diff --git a/addons/observability/otel-agent/values.yaml b/addons/observability/otel-agent/values.yaml
index fe0d6f1..02b439b 100644
--- a/addons/observability/otel-agent/values.yaml
+++ b/addons/observability/otel-agent/values.yaml
@@ -18,7 +18,14 @@ mode: daemonset
 # artifact. image.repository is mandatory — chart >=0.110 ships no default.
 image:
   repository: otel/opentelemetry-collector-contrib
-  tag: "0.157.0"
+  # No `tag:` deliberately. The chart renders
+  # `.Values.image.tag | default .Chart.AppVersion`, so leaving it unset makes the
+  # image follow the chart pin instead of being maintained beside it. A hand-set
+  # tag here has to be moved by a second act nothing performs or checks — Renovate
+  # sees the chart (argocd manager) and not this file — which is how the two spent
+  # a stretch a release apart. The contrib distro publishes the same version
+  # numbers as the core collector the appVersion tracks, verified against the
+  # registry for the version this pin resolves to.
 
 # Stable object names (DaemonSet/ConfigMap/ClusterRole) independent of the ArgoCD
 # release name, so the gateway address and RBAC bindings don't shift on a rename.
diff --git a/addons/observability/otel-gateway-floor/values.yaml b/addons/observability/otel-gateway-floor/values.yaml
index 1bf7138..fdf170c 100644
--- a/addons/observability/otel-gateway-floor/values.yaml
+++ b/addons/observability/otel-gateway-floor/values.yaml
@@ -17,7 +17,14 @@ mode: deployment
 
 image:
   repository: otel/opentelemetry-collector-contrib
-  tag: '0.157.0'
+  # No `tag:` deliberately. The chart renders
+  # `.Values.image.tag | default .Chart.AppVersion`, so leaving it unset makes the
+  # image follow the chart pin instead of being maintained beside it. A hand-set
+  # tag here has to be moved by a second act nothing performs or checks — Renovate
+  # sees the chart (argocd manager) and not this file — which is how the two spent
+  # a stretch a release apart. The contrib distro publishes the same version
+  # numbers as the core collector the appVersion tracks, verified against the
+  # registry for the version this pin resolves to.
 
 # Identical object names to the full tier, deliberately: the node agent forwards
 # to otel-gateway.monitoring.svc.cluster.local:4317 and the telemetry alias
diff --git a/addons/observability/otel-gateway/values.yaml b/addons/observability/otel-gateway/values.yaml
index 19e8049..52e5b29 100644
--- a/addons/observability/otel-gateway/values.yaml
+++ b/addons/observability/otel-gateway/values.yaml
@@ -15,7 +15,14 @@ mode: deployment
 
 image:
   repository: otel/opentelemetry-collector-contrib
-  tag: "0.157.0"
+  # No `tag:` deliberately. The chart renders
+  # `.Values.image.tag | default .Chart.AppVersion`, so leaving it unset makes the
+  # image follow the chart pin instead of being maintained beside it. A hand-set
+  # tag here has to be moved by a second act nothing performs or checks — Renovate
+  # sees the chart (argocd manager) and not this file — which is how the two spent
+  # a stretch a release apart. The contrib distro publishes the same version
+  # numbers as the core collector the appVersion tracks, verified against the
+  # registry for the version this pin resolves to.
 
 # Stable object names — the Service the agents forward to (otel-gateway) and the
 # SA the AMP Pod Identity association binds must not shift on an ArgoCD rename.
diff --git a/applicationsets/addons-otel-agent.yaml b/applicationsets/addons-otel-agent.yaml
index f840f5c..f46fac4 100644
--- a/applicationsets/addons-otel-agent.yaml
+++ b/applicationsets/addons-otel-agent.yaml
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ spec:
       sources:
         - repoURL: https://open-telemetry.github.io/opentelemetry-helm-charts
           chart: opentelemetry-collector
-          targetRevision: 0.166.0
+          targetRevision: 0.169.0
           helm:
             releaseName: otel-agent
             valueFiles:
diff --git a/applicationsets/addons-otel-gateway-floor.yaml b/applicationsets/addons-otel-gateway-floor.yaml
index a036cca..4c9b302 100644
--- a/applicationsets/addons-otel-gateway-floor.yaml
+++ b/applicationsets/addons-otel-gateway-floor.yaml
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ spec:
       sources:
         - repoURL: https://open-telemetry.github.io/opentelemetry-helm-charts
           chart: opentelemetry-collector
-          targetRevision: 0.166.0
+          targetRevision: 0.169.0
           helm:
             releaseName: otel-gateway
             # extraEnvs is a list, so Helm replaces it wholesale — valuesObject
diff --git a/applicationsets/addons-otel-gateway.yaml b/applicationsets/addons-otel-gateway.yaml
index 0713302..3f922f6 100644
--- a/applicationsets/addons-otel-gateway.yaml
+++ b/applicationsets/addons-otel-gateway.yaml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ spec:
       sources:
         - repoURL: https://open-telemetry.github.io/opentelemetry-helm-charts
           chart: opentelemetry-collector
-          targetRevision: 0.166.0
+          targetRevision: 0.169.0
           helm:
             releaseName: otel-gateway
             # extraEnvs is a list, so Helm replaces it wholesale — valuesObject