My new gadget

[fv1609]

I got this thing to look for leaks inside the chimney, but of course it has automotive applications and many others besides that I won't go into! The shakiness is because the probe cable is just over 3ft long & bendy. The other problem is depending on the degree of twist, is that the top of the camera may not be at the top of the screen which makes orientation difficult. I know these things have been around for a while but the price seems to have come down quite a lot.

 

 

[Richard Farrant]

Clive,

 

Where I used to work, we had an endoscope, for inspecting engines mainly, you had an eyepiece on the end of the probe and a light souce which beamed up a fibre optic. The actual lens, could be on the end of the probe, or to the side and if but down a bore, it was the side lens that was better, allowing you to inspect the bores and valves. Very useful tool.

[fv1609]

Richard. I'm a bit disappointed that I couldn't get the camera right inside its about 1mm too wide. I did have an EOD kit that had tiny mirror that you could remotely tilt with a LES bulb. That would have gone in but it was rather short.

 

This has a waterproof head so I've been looking at pond life to see whats going on out of sight! Works quite well but have been half expecting an octopus to creep across the screen. Quite colourful down there, not the muddy depths I expected.

 

Just in case anyone is thinking about one this what I got.

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Wireless-Inspection-Camera-3-5-Inch-Color-Monitor-DVR_W0QQitemZ290389664462QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CamerasPhoto_DigitalCameras_DigitalCameras_JN?hash=item439c92a2ce

 

Reason for my choice is as follows. I saw just a camera head & stalk in a Maplin promo. The trouble was that the head was wide & you need a laptop or something to plug it into, not going to be convenient.

 

On ebay you can get viewers with a 2.5 in screen for £99 from China or a bit more in the UK. But these do not capture pcs or video. To capture these you have to move up £30-£50. Most of these are in Hong Kong or China, very few in UK. One dealer I contacted in UK never replied. The one in the link did & indulged repeated queries from me & was prompt & helpful.

 

The catch as I saw it was that although the company was UK based, the product would be shipped from China. I thought of saving about £10 & ordering directly for myself. All the companies had high feedback ratings, but they had a high number of sales so negative feedback gets diluted.

 

In my top five possible sellers I looked at all the negative feedback & how it was handled. I know there are stupid & dishonest buyers but some sellers assumed all customers with a problem were in that category. I read responses like "I AM NO SPEAK YOU ANY MORE YOU SAY ME BAD THING SELLER NO YOU ARE BAD PERSON I AM NOT SPEAK YOU GO AWAY" ETC they've obviously not been on the customer relations course.

 

Looking at my seller, his negative feedback was quite low but any problems were met with a restrained & polite answer with the offer of help. So given the help I received, the dignified response to feedback & being UK base I ordered from them.

 

I ordered it late Wednesday afternoon, it arrived from China at 10.30am this Monday morning. So under 5 days quicker than many UK only transactions!

[Richard Farrant]

Clive,

 

It looks handy, I am sure you can find a lot of uses, could be useful when working behind dashboards, etc.

[N.O.S.]

Here's the one I'd like - having spent a while last year looking around this looks to be good blend of quality and value but I cannot justify it at the moment. How long is it till Christmas? :-D

 

http://www.ridgidseesnake2.com/

 

Also I keep looking at the more expensive models and thinking the smaller diameter head would be so much better, so I'll probably end up never having one at all!

Edited February 8, 2010 by N.O.S.

[fv1609]

Richard, yes the second clip was looking at the master cylinder on the Shorland that is boxed over by armour. Useful for reading serial numbers on engines or a chassis. I might carry it around to shows but suspect it might be as popular as the condenser testing service!

 

It comes with three attachments, a hook for wires, magnet & a mirror for peering back. The LEDs in head are essentially & brightness is adjustable. The 3.5in monitor is best used detached. Its bad enough trying compensate if the top of the camera is not at the top of the screen, let along moving the monitor as the camera & cable are twisted around to get access.

 

Some adverts warn that the seller takes no responsibility for any kind of illegal use, whatever that might mean!

[fv1609]

thinking the smaller diameter head would be so much better,

 

There are relatively few with 10mm head. But obviously going down in size there will be some sort of quality/capture area trade off. There are some that are 10mm across but that is the measurement of the flat side of a square box frame over the camera collar. So the diagonal is about 12mm. I asked if this box thing can be removed, but it can't.

[Tony B]

Now, a long time ago I worked for a guy called Ray Williams, who developed ultra sonic testing for the RAF. He used to slid the probe down cupro nickel brake pipe then insert the brake pipe in behind things.