$500 Amazon Sewer Inspection Camera?

[SouthLake]

Need some input navigating an obvious minefield of Chinese junk.

Does anyone have any experience with these "inspection camera systems" available on ebay and amazon? they are all the same, all offered by different no-name companies. The ones that have multiple reviews many are clearly fake or paid for... They all look like this one...


I would like to have a somewhat legit inspection camera in my arsenal. we're talking once or twice a year usage to monitor, inspect 4"-5" underground downspout drain pipes.

I tried buying the little 65' USB camera and putting it on a long quality drain snake. The focal range sucked as did the lighting.

I cannot afford a $1200-$3000 legit plumber inspection camera system. None are available used locally for under $1000.

 

[Git]

When I looked at your Amazon link, I saw all the 5-star reviews...

Then I started clicking on the reviewer's name - and the majority of them only have one review...hmmm

Several of them are written in very poor English and then I came across these ones:

"Cable is hard, quality is good. There are 2 batteries in it, even though this is not as good as customers who got free camera head, but this is enough for me."

"The video is clear and the light is bright, it made me satisfied, and I got 2 camera head, one is a gift."

So it sort of sounds like at one point the company was giving stuff away in return for a review, although fakespot gives them a decent rating

https://www.fakespot.com/product/se...pe-waterproof-ip68-cable-30m-free-8gb-sd-card

 

[SouthLake]

totally, the reviews are sketchy af.
I live in a rural wooded lot. Tree company is usually through here once a year so I like to inspect the pipes if they happen to drive over them. I have been renting a camera once a year for $200 a day. Id like to have my own... It ***** that the options are $500 one that is a total unknown, or a legit one for $1500+. Home depot has one for around $800...

 

[strutaeng]

I read some of those reviews and they are hilarious! Some sound more like advertising....probably from the Chinese, LOL.

Are you worried about tree roots or pipes collapsing? What about investing instead in a basic sewer snake? My Dad and I each have one of these and they have proven well worth it:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-...gral-Wound-Cable-and-Tool-Set-52363/206405033

I've got Orangeburg that I'm slowly changing out. My Dad just had his plumbing snaked and started getting dirt in the head...black clay around here means busted pipe. Time to replace and/or re-rout. 1950-60s construction.

A camera would just tell me that "you have a problem," and I still have to fix it. At least with the snake I have an idea where it is...

 

[kctyphoon]

Had that exact model at my previous employer. They used it to inspect damaged conduit for obstructions, collapses.. only used it once myself.. it works, i can tell ya that much. The instructions are absolutely worthless. Lol.. all it does is tells you what the buttons on the monitor says. Pretty self explanatory though. I THINK - they make extensions or longer models.. the camera is pretty big, it’s definitely NOT one of those tiny inspection cameras.

It’ll do what you need it to. With some care and common sense I’m sure itll last a while.. it’s literally just a fiberglass snake with wires embedded inside, with a camera on the end. Not sure how much more high tech ya need.. i was LEAD to believe it was a lot more expensive then that, but I’m sure that was to keep the idiots from using it.

I’m sure with a sewer pipe or drain pipe basically being an empty conduit, itll snake fine around one or two turns . not many though, since its not a stiff snake, at least the one we had. I’d assume the longer models might use a bigger diameter snake on it.

Put it this way.. if you need to know where to dig, and its not far away - you should be fine.

 

[kctyphoon]

I read some of those reviews and they are hilarious! Some sound more like advertising....probably from the Chinese, LOL.

Are you worried about tree roots or pipes collapsing? What about investing instead in a basic sewer snake? My Dad and I each have one of these and they have proven well worth it:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-...gral-Wound-Cable-and-Tool-Set-52363/206405033

I've got Orangeburg that I'm slowly changing out. My Dad just had his plumbing snaked and started getting dirt in the head...black clay around here means busted pipe. Time to replace and/or re-rout. 1950-60s construction.

A camera would just tell me that "you have a problem," and I still have to fix it. At least with the snake I have an idea where it is...

