Endoscope / borescope

[martinka]

Anyone had one of the cheap endoscopes off Ebay that couple to a smartphone, tablet or laptop? I want to have a look behind the shower pod but there isn't a lot of room. I am wondering about the quality and range of the camera. I want to check a pipe is no longer leaking and I don't really want to be trying to aim the camera to within a couple of centimetres to get a decent shot.

 

[curtisrider]

i've got a £15 off eBay and its good, mainly used to look inside engines to check the bores are ok. Picture quality isn't amazing but good enough for the job

 

[AndyT]

I tried one. It lasted just long enough for one job, and nothing since.
I think it was probably just a case of fragile USB and micro-USB connections not being reliable enough, when you get a tablet joined to an 'on-the-go' lead, joined to the scope. In my case, the LEDs that should illuminate the subject stopped working and I've not been inclined to spend more time fiddling with it. (A 'proper' webcam without illumination worked first time on the same lead.)

I can save you some time though - ignore any mini CD or driver download that comes with it, unless you love updating drivers and following poorly translated instructions. Just install CameraFi from the Play Store and use that to display or capture the images.

Overall, they are so cheap that the risk is small, and they can make otherwise impossible jobs practical.

 

[martinka]

Thankfully, I have no need to look inside engines anymore, but one of these cameras would have been handy in days gone past.

Andy, you reminded me I have a webcam somewhere. If it will go down the gap between wall and shower, I'll tape it to something along with a small LED torch and see if that works.... Nope, the camera will go through the gap, but the lens is pointing the wrong way, and not enough room to turn it. I'll buy one of the 8/10 quid endoscopes. Thanks!

 

[graduate_owner]

Aldi have cameras for £40 this thursday. Three year guarantee.

K

 

[Lons]

pity you don't live closer Martin as I have a "seesnake" camera you could have borrowed.

Coincidently used it on Sunday as my son had a leak from an upstairs shower waste and meant we only needed a small hole in the ceiling rather than a great big section of plasterboard. As usual, the source of the leak was nowhere near where it appeared on the ceiling.

Not often used but worth it's weight in gold nonetheless.

Bob

 

[-Matt-]

Seconded ^^

I got one last year on the first time round, been very handy and it comes with attachments for the end. Theres a hook, a little mirror and a magnet. Magnet turned out to be very useful when retrieving a bolt that fell down inside my centre console as well as something else that fell into the void created by the handbrake being on.
I've also used it inside a washing machine.