Borescope Inspection Camera…..

[RLCarter]

Ok guys and girls, went to use my inspection camera yesterday and it wouldn’t come on, new batteries installed and still nothing, but while just laying on the bench I did witness it last breath in the form of a little puff of smoke. My old one a real pain to use (aim) but with enough patience it did work fair. I’ve seen several pictures on here of some really good shots of the valves, cylinder walls and piston tops and was wondering what was used. My old IA had one that would articulate 180° for the valves but it was Android based and I have Apple products. Not a big fan of the mirror attachment as mine has fallen of the mount twice (heat gets the glue) and I’ve to fish it out of the cylinder. Preferably would like it to be compatible with my iPhone and/or iPad and have an articulating head. So tell me what you’ve got, actual pictures from it would be nice as well. Thanks in advance 

[EricJ]

This one is very popular:

https://www.amazon.com/Vividia-Ablescope-VA-400-Borescope-Articulating/dp/B00GY7C9ZW

There's a semi-rigid version (that I have):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072DS7LQN

They're both 640x480 resolution, and they're the source of probably most of the pics posted here.   Getting higher resolution with a similar quality device still involves a much higher price point.

 

 

[RLCarter]

@EricJthe VA-400 is what my old IA had…. Unfortunately it’s not compatible with Apple…. Guess I could always use an old laptop 

[EricJ]

Just now, RLCarter said:

@EricJthe VA-400 is what my old IA had…. Unfortunately it’s not compatible with Apple…. Guess I could always use an old laptop 

There's a wifi adapter shown on the Amazon links that is an easy add-on to make it work with essentially anything with WiFi, including iPhones, etc.

 

[Greg Ellis]

I use the VA-400 with the WiFi adapter on my iPad.  Works fine.

[PT20J]

I have the VA-400. I have a devil of a time getting sharp pictures. It seems that the reflections off the cylinder walls from the led lights on the camera head produce glare that reduces the contrast whenever I have the camera head deep enough in the cylinder to see the whole valve. Anyone found a way to improve this?

Skip

[EricJ]

1 minute ago, PT20J said:

I have the VA-400. I have a devil of a time getting sharp pictures. It seems that the reflections off the cylinder walls from the led lights on the camera head produce glare that reduces the contrast whenever I have the camera head deep enough in the cylinder to see the whole valve. Anyone found a way to improve this?

Skip

On mine I just turn the light down to the minimum needed to see decently.   I haven't had any trouble with it that way.    I do that with the cheapie endoscopes, too.

What type of cylinder surface do you have?   Mine are nitrided, but I suspect chrome might be more problematic.

[PT20J]

6 minutes ago, EricJ said:

On mine I just turn the light down to the minimum needed to see decently.   I haven't had any trouble with it that way.    I do that with the cheapie endoscopes, too.

What type of cylinder surface do you have?   Mine are nitrided, but I suspect chrome might be more problematic.

I'll try turning it down. The cylinders are nitrided  that came with the factory rebuilt -- about 250 hours on them.

[RLCarter]

2 hours ago, Greg Ellis said:

I use the VA-400 with the WiFi adapter on my iPad.  Works fine.

Been looking those, probably they way I’ll go. How hard is to navigate and focus for a full 360 of the cylinde?

[Greg Ellis]

8 hours ago, RLCarter said:

Been looking those, probably they way I’ll go. How hard is to navigate and focus for a full 360 of the cylinde?

It took me many tries to navigate the cylinder and I am still experimenting.  It is pretty easy to use but I found it took many tries to orient myself as to what I was looking at. It just takes time and practice.  Also, you want to use the scope when the engine is cold.  Heat will quickly ruin the camera.

[RLCarter]

2 hours ago, Greg Ellis said:

It took me many tries to navigate the cylinder and I am still experimenting. 

has to easier than the one I had

 

Edited June 27, 2021 by RLCarter

[Greg Ellis]

4 hours ago, RLCarter said:

has to easier than the one I had

 

I’ve never used one like that.  However, I would think that having a solid borescope with only the head being flexible is probably easier to use than the one you had where the whole cable is flexible.

[Vance Harral]

The VA-400 seems to be the sweet spot for an articulating borescope for us amateurs: pretty capable, not too expensive.  Strongly suggest the WiFi adapter (just buy the "WiFi bundle" kit), which as others said, allows it to work with essentially any phone/tablet/laptop.  I wish mine had a better-resolution sensor than 640x480, but not because it has actually been a problem, it just seems "old" relative to what you're paying.  Vividia does have higher-res products, but they command a significant price premium.

Prior to the VA-400, I got several annual's worth of pretty good borescope pictures with a cheapie DEPSTECH Wireless Endoscope.  That one and other cheapies like it don't articulate.  But you can bend the head around so it points back along the flexible rod, use safety wire to secure it, and get pretty good inside-the-cylinder shots.  That's preferable to trying to use the mirror attachments that come with cheapie endoscopes.  Those are mostly useless, and even if they were good, you have to worry about the attachment falling off inside the cylinder.

I still keep the DEPSTECH scope around to look at other things besides cylinders, because the flexible rod is long enough to get into lots of interesting nooks and crannies - both in the airplane and around the house.  But the VA-400 is a nice tool.

[RLCarter]

5 minutes ago, Vance Harral said:

you have to worry about the attachment falling off inside the cylinder.

yep, been fishing several times 

[mhrivnak]

At some point in recent history the street price for the VA-400 went up to $250, which is the price you see almost everywhere. But McFarlane still sells it for $194 plus shipping: https://www.mcfarlaneaviation.com/products/product/VA-400/

I bought one from them in March at that price. Presumably they'll follow suit and roll out new pricing eventually, perhaps when they order new stock, so I'd jump on this opportunity if you're thinking of getting a borescope.

[kortopates]

the current production model has improved resolution, but they didn’t change the model # and as such the only way to guarantee you get the newer version is to buy it directly from them - either from their website or their Amazon store.


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[N201MKTurbo]

On 6/26/2021 at 9:55 PM, PT20J said:

I have the VA-400. I have a devil of a time getting sharp pictures. It seems that the reflections off the cylinder walls from the led lights on the camera head produce glare that reduces the contrast whenever I have the camera head deep enough in the cylinder to see the whole valve. Anyone found a way to improve this?

Skip

Rub the end with your shirt to clean the oil off its lens...

[J0nathan225]

5 hours ago, kortopates said:

the current production model has improved resolution, but they didn’t change the model # and as such the only way to guarantee you get the newer version is to buy it directly from them - either from their website or their Amazon store.


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What's the new resolution?  Their website only shows an increase for a higher model, the  VA-980. The VA400 shows 640x480. 

• Video Resolution VA-980:   640x480 pixels  (  product before 2021  )

                                                 1280x720 for the new product of 2021