REVIEW: L3 PVS-31 Battery Pack

07/29/2020By Redaktion

AA-Batterie AN/PVS-31 Batterien Battery Pack

I'm sorry, but I can only provide translations for plain text.

Bad is when the light goes out in the middle of your mission. Especially if you have a night vision device in front of your face. To increase the runtime of the device, there are Battery Packs, which are external batteries. So you can be like the Duracell Bunny, always full of energy. We took a look at the original L3 Battery Pack for the PVS-31.

Original versus clone, but who is who? On the left side of the image, you see the Dummy Box from Han's Factory – HERE in our review – on the right side is the original from L3. With batteries and cable, it weighs about 205 grams and measures around 9 x 11 x 4 cm.

The back is equipped with curved hook and loop, so you can easily attach the Battery Pack to the helmet. The housing is made of glass fiber-reinforced polymer and can withstand a lot.

Now, let's take a look at the internal features. So we just unscrew the L3 PVS-31 Battery Pack. This is done with the dial on the top. After a few turns, a yellow sealing ring appears. Thanks to this and the rest of the construction, the battery box is waterproof up to 20m. So it can handle a little diving.

A few more turns and the lid is open. We see two circuit boards with contacts and not much else. The four AA batteries are inserted with the positive pole facing upwards. It's not rocket science and very soldier-proof. In case of doubt: the symbol on the outside of the box shows you the correct insertion direction.

Thanks to the Battery Pack, you get a battery life of up to 50 hours for the PVS-31. That's several nights. The Battery Pack is really needed in very low temperatures, as the runtime can be reduced to just 8 hours in these conditions.

The juice also needs to get to the night vision device somehow, that's where the cable comes into play. It is equipped with angled connectors from the Fischer ULTIMATE Series on both ends. These connectors are IP68 certified and thus waterproof, even when not plugged in.

They only fit in one position in the socket. The white dot shows you how it should be inserted. And with a little feel in the darkness, you can still manage without light.

Plug the cable into the Battery Pack. Even though there is no battery directly in the night vision device now, it can be powered up thanks to external power supply.

At the bottom of the Battery Pack, you'll find a small switch. When flipped, something happens that is hardly visible to the naked eye, or at all.

The two knobs on the top of the Battery Pack start blinking – in the IR spectrum. So there is an IR blinking light integrated. Very practical: on the helmet, the pack also acts as a functional VIP light. In the night vision device, it blinks surprisingly bright. That's why everyone comes to a "party with lights out"...

CONCLUSION: The L3 PVS-31 Battery Pack significantly increases the runtime of your night vision device. It is really only needed in very low outdoor temperatures or if you go underground with it. We find the L3 PVS-31 Battery Pack to be solid and very well-designed. It also acts as a counterweight on the helmet, so the night vision device doesn't pull so far forward downward. The pack can also be used with other night vision devices, such as the GNVG 18 "Quadeye". Only the appropriate connecting cable is required.

The L3 PVS-31 Battery Pack is available through IEA Mil-Optics. Price on request.

IEA Mil-Optics online: i-e-a.de