Need to look inside an engine, down a drain or whatever? Endoscope for $11- not a trick!

[thill]

Broken ring, or scored cylinder? Need to see under the floor of your boat or behind a wall? Need to look into anywhere with little access? This might make your day, then.

I just ordered one of these from Walmart.com:

TSV 16ft Type-C USB Endoscope, 8 LED Lights 360° Rotation Borescope, Snake Inspection Camera Fit for Android 4.1-10/Windows/Mac, Waterproof Semi-Rigid Cable - Walmart.com

This is basically an endoscope/borescope that you just plug into your phone. It was half the price as on Amazon.

It's amazing how much easier our phones can make our lives. I'm looking forward to using this one. It will be in my tool bag immediately.

 

[thill]

And what is crazy, is that I looked and Walmart has some for $6 that look pretty much the same. Crazy.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

I have one for inspecting barrel rifling but have used it to look down the spark plug hole.

 

[GilK]

Broken ring, or scored cylinder? Need to see under the floor of your boat or behind a wall? Need to look into anywhere with little access? This might make your day, then.

I just ordered one of these from Walmart.com:

TSV 16ft Type-C USB Endoscope, 8 LED Lights 360° Rotation Borescope, Snake Inspection Camera Fit for Android 4.1-10/Windows/Mac, Waterproof Semi-Rigid Cable - Walmart.com

This is basically an endoscope/borescope that you just plug into your phone. It was half the price as on Amazon.

It's amazing how much easier our phones can make our lives. I'm looking forward to using this one. It will be in my tool bag immediately.

Have you used it yet? I was thinking about getting something similar

 

[Stand Up]

I have one for inspecting barrel rifling but have used it to look down the spark plug hole.

I have a stand alone style and it works great with its color screen. Real cheap too. Under 30 dollars Canadian. Which is about .50 cents in American dollars. Lol
Never thought of looking down rifle barrels with it. Good idea.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

Never thought of looking down rifle barrels with it. Good idea.

It includes a small 90 degree cylindrical mirror to look close at rifling. Most of the time, what looks bad doesn't impact accuracy.

 

[DaleH]

It includes a small 90 degree cylindrical mirror to look close at rifling. Most of the time, what looks bad doesn't impact accuracy.

FYI, I use mine hooked up to an old dedicated Google ‘tablet’ and it works slick! Here are some bore pictures.

TIP - To improve mid-bore photos, drop or stuff a cotton ball down the barrel ahead of the b’scope so it reflects the light. A brush on a cleaning rod will snag it to get it out, on any closed bore breech, like a muzzleloader … in case one doesn’t have a patch puller or worm.

 

[LaqueRatt]

I own a vid cam on a loooong cable. Like 16'. It's small enough to drop in a plug hole and long enough to snake down into a wall. Has a bright LED light. It's plug and play, fits right into USB port on a laptop for a BIG image. Think I paid like 8 or 9 bucks for it. Reason I got it was I dropped a fave tool, a magnetic retrieval "pen" down the side of the trunk of a 71 Camaro. I tried unsuccessfully for weeks to fish it out blindly. When I finally got the scope I was able to see it, see what I was doing. Within a few minutes I had my tool back after doing without it for like a year! IMO everyone should invest into something like this. They are cheap and man, when you need it, you need it! I find all sorts of uses for mine.

 

[TexasJim]

Wow! A DIY colonoscopy kit! TexasJim

 

[MrGiggles]

I would say if you find yourself using it often, get one with a dedicated screen. You can't rely on a mobile app long term, without it that camera is a paperweight.

 

[LDUBS]

Wow! A DIY colonoscopy kit! TexasJim

Or endoscopy, but not both!

 

[thill]

I would say if you find yourself using it often, get one with a dedicated screen. You can't rely on a mobile app long term, without it that camera is a paperweight.

Why can't you rely on a mobile app long term? Sounds like you had a bad experience with one already?

