Harbor Freight High Resolution inspection camera

[NotarPilot]

I have an inspection camera made by General which I got from Aircraft Spruce which leaves a lot to be desired. I saw this product from Harbor Freight and was wondering if any of you are using this as a borescope. HF makes some decent stuff sometimes and was wondering if this might be worth getting for taking a look in those jugs. I wonder how good the resolution is.

Anyone have some images they took with this?

[tigers2007]

I just ordered this from Amazon for $38. It is supposed to be lighted, with 2M resolution and WIFI. I should get it tomorrow night. SanSiDo Wifi Endoscope Wifi Box Endoscope Borescope Camera 2.0 Megapixels HD 7mm 6 L... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N2O1UYR/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_o8tMyb792ATD0


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[NotarPilot]

15 minutes ago, tigers2007 said:

I just ordered this from Amazon for $38. It is supposed to be lighted, with 2M resolution and WIFI. I should get it tomorrow night. SanSiDo Wifi Endoscope Wifi Box Endoscope Borescope Camera 2.0 Megapixels HD 7mm 6 L... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N2O1UYR/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_o8tMyb792ATD0


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Awesome! I'm looking forward to hearing your experience. Hopefully you'll be able to post some good pictures once your borescope your cylinders.

[neilpilot]

I purchased the Harbour Freight camera in the original post about a month ago, and have been using it at work to inspect distillation column internals.  We have an expensive instrument at work that's much higher quality but difficult to use, and it has a head a bit too large for my application.

The HF camera works well enough for me, it's easy to use.  However it can only focus on an object that's relatively close to the head (for my application I'd prefer a larger upper limit on focal length).  Also, in order to adequately illuminate the inspection area I tapped a small LED flashlight to the head, which I'm able to do since I'm entering thru 1 1/2" openings. 

I suspect this might work much better for Mooney cylinder inspections, due to the relatively small inspection space.

[Marauder]

I have an inspection camera made by General which I got from Aircraft Spruce which leaves a lot to be desired. I saw this product from Harbor Freight and was wondering if any of you are using this as a borescope. HF makes some decent stuff sometimes and was wondering if this might be worth getting for taking a look in those jugs. I wonder how good the resolution is.

Anyone have some images they took with this?

 

For cylinder inspection you will need the camera probe to fold back on itself to see the valves (once you go through a spark plug hole). I have one of the flexible endoscopes without an articulating head and is really difficult to control where it is looking.

 

This is the one I have. Connects to my cell phone (Android version).

 

Vividia Ablescope VA-400 USB Rigid Borescope Endoscope with 180 Degree Articulating 8.5mm Diameter Probe https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GY7C9ZW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_H3BMyb57BPYSD

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[neilpilot]

21 minutes ago, Marauder said:

 

 

For cylinder inspection you will need the camera probe to fold back on itself to see the valves (once you go through a spark plug hole).

 

The HF camera in the original post does come with a clip-on mirror that should allow valve inspection without folding the probe back.  I say that, in theory, because I haven't actually used the mirror attachment.

[Marauder]

The HF camera in the original post does come with a clip-on mirror that should allow valve inspection without folding the probe back.  I say that, in theory, because I haven't actually used the mirror attachment.

I have that attachment for the second scope I have. Always worried that it would fall off and I would be trying to get it out of my cylinder using my new flexible magnet gizmo.

The nice thing about the articulating version is the ability to move everywhere from 0° to 180° in articulation. But they are pricey.


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[1964-M20E]

I have the next model HF camera it works pretty good. When using the mirror it seems to focus on the dust on the mirror and you can't see what you are looking at.

 

someone has posted an articulating camera that seems like it is more suitable for cylinder inspections.

[Bob_Belville]

Lynn Mace has an inexpensive (Harbor Freight) camera. He was able to inspect the valves of my engine using the mirror. I'll get him to take some pics on one of the Mooneys he's annuaing now. (I had a hard time maneuvering the wand myself, it apparently takes some practice.)

[Brandontwalker]

I bought a HF inspection camera around a year ago to view the coil on the air conditioner in my car.  It did well for that purpose.  The picture quality is not great, but is sufficient for most tasks.  Mine has LED lights built into the camera head and they are pretty bright.  My only gripe (probably associated with user error and lack of experience with the unit) is that it seems you need three hands to use the thing.  One to hold the display and two to manipulate the camera.

[mike_elliott]

3 hours ago, neilpilot said:

The HF camera in the original post does come with a clip-on mirror that should allow valve inspection without folding the probe back.  I say that, in theory, because I haven't actually used the mirror attachment.

