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Cheap O Borescope reviews?

NYTOM

NYTOM

Well Known Member
Wondering if anybody has tried the Borescope offered by Harbor Freight.
Got a flyer today and there's a coupon for $80 bucks off.:eek: Thats $69.99 for the whole set up. Might be a nice addition to the tool box if it's any good. ;)
Anybody have one that can comment?
 
Great question....I saw that ad as well. Wonder if a color camera for the same price would be better than HF's unit:
http://www.amazon.com/Vividia-Portable-Digital-Flexible-Inspection/dp/B00AIFSSUG/ref=sr_1_25?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1409711302&sr=1-25&keywords=color+borescope

Then there is the USB cable camera's that have a larger head and LED's and require a computer or tablet with USB port. Price is low enough it might be worth investigating?
http://www.amazon.com/Dreamall-Waterproof-Pipeline-Inspection-Camera/dp/B00FVTJS44/ref=sr_1_5?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1409711633&sr=1-5&keywords=color+borescope
 
NYTOM said:
Wondering if anybody has tried the Borescope offered by Harbor Freight.
Got a flyer today and there's a coupon for $80 bucks off.:eek: Thats $69.99 for the whole set up. Might be a nice addition to the tool box if it's any good. ;)
Anybody have one that can comment?
Click to expand...


No input on HF scopes, but a coworker has this one from Walmart. I found a cracked rib in an AW109 vertical stabilizer with it a couple months ago during a pre-buy inspection, that I didn't see with my flashlight and inspection mirror.

It's nowhere near on par with the GE Inspection Technologies scope we had at a previous job, or the Snap-On scope we had at my last job for a particular daily inspection item on the S-92 helicopter... but it gets the job done.

Depending on what you're trying to see, and where you need to get to to see it, the cheaper (read that as bigger) scopes may work out for you.
 
I have one of the HF scopes, but at $70 I consider it over priced. If you want to look for a screwdriver you lost in the wing or tailcone, it would do the job. It is worthless for engine work.

Jim Berry
RV-10
 
What Jim said

Don't waste your money with one of those.
Here is a fairly inexpensive one that actually works for looking at your valves.

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=109917&page=2&highlight=borescope

It's not that the quality of the video or pictures is of lower resolution but you cannot turn it around in a cylinder and look at the valves.
You can see some of it with the dental cams but you cannot see the whole
top of the cylinder and most importantly you cannot see the whole face of the valve.
I cannot tell you how many people around the airport have the cheapo HF
and none of them is able to get a picture of the top of the cylinder.
It is why you need it, to look at the valves and see if they are burnt, unless you are looking for a lost screwdriver in the wing:D
 
Careful. Read that link that Ernst put up.

I bought one of the upscale harbor freight units discused in the link.

I have not been able to clean the mirror and get images as good as the gent in the link.
YMMV.
 
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one more data point

I recently bought an interesting one from the land 'o the rising sun, $40, and while the pic was ok, the software was not, and it wasn't recognized by 4 of 5 devices we tried it with.....only works with Win 7 on my wife's laptop, after you disable the webcam. ....then Windows movie maker is ok.
I was hoping to find an iPad or Android app for it, but no such luck. I wouldn't get this exact one, the focus is about 1.5", not the 5mm shown.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Free-Mirro-M...50?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item418582d6da


tried it at the airport a few days ago, and the little lens fogged up, making the image useless.
will try again if it ever stops raining.

apparently some guys have hangars for this kind of foolishness.
 
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The dental cams are so cheap that it might be worth some experimenting.
I removed the entire housing on mine. Used heat shrink to cover it. Glued a tiny mirror to the end to make it look backwards at the valves.
The LED lights are bright and the image sharp.
Software that comes with these china cameras is very cludgy...
Just get a driver that will work... and do your own image manipulation in other software.
 
DanBaier said:
The HF cheap model is not too good. On the other hand, the HF model at http://www.harborfreight.com/high-resolution-digital-inspection-camera-with-recorder-60695.html (a lot more expensive) actually works very well.

As a sample of 1, I tried the dental cameras with the PC and pretty much decided to move away from that - problems with the software and just getting it to work (when it did work, the imaging was excellent).

Dan
Click to expand...

... This was my experience to the letter. The cheapo dental cameras were a joke for us, mainly due to a hole array of software issues. I tried a friends "real" high end dental camera and was extremely impressed with it. Then he said, "Be very careful with this as it cost me $2,300.00". I purchased the top of their line H/F unit and it works pretty well for the cost. For cylinder inspection I found the built in led light to be inadequate as it offered weird reflections in the images. I soldered wires to a small instrument light that I insert into the opposite spark-plug hole and cover over the led on the unit. This offers up images that look like the real world, with no shadows or distortions. Not as good as the $ 2,300.00 unit but definitely not 12 times worse. Thanks, Allan...:D
 
Okay ...

So, I didn't have the time I thought I'd have today, but I did stick the probe in a friend's cylinder and took a quick shot. This is the worst it gets - only one plug removed and with no light enhancement.

2qk5xfk.jpg


For me, this is an easy solution - not perfect, but it works well and it gives me the info I need without a lot of cost or screwing around.