A camera will tell you what the PROBLEM is.. a snake isnt gonna fix a collapsed pipe, or root intrusion. Ever get a snake stuck yet? Its not fun.. ever have have an 500’ snake wind up in pieces, cause you dont realize youre pushing it into an open cavity, and it winds up in 4 pieces? Lol.

The tip of the snake wont be eny different than the rest of it, if you have a pipe or conduit half filled with mud - or worse...

Excavation isnt cheap.. running a water jet though a half clogged pipe (if thats an option) is ALOT cheaper.

 

[SouthLake]

Excavation is cheap when 5 downspout drains are only out 60 feet from the house, a few inches down and you got a shovel. Typically the tree company trucks break them at the seams and I just stick them back together. Each year renting the camera to check them *****

Thank you kctyphoon! I just need to use this thing once or twice a year to verify these pipes, I’ll take a shot at it.

 

[sreeb]

reviewmeta says 86% of the reviews are likely fake and that the remaining 6 are all 5 star.

 

[davewo]

the most honest review:

Marty Varner
bright camera head
May 22, 2019
Verified Purchase
The item is as described and as expection, the camera head is very bright. The seller refunded me 60USD as I told them I would give them positive review.

 

[Danglerb]

Sadly Amazon is FULL of shill reviews. I do a review on about half the products I buy, and I pull no punches, or accept any refunds for reviews. I have gotten a few emails offering me free items for positive reviews, but see no real way to police it.

As for the inspection cameras, I own three cheapos, like $12 to $22, and they generally work and what I need to see doesn't require a lot of depth of focus or light. If I wanted better I would venture up into the $100 range, maybe ask on a plumbing forum, but they have plenty of their own bias.

 

[Handyandy23]

Sadly Amazon is FULL of shill reviews. I do a review on about half the products I buy, and I pull no punches, or accept any refunds for reviews. I have gotten a few emails offering me free items for positive reviews, but see no real way to police it.

As for the inspection cameras, I own three cheapos, like $12 to $22, and they generally work and what I need to see doesn't require a lot of depth of focus or light. If I wanted better I would venture up into the $100 range, maybe ask on a plumbing forum, but they have plenty of their own bias.

This is kind of going off-topic, but I would warn everyone to be very careful in how you word reviews left online. A lot of people these days are getting sued for defamation based on bad reviews. It seems completely crazy to me, but believe me, it happens - it happened to me!

A neighbor had hired a fencing company to build a fence between our yards, and we paid our half directly to the fencing company, but otherwise weren't super involved in the quoting and hiring process. We had a very bad experience with the fence company, left a bad review, and they ended up suing me. It seemed very frivolous, but after getting legal advice we ended up having to settle to take down the review in exchange for dropping the lawsuit. Without going into too much detail, the way you word things is very important!

This article kind of goes over basic examples. I don't think it should deter people from leaving honest feedback or reviews, because that's what they're there for. But just know that someone can sue you for anything, and even if its frivolous, you still have to spend time and money to defend yourself in court.

https://www.howtogeek.com/352302/can-you-get-sued-for-leaving-a-bad-review/

 

[kctyphoon]

Excavation is cheap when 5 downspout drains are only out 60 feet from the house, a few inches down and you got a shovel. Typically the tree company trucks break them at the seams and I just stick them back together. Each year renting the camera to check them *****

Thank you kctyphoon! I just need to use this thing once or twice a year to verify these pipes, I’ll take a shot at it.

Yea I was talking more about customers needing to pick up the expenses of a sewer pipe or similar. We've used that camera on one job that saved from having to pay for $15,000 street cut. Grass is cheap - concrete and pavement isnt. Its actually a pretty decent camera on that thing. You can flip the images around, zoom in and out...

Worst case - it's Amazon - take the shot and play with it once you get it, see what u think. It can always be returned.. the one other thing I do remember is the charger getting pretty hot on the one we had.

 

[SouthLake]

Handyandy that is crazy!
I hear you kctyphoon, that makes sense.
I think all of those reviews may be fake. Except for the one in Spanish that said it sucked lol but at least amazon has 30 day window. Worst case I’m taking the gamble on $450