REFLECTOR: Borescope Cameras

[Bob Jackson via Reflector]

Hello Brian,

 

What makes the dental cameras work well as a borescope for the valves is that the camera (and LEDs) are already oriented at 90 degrees to the probe.  The borescopes that you get at Sun 'n Fun that are supposed to be for engines use a little mirror to get the 90 deg -- but the mirror quality is not good enough and only covers part of the field of view, so you get a terrible picture.

 

The cameras are hit-or-miss, with poor documentation and variable quality.  I bought what was called a ProDENT intraoral USB dental camera on eBay ($119) that said it was 1200 x 1600 image resolution, but when I received it the documentation said it was only 1024 x 1280.  The capture software can also be flaky.  Amazon sells both a ProDENT and a Daryou that may or may not be 1200 x1600 for $20 or $30 more.  

 

I filed the plastic part of the probe down so it has a smaller 'neck' and I can maneuver it around a little more in the spark plug hole.

 

There aren't many guarantees buying this kind of stuff, but still even the dental camera I got off eBay is 100x better than the (much more expensive) VideoStik borescope I bought at Oshkosh. 

 

Good luck,

Bob Jackson

 

From: Brian Michalk [mailto:michalk at awpi.com] 
Sent: Monday, June 15, 2015 12:52 PM
To: Bob Jackson; Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Piston Crack -- Dye Penetrant Testing

 

Those are good pictures.  I bought one of those small cameras, but the picture is terrible.  Which one did you buy?

On 06/15/2015 09:12 AM, Bob Jackson via Reflector wrote:

...

 

Here's the #3 exhaust and intake valves.

 

Cyl-3_ExhaustValve-4.jpg  Cyl-3_IntakeValve-1.jpg

 

Bob Jackson

Velocity XL/RG/XC

TNIO-550N

1000 hrs

N2XF

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