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BK8000 borescope first images

turbo

Well Known Member
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i have been lookn for a scope to see the valves in my engine. here is a $1,000 scope from snapon made in china. it can view 90 degrees off the head.

the picks are from a cylinder i borrowed from my mechanic. the test went great and i plan on keeping the unit. love the features and it connects up to the mac to transfer images.

cant wait to see inside my 360, 540, 582 and other places.
 
Nice.
I was looking up the specs for that scope. And it does say the resolution of the photos and videos it takes. Do you know?
 
I think I'm using the same dental camera as Bob now. But clearly, his looks a Lot better :)
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i have been lookn for a scope to see the valves in my engine. here is a $1,000 scope from snapon made in china. it can view 90 degrees off the head.

the picks are from a cylinder i borrowed from my mechanic. the test went great and i plan on keeping the unit. love the features and it connects up to the mac to transfer images.

cant wait to see inside my 360, 540, 582 and other places.

Turbo, I like the dental pics also but I'll buy lunch if you bring your new borescope over to Venice ( in a few months when I get home ). :D :D
 
Not all chinese dental cams are the same. I tried this route, and i wasn't too happy with the kludged results myself.

Unfortunately, i have 3 or 4 different snake cameras for less than $100, which all have their deficiencies, too.

In the end, i ended up using a friend's cheapo harbor freight camera with an effective mirror, which seemed to work out the best so far.
 
I tried the HF camera, which was the more expensive model, and it was awful. The LED was too blue which made it almost unusable.

The optical clarity of the mirrors typically included with the cheap scopes is not good and the reason why the dental camera I have works so well is because the mirror is not required to look at the valves.
 
I also have the ATS "borescope", which is EXACTLY the same thing as the Harbor Freight unit (only more expensive). It Sucks. It may be for sale on VAF soon...
 
I use the same camera that Mike Busch uses. Search eBay for UltraCam dental; several currently available for $100-300. These are US made professional dental cameras that originally cost approx. $7000 in the 1980s, and are no longer made. Make sure you get one that doesn't need repair; I don't believe the manufacturer still exists.

Excellent optics, internal adjustable lighting, easily fits through a plug hole, 8 ft. cable. Can be mated with either a laptop or TV for viewing.

I previously tried 3 of the cheapie Chinese cameras; one was DOA and the other 2 had terrible optics. Also have the HF camera; OK for looking inside your wings, but not much else.

Jim Berry
RV-10
 
here are the latest pics taken during my current inspection. the last one is the cylinder wall.

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A Year Later...

And I see a difference in my # 1 Exhaust valve. As you can tell the #1 exhaust valve has changed.... :( the color has gotten darker, especially around the 1:00 o'clock position and possibly 8:00. All the rest of the valves look the same as they did a year ago.

So the question for the engine Guru's, should I be concerned about this? :confused:

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This pic is from last years inspection.

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Sorry for Hi Jacking your post Turbo, but this seemed like a good place to post this. ;)

Regards,
 
Last edited:
Scott, yes definitely you should be concerned, this is exactly the type of thing you are looking for...hot spots on the valve.
 
Thanks for the reply Bob. I was surprised when I saw how much it had changed. :eek: The rest of them all look the same as they did a year ago. It's a Bummer... leaves me in a dilemma over what to do with this engine now. :confused: It has 2,050 hours on it. 1,270 on 339A and 780 from the Cessna it came off of. Not sure what I'm going to do next....

Thanks
 
Easy enough to pull that cylinder and replace the valve, guide, and seat until you decide to do a full overhaul.
 
Turbo, nice looking pictures and your valves look good too.

339A, good Picture of a valve going bad developing a hot spot.
Your investment in a bore scope is paying off by seeing a developing valve failure before it will happen.
Take Bobs advice and by all accounts you seem to have gotten your money's worth out of that engine.
 
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