The HF item number is 60695.

Dan
 
DanBaier said:
The HF cheap model is not too good. On the other hand, the HF model at http://www.harborfreight.com/high-resolution-digital-inspection-camera-with-recorder-60695.html (a lot more expensive) actually works very well.

As a sample of 1, I tried the dental cameras with the PC and pretty much decided to move away from that - problems with the software and just getting it to work (when it did work, the imaging was excellent).

Dan
Click to expand...


I have this one as well, for the cost this does a great job of pictures and video. I have looked and am unable to find the video I took, sorry.
 
Dan,
If you get a chance, take a picture of one whole valve face.
Also a shot of the bridge between the 2 valves.
 
DanBaier said:
Okay ...

So, I didn't have the time I thought I'd have today, but I did stick the probe in a friend's cylinder and took a quick shot. This is the worst it gets - only one plug removed and with no light enhancement.

2qk5xfk.jpg


For me, this is an easy solution - not perfect, but it works well and it gives me the info I need without a lot of cost or screwing around.

The HF item number is 60695.

Dan
Click to expand...

That's pretty good Dan. I could live with that. Can you sweep around the whole cylinder and see the valves adequately ?
 
... take a picture of one whole valve face. Also a shot of the bridge between the 2 valves.
Click to expand...

That's pretty good Dan. I could live with that. Can you sweep around the whole cylinder and see the valves adequately ?
Click to expand...

My goal was to just show a quick picture of the resolution of the camera.

Sorry, but I may not be able to get to the hangar until at least Sunday and I don't know if I'll be lucky enough to find someone with the cowl off and plugs out.

You can sweep around the whole cylinder. You will probably want some supplemental light (ie., from a small flexible LED flashlight). The reason is that the onboard LED shines in one direction, but when you put the attachment on to look back at the valves, the reflected illumination in the cylinder may not be as bright as you would like.

For me, the camera resolution is fine and the added light is easy to provide.

If there's a project open this weekend, I'll update the posting.

Dan
 
Has anyone tested the various Milwaukee M-Spector 360 Inspection Cameras? They vary in price from $130 to $350. I have seen them operate in Home Depot but not in an actual engine test.

Ed
 
Here's what you can expect from the $30 dental cams, as far as field of view (I did nothing to improve image quality, normally just use the thing real time). Taken from bottom plug hole using integrated LED lighting:

2udS43c.jpg


2Q6zksh.jpg


7xweNdH.jpg


vWOboJh.jpg
 
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Not bad at all

Those are pretty good pictures.
I am curious about the focal length of this camera.
It appears to be several inches.
What kind of camera is it and did you modify the neck to get it into the spark plug hole?
 
Not sure about the focal length, just assume it is very short since it is a 'dental' camera, real time pictures look better than captures, IMO. This is the camera and I modified it like this.
 
Yes I bought the HBF more expensive one $160. Reg price is $299 but always see it for $199 and with the 20% off coupon $160. I love it! Here's the big difference, it's CAMERA LENS PIECE. The $69 unit, you can NOT get the lens into the spark plug hole,it's too big. The $160 unit is smaller and I felt it a lot better unit all together. You should be able to look at it at HBF STORE HOWEVER NEW COMPANY POLICY is if you take it home and bring it back there is a 20% restocking fee. I filed a corporate complaint against store policy two months ago. Salesperson said they couldn't open product box and that I would have to purchase it and THEN open the box in the store and at which time if I Didn't want it I would be charged a 20% restocking fee ($40).THATS RIGHT $40 just to look at it in the store. 3 People in line at the register behind me voiced their opinions about such a crazy policy. Good news you can now open box in store. Sad thing was when I got the camera home to charge the battery the charge light wouldn't go off. So back to the store with the defective unit. Second camera works great. I received a apology for the inconvenience for the first visit problems and on my subsequent visit was requested to see manager who welcomed me back to the store. It was a special treat to be welcomed back in such a nice manner.! Manager apologized for the inconvenience. I like the unit for inspections on my RV9A. Plus in wall inspections at home for electrical and plumbing are very easy with the bendable flex cable.
Hope it helps.
 
'new' ish RYOBI bluetooth inspection cam

this one looked promising.....about $99 cdn. at Deep H.... ( sorry, just always call it that here!) Home Depot.
the cam end looks exactly like a cam I bought online for $40, but doesn't look like they come with 45 angle mirror, ( lots of those on eBay for $5 or so)

Looks like reviews of it are not good....at least not an engine borescope.

http://gizmodo.com/ryobis-new-accessories-turn-your-smartphone-into-a-tool-1646082284
 
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HF60695

Bought and used the HF 60695. Was on sale $189, -20%, so I guess I paid $151. Works. Note camera has better resolution than the screen by 2x.

As an added bonus, the nephews enjoyed it, but I'm not sure I want to know what they investigated with it (8 and11). It still works, which is knowledge enough.

HF guy said that preventing the ends from separating from the flexi is the key to life. Once it separates, it pulls the internal wires and that's it. I may heat shrink the first half inch of the intersection.

Rick
 
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