I have one of these HF specials Neil, but it just "barely" fits into a spark plug hole. I wont chance putting the clip on mirror on as it may end up in the cyl. I purchased a $30 USB camera on ebay that does a very nice job of examining the valves and cyl walls, and you can capture the image and send off to Paul K if you want his pro opinion. I found the HF scope better suited to finding that dropped nut or screw

 

[neilpilot]

10 minutes ago, mike_elliott said:

I have one of these HF specials Neil, but it just "barely" fits into a spark plug hole. I wont chance putting the clip on mirror on as it may end up in the cyl. I purchased a $30 USB camera on ebay that does a very nice job of examining the valves and cyl walls, and you can capture the image and send off to Paul K if you want his pro opinion. I found the HF scope better suited to finding that dropped nut or screw

 

Mike, I wasn't endorsing the HF camera for engine inspection, and if I were buying a camera for that purpose it would probably NOT be from HF.  I was simply responding to the OP, since I've been using that camera at work for the past month. 

PS:  My second retirement is planned for March 31, and that date can't come fast enough

[kortopates]

I'd recommend against wasting your money on the HF tool - we've seen far better borescope tools become available than these requiring the mirror attachment making these a needless risk.

 

The one cited by Marauder above is the best one currently available and a real bargain since it's fully articulating and performs as well as the best borescope out there for 10x the price. It displays on a android cell phone or tablet as Chris noted above but for another $100 you can get their accessory to attach it to an apple IOS device.

 

If you don't have the $150 for the above, then I highly recommend one of the cheap dental scopes available online which are well documented on Beechtalk. These cost only about $30 and like the above come with a USB connector to connect to a PC or android. To perform at the their best they need to be slightly modified with a dremel tool and some heat shrink which only takes minutes. But they take good pictures sideways of the valves - which is what you really need.

 

Also Mike Busch wrote a good article not long ago on just how good the Able scope is - you should be able to google it.

 

The HF type scopes can be helpful for inspecting your tank sealant and occasionally checking in wing inspection holes.

 

 

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[DonMuncy]

3 hours ago, kortopates said:

To perform at the their best they need to be slightly modified with a dremel tool and some heat shrink which only takes minutes. But they take good pictures sideways of the valves - which is what you really need.

 

Can you elaborate on the failings without modification, and how you modified it.

Thanks

[kortopates]

1 hour ago, DonMuncy said:

Can you elaborate on the failings without modification, and how you modified it.

Thanks

Sure, they still work without modification. But since they barely fit through the spark hole to begin with they aren't to mobile once they are in the plug hole. Therefore its best to dremel off the top protective plastic of the wand starting about a 1" above the camera and light. Then cover the exposed wires with heat shrink tubing. After doing so, you'll have much more side to side mobility to help you get better angles when the narrower wand is the plug hole. There are picture of the modification on Beechtalk as well and recommended names of models/suppliers for these.   

[tigers2007]

On 2/6/2017 at 10:53 PM, NotarPilot said:

Awesome! I'm looking forward to hearing your experience. Hopefully you'll be able to post some good pictures once your borescope your cylinders.

Turns out that this camera is a great concept. Wifi works great - very nice that there are no cables to fumble with. The problem is quite annoying though. The ad in Amazon claims "2 MP". That translates to 1080p "HD" resolution in my book. Unfortunately it only allows me to use 640x480 resolution which is 0.3MP. I'm returning it now. I'll buy a different one and see if it is good as advertised.

You can see in the photos below. Second one was taken down my cold air return to the furnace. Quite nasty.

[Vance Harral]

I, too, bought a cheapie $40 Amazon.com special and used it today to look at the valves in my engine.  The model I bought is slightly different than the one tigers2007 linked to, but I suspect it's the same camera and guts.  The link to mine is https://www.amazon.com/Endoscope-Depstech-Inspection-Megapixels-Smartphone/dp/B01MYTHWK4/ref=sr_1_4?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1486614401&sr=1-4&keywords=endoscope

I also seem to have the problem where saved pics are always 640x480, even when I select the highest resolution (2 megapixels would be 1600x1200 in 4:3 aspect ratio).  It's not immediately obvious to me if the camera is only a 0.3MP camera or if this is a software problem in the free app which the instructions tell you install on your phone.  That said, I was still able to get some nice, clear images of my valves, see below.

Note that while the camera comes with a 90 degree mirror attachment, it didn't work as well as I hoped.  The mirror had minor defects out of the box (I suspect it's made of plastic, not glass), and I found the camera was focusing on the mirror surface itself, rather than the reflected image.  But the camera and cable were small and flexible enough that I was able to bend the camera 180 degrees around and safety wire it to the cable, with the resultant apparatus still being skinny enough to fit in a spark plug hole.  After playing with various cable bends, I was eventually able to get some nice images.  The mechanics at my shop agreed the images are as good or better than they can see with the Snap-on borescope they paid $800 for several years ago.

