Cool Tool: Phone endoscope
03-26-2017, 10:50 AM
#1
Race Car
Thread Starter
Cool Tool: Phone endoscope
No affiliation. Just ran across an ad for this phone endoscope. Could come in handy for a lot of jobs.
https://phoneendoscope.com/products/...ndroid-devices
https://phoneendoscope.com/products/...ndroid-devices
Last edited by GT6ixer; 03-26-2017 at 12:15 PM.
03-27-2017, 07:27 AM
#6
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Gone. On the Open Road
Posts: 16,328
Received 1,543 Likes
on
1,007 Posts
I have two endo/borescopes. One not-really cheap. One pretty cheap.
The key characteristics of these contraptions are, in order:
- can it fit in a spark plug hole
- does it put enough light out to see anything once it's in the hole
- is the resolution high enough to make out details
Oh, and I forgot: does the supplied software also install a virus? (I'm not kidding. I lost my shop laptop to this problem and had to rebuild it from bare metal. Now, 'garage software' is only installed on VMs running on a standard account.)
The key characteristics of these contraptions are, in order:
- can it fit in a spark plug hole
- does it put enough light out to see anything once it's in the hole
- is the resolution high enough to make out details
Oh, and I forgot: does the supplied software also install a virus? (I'm not kidding. I lost my shop laptop to this problem and had to rebuild it from bare metal. Now, 'garage software' is only installed on VMs running on a standard account.)
Trending Topics
03-27-2017, 10:31 AM
#8
Race Car
Thread Starter
^ Great points Dave. I ordered one, I'll report back with a review. My guess is that the resolution may be a drawback.
Also, it looks like Randy sold some of these same units earlier this year. Maybe he or one of the buyers could let us know how they are.
Also, it looks like Randy sold some of these same units earlier this year. Maybe he or one of the buyers could let us know how they are.
03-27-2017, 10:34 AM
#9
Race Car
Thread Starter
This one says it is for Android. If you do google search for "iphone endoscope" a handful come up for around the same price. My guess is that they are the same thing but with a different interface cable.
03-27-2017, 12:46 PM
#11
Rennlist Member
I have one of these and have to say they work great. They definitely go down a spark plug hole with enough light to see. Plus I lost a key in between the driver's seat and center console once. All the feeling around could not locate it. I was able to snake this down there and see where it had gotten stuck.
I've only used it about 3 times, but considering the cost, its a really handy tool.
I've only used it about 3 times, but considering the cost, its a really handy tool.
03-27-2017, 02:24 PM
#14
Rennlist Member
Bought one of these for my iphone last month. Used it for the 1st time this past weekend to snake under the intake manifold and see if I had any oil leaks in the valley from my upper refresh. Picture quality is not half bad.
Performance suffers the smaller the diameter of your tailpipe gets.
Performance suffers the smaller the diameter of your tailpipe gets.
03-28-2017, 06:10 AM
#15
Rennlist Member
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Adirondack Mountains, New York
Posts: 2,398
Received 309 Likes
on
161 Posts
I used my 'scope (integrated, no phone involved) last night to explore the connections to the windshield squirters within the hood. I had reason to think something had gone wonky, but apparently not. (There sure is a lot of tube fittings in there, though.)
I have a lot of trouble getting lost when I'm exploring a more complicated space. I can rotate the image to coincide with up, or the movements I need to make (can be different as you rotate the probe to get into something) - but it's still a challenge. The view is narrow and short range, like scuba diving in the dark, I imagine.
Some come with attachments, like a magnet or a mirror. In a previous discussion of these things someone helpfully warned about loosing one of these attachments inside your machine.
I have a lot of trouble getting lost when I'm exploring a more complicated space. I can rotate the image to coincide with up, or the movements I need to make (can be different as you rotate the probe to get into something) - but it's still a challenge. The view is narrow and short range, like scuba diving in the dark, I imagine.
Some come with attachments, like a magnet or a mirror. In a previous discussion of these things someone helpfully warned about loosing one of these attachments inside your machine.