci and comes with the PVS-14 purge kit), a t-fitting, and Night Vision Nitrogen Purge Kit Adapter ($30 at Opapug), you could draw a vacuum on the nod with the pump, and then pressurize it with your bottle. It may not be perfect, but it could help a bit. Just a friendly suggestion, and would not cost the $1.2k for the whole kit.

My question is what websites/locations are you going to for finding these items and what are their relative prices

When bagging food, manufacturers just waft or drop N2 into the bag as the food drops in ... don't feel bad this is a great way and good idea. If you can get N2 used it argon I would think works good for getting moisture out.

who doesn't need night vision honestly the digit is quite cheap and reasonable now a days.

Hand powered vacuum pumps are quite cheap. The other benefit to pulling a vacuum is evaporating any surface moisture, be it water or volatile oils.

This is a GREAT guide, thank you

Rare example where the comments are as informative as the video. A lot of experience in this community. Nice.

Just checked prices, decent intensifier tubes are 1500-2500$ on eBay, and the housing kits, about 500-1000$ including wiring, lenses etc.

To add to the topic of nitrogen purging a bit - the idea behind nitrogen purging is to eliminate atmospheric moisture that leads to fogging. Nitrogen is one of a few gasses that can be used and it typically used over argon because of its abundance. A solution I've used for nitrogen purging is to use an inexpensive vacuum pump from harbor freight, a pressure cooker and a thick plate of Lexan and a rubber gasket the diameter of the pressure cooker. Drill and tap at least two ports on the Lexan, one for the vacuum pump and one for purging gas. The additional hole in my application was for a vacuum gauge. Place the device in the pressure cooker, place the lexan and gasket on top, attach the gas line and vacuum pump lines, purge the gas line, pull a vacuum for about an hour (or more if you'd like) to ensure all the air and moisture is evacuated, slowly introduce gas until you meet or exceed atmospheric pressure, quickly seal the device. I'll eventually upload a video detailing the process and design of the chamber when I have time.

I built a small enclosure to help service one of my buddy's NVGs. I put all the parts in and all to tools needed, then filled it with nitrogen for a few minutes to purge out all the regular air. When it was all ready, It was a dust free environment was filled with nitrogen, so there was no need to purge since almost all the air inside the enclosure was replaced with nitrogen. It had those incubator style gloves to be able to put the NVG together. Once it was put together, it could be removed from the enclosure, and boom, NVGs with nitrogen without traditional purging. It was a temporary one made of that plastic corrugated signboard and hot glue and duct tape. We did this in my garage with the door open to outside and I had a fan blowing across it so that I wouldnt be breathing in much nitrogen while the regulator was keeping positive pressure inside the enclosure, just to keep any air from actually getting in. It was pretty easy to make so I didnt keep it since I didnt have room for it at the time. Eventually I want to build a proper one out of sheet aluminum and get it all sealed with a pressure gage and a valve system so I can service all my stuff and friends stuff, be it NVGs or binoculars, electronics, etc.

When he pulled out the wine preserver I was like “wtf is he doing?” Then it clicked, argon is heavier than air so it will “pool” and displace all the air in the housing. Such a great and simple solution.

Where do you get the parts for the housing and tube intensifiers ? Thanks for the video.

I’d me happy to supply the DIY community with tubes and parts! I have pvs14 white phosphor tubes starting at $1400 with data sheets. We also offer cleaning and purging service starting at $149

Didn't know this was a diy thing. Awesome you answered my argon question.

I love this channel. Great tips.

You know, next time I'd try unscrewing the housing before doing the argon purge: you will allow most of the trapped air to escape the housing and be displaced by the argon. Perhaps you could have your buddy continuously spray the argon through the port while you re-tighten the housing -> this may allow a more complete purge.

