10 Reasons for Using Borescopes in Remote Visual Inspections
There are endless benefits of using borescopes in remote visual inspection. Many individuals and companies are looking forward to lower their operation costs as well as getting things done in shorter periods. You can stumble many factors using borescopes and the most essential ones are listed in here.
- There is no match for the convenience in inspecting a certain subject using a borescope. You can just insert the scope into the subject and you can see the details very clearly in just a matter of seconds.
- On the part of the client, they can have quick results for them to see the inside as well. If you are doing the inspection for preventing future damages, the clients or customers can have a full view of the subject first hand so there would be no complications along the way.
- Using a borescopes involves low costs as a first-hand user because you are not dismantling the equipment just to see what’s on the inside.
- If you are the client who hired an inspecting team for your equipment, you will also cover a nice chunk of savings in your pocket because the inspection only takes a few minutes rather than waiting for days for the maintenance crew to disassemble your material and knowing that there is only a little damage inside.
- Flexible borescopes can maneuver in bends and corners. This is a great feature that will give great help to particular applications. You can go into all parts inside the subject but due to the bending of the fiber optics inside the scope, it can only give a limited image quality.
- For rigid borescopes, these can reach great distances without sacrificing the details of the image and video results. The larger the scope lens diameter, the clearer the resulting data.
- With proper use and handling, you can have a longer business life if you are the owner of the borescope. The maintenance costs will be lower if you handle the equipment carefully on your own.
- A rigid borescope is a great choice for straight line inspections. The quality of the image as well as the video results is of superb quality for you to evaluate.
- The captured images and video recordings can be taken to other places for evaluation by other parties. This is a great feature of all borescopes because you can document the data and results without any alterations. Videos and image will always be believable against writing things down.
- As many people think about doing remote visual inspection as a way to see discrepancies, it is also a great way to prevent damages. If you or your clients see low performing equipment, then it is a factor or a subject for inspection. If routine maintenance like oil change (for engines) and bore cleaning (in gunsmith) doesn’t seem to enhance its performance, then it is time to perform a remote visual inspection to evaluate things. With those being said, borescopes are great tools to prevent future large-scale damages which costs money and hinder your operations.
10 Top Tips for Long Life of Your Borescope, Fiberscope, Videoscope … or How To Spend Less
Borescopes, fiberscopes, and videoscopes are very delicate tools. Users should take good care of it in order for the equipment to last for a long time. If you handle these tools carefully, it can even last longer than expected. Here are some of the major points to consider in caring for your equipment.
- In transporting your apparatus or taking it to far places, you should have a thick and shock-proof carrying bag. It may have foam or thick clothes inside. Some manufacturers are giving free bags for handling but if your purchased equipment doesn’t include a container, you can have a custom one.
- During operation, you should handle knobs and switches with care. Don’t be in rush in turning it on or off. For scopes liked to a camera or a live video, you should turn knobs delicately in order to prolong its life. You can prolong the lives of these knobs by using blowers to take off dirt and dust.
- In actual operation, you should have padding (clothe or carton) for the equipment when you are placing it in rough surfaces. This is to avoid scratches and sudden falls. Shiny and new-looking equipment can also give a good impression on you as the user.
- In restoring the equipment, coil the cords carefully. Remember that it contains fiber optics inside that are very fragile so you should avoid sudden bends. The coatings are also preserved if it is clean.
- When you are done with your operation, take time to clean the lens or the cord end with a dry cloth. Sometimes dirt can be cleaned in this area with wet cloth so you should consult the manufacturer or the user’s manual about the types of fluids which are safe for cleaning. Wipe out excess fluids and dirt from the cord as well.
- In connections, you should consider cleaning the USB links and plugs in order for these to transmit crisp video and image.
- For equipment with rechargeable batteries, take time to recharge it to its fullest. Rechargeable batteries can have a longer life if it is constantly charged at full so take time and don’t rush yourself.
- When restoring the equipment, place it in proper room temperature. There are very brittle materials inside like lenses, metals, and fibers which shouldn’t be moist so you should think about it in advance.
- In operation, choose the perfect place to operate and use the equipment. In inspecting a car for instance, you should take it to a roofed place if possible. Direct sunlight or rain may damage the scope.
- In operation, be sure to have a list of the actual operating time. This can determine the life of the light source. You will have a future view of your light’s life. Most manufacturers indicate the operating life of the light source. In order to reach or even surpass it, you should also do your part.
There are many other tips to consider in the maintenance and proper handling of borescopes, videoscopes, and fiberscopes. The points listed in here are the major things in order for you to have new-looking equipment. Doing so can let it reach its maximum life or even surpass the manufacturer’s anticipations.
What Kind of Borescope Equipment is Right For My Application?
Before you buy any borescope, you have to consider a few factors that will directly influence your selection of Remote Visual Inspection (RVI) Equipment. The following guidelines will help you choose right product for your particular application or the industry you are in.
- Think about the perfect diameter of the scope you will use in your inspections. It should not be to small, but big enough to give you good visual feedback of inspected area.