My action cameras use an app, and I've had them for years. I recently updated the app and the newer apps are even better than the original. My phone is bigger than most screens, and if I use my 10" tablet, it's even bigger, if I had a need for bigger. For the whopping $11, $8 or $6 investment, (depending on which you buy) it seems worth the risk.

 

[LaqueRatt]

Mine needs no app. Just a device with a USB port. Keep it simple. Unless you are going to be whipping it out 10x a day why use that little bitty screen? If I want to I can direct the feed onto my big screen TV.

 

[GilK]

I would say if you find yourself using it often, get one with a dedicated screen. You can't rely on a mobile app long term, without it that camera is a paperweight.

Well for $11, when it becomes a paper weight, just but a newer better one.

 

[thill]

Mine needs no app. Just a device with a USB port. Keep it simple. Unless you are going to be whipping it out 10x a day why use that little bitty screen? If I want to I can direct the feed onto my big screen TV.

Good point, but a bit cumbersome to set up a big screen next to your boat, ha ha!

 

[MrGiggles]

Why can't you rely on a mobile app long term? Sounds like you had a bad experience with one already?

My action cameras use an app, and I've had them for years. I recently updated the app and the newer apps are even better than the original. My phone is bigger than most screens, and if I use my 10" tablet, it's even bigger, if I had a need for bigger. For the whopping $11, $8 or $6 investment, (depending on which you buy) it seems worth the risk.

I'd be surprised if Hung-lo & Co in China will support that app in 5-10 years. You'd be lucky if they're even in business under the same name.

I will admit that I can't stand most mobile apps and hate how everyone has gone to them. Can't even order a burger half the time without the app freezing. Vesselview gave me constant connection issues. Activecaptain would never update my graphs successfully for whatever reason. And the list goes on...

My fear would be that once I really need the thing, I'll go to use it and the app will be out of date, not compatible with my current device, the moon will be in the wrong phase, or it doesn't even exist anymore, and what should've been a 5 minute job turns into an hour of dicking around with my phone trying to find an app that works. Did I mention I hate mobile apps?

I have one of the aforementioned devices, I use it so infrequently that I've usually upgraded or reset my phone between uses and need to reinstall the app. Which hasn't been a problem yet, but I'm sure that day will come.

 

[Stand Up]

I agree. Most apps are mostly useless and cumbersome for my phone. I have deleted or uninstalled most apps on my phone with the exception of the ones needed to operate the cell. Apps spy on you, follow your movements and dig into your private stuff. Best not to allow them on your cell.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

I run mine on an old iPad. The app will not work with the newer ios.

 

[kazzer]

Or endoscopy, but not both!

It would be ok if you did the endoscopy first.

 

[thill]

I'd be surprised if Hung-lo & Co in China will support that app in 5-10 years. You'd be lucky if they're even in business under the same name.

I will admit that I can't stand most mobile apps and hate how everyone has gone to them. Can't even order a burger half the time without the app freezing. Vesselview gave me constant connection issues. Activecaptain would never update my graphs successfully for whatever reason. And the list goes on...

My fear would be that once I really need the thing, I'll go to use it and the app will be out of date, not compatible with my current device, the moon will be in the wrong phase, or it doesn't even exist anymore, and what should've been a 5 minute job turns into an hour of dicking around with my phone trying to find an app that works. Did I mention I hate mobile apps?

I have one of the aforementioned devices, I use it so infrequently that I've usually upgraded or reset my phone between uses and need to reinstall the app. Which hasn't been a problem yet, but I'm sure that day will come.

Aaahhh That makes sense.

I had the same issues for a long time until AT&T forced me to upgrade my phone. They just sent me one for free. This new phone, a Samsung S10e has ZERO issues. It's a whole different world! I am one who typically never upgrades unless it's broken.

Now Active Captain works super fast and error free. Everything works that way, actually.

I suspect you have an older phone?