If you're going to be working on statically sensitive items like a tube on your bench, consider building in a grounding bar/strap assembly. A copper bar can be installed above/within reach of your work station and grounded through a cable to the electrical ground of your breaker box (large work capacity afforded this way, over a simple wrist strap alone) and a rubber, anti-fatigue/static mat placed on floor beneath your feet. Note that when you install your bar, have it stand out from the wall 1/2" (or more) with rubber tubing on the bolts/screws (you can use drywall anchors, etc.) to ensure the proper grounding path is maintained all the way to the ground point (ideal instal tips). Upon going to work, stand on the mat (breaks static buildup of carpet, etc.) and just reach up and "slap" the copper bar. "Presto," your are static free! This was the work station setup when I worked with statically primed munitions in the military which could be set off by just a few millivolts. That's not much. We had a galvanometer on hand which we used to test ourselves as well as systems and our grounding point. 10-12 millivolts could set off a statically triggered munition primer and I could generate 27+MV. I had to constantly be slappingthe bar, not justonce when I startedwork. 😆 (I couldn't wear battery type watches, either, they'd go wacky or die). Also, you can attach a standard, antistatic wrist strap to the copper grounding bar and wear it to ensure you stay 100% static free at all times. It could be anything you're working on that you want to keep static or dust free, not just tubes and munitions to warrant such an inexpensive but useful item. It's just getting it done that takes a few dollars for materials and some minor labor. Military setups like we had were grounded from the "slap bar" by copper cable directly to a grounding rod, sunk at least 3' into the earth (you most likely have one by your house for communications systems, anyway). Those grounding rods are also available at Home Depot and Lowes. Just drive it into the ground near the corner of your house nearest your work space (i.e. garage) or you could put one close to a window near the room if you can run a cable out through the window or make a hole in the wall or casing. This is obviously extreme and, as I say, you can also ground it to the breaker box in your home or even an outlet ground point, if that's more convenient. It's better than nothing! The point is, with my tips and some materials you can make a completely static free environment for your work area. Just figure which grounding point best suits your needs and go with the simplest type. But a dedicated grounding rod is best if you want foolproof.

Thank you for your information sir

This was fascinating! Thanks. Regarding the wine preserver, I'm pretty sure it's to avoid oxidation. I don't drink wine but I know oxidation can lead to a metallic taste. In fact searching for how to prevent wine oxidation shows the product you used in the video. :)

ITAR is just to help keep the biggest arms dealer in business. Which would be the United States.

Awesome. #1 channel

Excellent vid. Thanks for making! 😁

Been doing this for over a decade. Kind of regret not starting a business off it but moved onto other things. Figured others were more worthy of picking up on this. It’s already been mentioned on what you covered and didn’t say (e.g. reverse threads, alum. foil, Ar density, dust, purging). A word about purging is that the N2 kits are criminally priced. The hand pump is something I could literally still get from any mechanic shop. Valves, tubing, and switches are easy to engineer too. The adapter is easy to machine and even buy for cheap. N2 is easy to come by any gas company for torches/welding or med/lab supply. Regulator too is easy to get. Never understood why N2 kits were $1000s other than being a juicy govt contract. Worse off is the “optics testing kit”. Reduced to $5000 (from $10000s) last I saw years ago. I just stuck with the basic field tester kit and some optics know how for $300. The AN/PVS-14 was a great optic. I wish the AN/PSQ-20 could have lived up to it. Low weight, small profile, multiple mount options in handheld, rifle, head/helmet. Fusion just can’t compete to this day with its proprietary components, limited mounting and bulky appearance. I mean the I2 tube itself is not easy to make either hence expensive but that’s the rub. It’s one small unit to assemble around upon. Making it easy to service/repair. Kinda apples to oranges though cause thermal requires additional circuitry/components. Maybe more into the future fusion may compete. IMHO it does not in this day and age.

Note: Those masks they mandated are actually useful for this. Helps so you don't get moisture from your breath onto the components if you're working closely with it.

You sir, just made my night. Awesome video! Are there more trustworthy sites to find pvs kits and tubes?

Used to use Argon for polymer processing in the the summer time - heavier than air. Nitrogen in the winters, because the air was so dry anyway. Argon is much more expensive, but much more effective of an inert gas. Window companies caught on years ago by having double and 3x pane windows with N2 and Ar in between the panes as an inert layer...

Great I needed one for school supplies but this saves me a lot of money