[NotarPilot]

Those are great pictures Vance! I think I'm gonna have to get me one of those.

[ArtVandelay]

Is it my imagination but the 2nd exhaust valve looks like it's concave with indentation in the center?

[Vance Harral]

3 minutes ago, teejayevans said:

Is it my imagination but the 2nd exhaust valve looks like it's concave with indentation in the center?

I think it's more likely to just be a symmetric pattern of deposits, with slightly less "goo" at the center.  All I know is the exhaust valve in all 4 cylinders looked the same, so I consider it normal at 1850 hours SMOH.  Mainly I was looking for green coloring, asymmetry, or evidence of damage at the edges.  I saw none of that, so I have no serious concerns about valve health.

I am not an engine expert, but one of the mechanics at my shop spent a decade working at an overhaul shop and said everything looked fine.  He guided me not to over-analyze things.  He said you can drive yourself crazy looking at every tiny scratch or anomaly inside a piston, but that the point of a borescope check is to look for grossly obvious signs of impending doom.

[Deb]

That's a great review of the borescope with nice pictures. You couldn't save high definition pictures (as noted in a couple of Amazon reviews); do you think it's possible to save HD images on a laptop, or do you think the isssue is intrinsic, or related to the WiFi transfer? Any luck with customer support? We're tempted...

[Vance Harral]

31 minutes ago, Deb said:

do you think it's possible to save HD images on a laptop, or do you think the isssue is intrinsic, or related to the WiFi transfer? Any luck with customer support?

I haven't tried to determine why the saved images from the camera are only 640x480.  I suspect it's a software issue with the phone app rather than the camera itself.  The reason is I'm not sure anyone is even making a 640x480 (0.3MP) CMOS sensor any more.  My bet is the sensor really is a 2MP sensor, but the cheesy-poof app the instructions have you install on your phone is downcoding the saved images.

One supporting piece of evidence for this is the real-time images displayed on the phone while I was looking certainly seemed to be much better than 640x480.  I was using an iPhone 6 with a retina display.  If the image being broadcast to the phone had really only been 640x480, it would have looked awful.  But it looked just fine at the time.  The app has a settings button that allows you to change the displayed resolution (maxes out at 1080x800), and I could tell a difference between the settings on the live display.  I guess the silly, ironic thing is I could get higher-res images by using another phone to take a picture of the first phone while it was displaying the live image.

The app can take both still pictures and video, but it will only take video if you change the resolution to 640x480.  This makes sense, as it's a bandwidth issue, and the hardware in the encoder is probably low-end.  I wouldn't be surprised to learn the app is just using the same routines for video and saved pictures, such that the saved pictures wind up being only 640x480 even though higher resolution is available in the raw data.  If so, you could get better saved images with a different app.

I probably won't make any attempt to contact "support".  Based on the instructions and the app, it's clear the whole thing was built somewhere on the other side of the globe, and I have little hope there is any meaningful support.  I don't mean to be snarky about that.  I try to appreciate the fact that at $40, it's essentially disposable.  If I was going to invest energy in this, I'd probably look for other apps that can talk to the camera (your idea of trying to use a laptop is a good one, but I'm not sure where I'd find appropriate software).  Based on the number of very similar devices for sale at Amazon, it seems clear there are several distributors re-branding the same hardware.  One of them might have better software, or perhaps better software will become available in the future.

[rbridges]

On 2/7/2017 at 8:20 AM, Marauder said:

 

I have that attachment for the second scope I have. Always worried that it would fall off and I would be trying to get it out of my cylinder using my new flexible magnet gizmo.

The nice thing about the articulating version is the ability to move everywhere from 0° to 180° in articulation. But they are pricey.


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That's exactly what would worry me about having some kind of attachment on the camera.

[Vance Harral]

2 hours ago, rbridges said:

That's exactly what would worry me about having some kind of attachment on the camera.

For what it's worth, the attachments for the camera I bought screw on with fine-thread screws.  It requires 8+turns to get them all the way seated.  I think they're extremely unlikely to fall off inside the cylinder.  I've seen borescopes where the mirror attachment just slides on with spring clips, and agree that seems dubious.

At some point I might try finding a small, high quality tiny *glass* mirror and epoxying it onto the plastic mirror attachment for my scope.  For now, though, the 180 degree bend works well for looking at the valves.  Not sure how many times I'll be able to switch it back and forth to look at the piston and cylinder walls before the wires break from flexing, though.

[thinwing]

On 2/7/2017 at 5:26 AM, 1964-M20E said:

I have the next model HF camera it works pretty good. When using the mirror it seems to focus on the dust on the mirror and you can't see what you are looking at.

 

someone has posted an articulating camera that seems like it is more suitable for cylinder inspections.

Did you know you have to peel off the protective clear plastic that covers that mirror?