- Determine a perfect length of the bore scope's insertion probe. This is the distance between the hole entrance and the farthest point of your reachable inspected area. Longer the scope is better, but it also means more money. So, in order to minimize your expense think about the access to your inspection area from different spots. If you have access from a few spots, then choose 1/2 of the scope's length. If you have access only from one spot, then you need a scope that will go though the whole distance till it reaches your inspection object.
- If the travel path to inspection area is straight (without any curves and bends), then your best bet is the rigid borescopes that have superior image and are the cheapest solution amongst a big selection of Non-Destructive Tools (NDT). If the travel path isn't straight, has small curves and bends, then your good choice falls either on flexible fiberscopes or portable videoscopes without articlulated insertion tip. This is the second cheapest solution. If your situation does not fit into the ones described above, then you have to consider more expensive solution - flexible fiberscope or videoscope with articulated insetion tip.
- If the cavity is not rough, you can easily choose any standard rigid borescope, fiberscope or videoscope with vinyl coated insertion tube (this will give you additional flexibility, bend-ability). If it is the opposite situation, then you need additional protection for your rigid borescope (include protective stainless steel tube), fiberscope or videoscope (choose a unit with stainless steel or tungsten braided insertion probe).
- If you need articulation of the tip, then you are definitely looking at flexible fiberscope or a video scope with articulated tip. Our fiberscopes and videoscopes have an option with 2 or 4 ways of articulation with average articulation angle of 90° - 120°. Articulated tip can be articulated during performed inspection, if you need to pass complicated corners or parts.
- If you just need a fixed angle of side view, then you might get lucky with a set of a few rigid borescopes. Most of our rigid borescopes have the following fixed Directions of View (DOV) - 0°, 30°, 70°, 90° and 110°. If you want more expensive rigid borescope solution, then you might consider universal rigid borescopes that have interchangeable 360° rotatable tubes with fixed side angle views - 30°, 70°, 90° and 110°.
Going through the above steps you should be able to decide what you want. Now you have to thing about the lighting source for your scope. You need it in order to illuminate the inspected area, or otherwise in most cases you will see complete darkness!
- Define the area being inspected and unknown conditions. Will you have enough light at a given distance? Will the light reflect internally (polished surface) or will it be absorbed (black mate surface or carbonization)? Will you be close enough for proper magnification or enough far away for overall view of the object?
- Define how close to the object will be your borescope's tip. Closer you are, better image magnification you achieve and less light you need (Remember: common working range is within 3 mm from the scope's tip to the virtual maximum of 150 cm away).
- Farther your scope's tip is from your object, more powerful light source you need. You can choose between Portable LED Light Sources, Halogen or Xenon Light Sources, or most efficient Metal Halide Light Sources.
- Will the test results need permanent documentation based on still photos or video of performed inspection? If so, you will need to buy a scope with such capabilities (any videoscope system), or a rigid borescope or flexible borescope (fiberscope) with a video kit (USB or Analog C-Mound Video Camera + C-Mount Video Coupler + USB Capture Box with an appropriate software).
- After all, if you are very concerned about image quality of logged images and videos of your inspection, then your ultimate choice should fall on high end videoscope system!
Definition of Terms:
Borescope
Borescope is not flexible, generally inexpensive unit and it provides a superior image, compared to fiberscopes and videoscopes. A rigid borescope, boroscope or bore scope is an industrial tool best suited to inspection of automotive cylinders, aircraft turbine engine or a rifle bore. Any borescope may be used with a video camera to record digital images and video.
Micro Borescope
Micro borescope is typically flexible or semi-rigid unit. Such boroscope instruments are super thin and designed for absolutely impossible inspection access areas. Most micro borescopes or mini boroscopes are best suited for inspection of small manufactured components such as castings, turbine cooling holes and other Parts with very limited access.
Fiberscope
Fiberscope is a flexible fiber optic image bundle with an eyepiece and a lens. A flexible fiberscope, flexible borescope, fiber scope or fiber optic scope easily flexes around tight corners and articulates (not all models) it's tip for better guidance. High fiber optic content in a flexible fiber scope is critical to provide the highest possible resolution to the viewer. Amount of individual fibers in a fiber optic video bundle of a fiberscope ranges from 3,000 to 30,000 elemennts and is termed as "amount of Pixels". Fiber optic bundle is a very fragile element of a fiber scope and thus the whole unit should be treated as carefully as possible. If small gray or black dots are observed in an image when looking through fiberscope's eye piece, it it is direct evidence of poor handling of the unit, or low quality of the image bundle used in it.
Videoscope
A Videoscope or Video Borescope is an advanced type of flexible borescope that houses a very small CCD video chip in the tip of the video scope's insertion probe. Image quality of most videoscopes is good enough for most applications. More expensive videoscopes offer excellent image quality. Videoscope's probe is normally 4-8 mm in diameter and comes in lengths up to 15 m (50'). A videoscope (video borescope, videoprobe, video scope, video probe) offers digital image capture or video recording capabilities that are usually built into the unit.
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