Craftsman digital borescope, $70

[Stuey]

I posted about this deal last week at ToolGuyd (http://toolguyd.com/craftsman-borescope-inspection-camera-deal-122013/), but just now realized that the Craftsman scope is in fact an Extech relabel (BR80). That makes this an even better deal imho.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_03482027000P

$85 price + TOOLS15 coupon (shop your way membership required) = $69.99 price with free shipping.

17mm camera module and cable makes this sucky for engine work, but it should be good for random shop use and for playing around.

So that's $70 for a Craftsman-branded $130 instrument.

 

[senor fozz]

I'm down with this price if it caries no questions asked warranty but I doubt it does.

 

[Ign]

Cool. I've got the Milwaukee with the 17mm head and yeah, it's still useful.

 

[Loudpipes66]

I have this and it is great for the money.

 

[alxdgr8]

Can the head be swapped?

 

[Stuey]

Can the head be swapped?

Not that I can tell.

Extech product information only says that you can add a 19mm extension to provide for greater length.

From what I can see, Extech's BR100 is the cheapest one that can be fitted with different probes.

 

[alxdgr8]

Not that I can tell.

Extech product information only says that you can add a 19mm extension to provide for greater length.

From what I can see, Extech's BR100 is the cheapest one that can be fitted with different probes.

Thanks. Good deal, just not sure if I can find enough uses besides inspecting engines through a spark plug hole.

 

[EdJack]

Does anyone know if the camera end is lighted? I can't tell from the picture or description.

 

[Stuey]

It should be. Extech model has LEDs and Craftsman gas button with light bulb-like labeling.

 

[jim2664258]

There are 4 LEDs at the camera and you can adjust the brightness from the main unit. It's not what I would call super bright or anything; won't matter for some uses but it will for others.

 

[ishiboo]

Damnit! Had to set up a chase in my wall for a gas pipe today and ended up running to HF for their version for $67. Looks like the Craftsman is pretty much the same thing, but I'd have (somewhat) preferred the Craftsman labeling

 

[Super Sport]

I'm down with this price if it caries no questions asked warranty but I doubt it does.

Honestly, how can people expect them to sell tools at a reasonable price and replace them forever no questions asked when they are tools that will inevitably stop working?

And people wonder why **** is made in China nowadays...

 

[928'er]

Someone posted on Rennlist asking to borrow a borescope and one of our M.D. members suggested this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-2M-Mini-...645?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item231f809c2d

Got one on order but haven't received it yet - figured it was worth try for 16 bucks....

I'll post back once I've had a chance to try it out.

 

[zeekh]

So how long is the cable. It says 17mm that must be the diameter of the camera head. I don't any mention of length. Does it have adjustable focus?

 

[dudutzu905]

So how long is the cable. It says 17mm that must be the diameter of the camera head. I don't any mention of length. Does it have adjustable focus?

length - 39"

 

[dudutzu905]

Not that I can tell.

Extech product information only says that you can add a 19mm extension to provide for greater length.

19mm doesn't sound right, that's only 3/4" - so much for greater length

 

[crucible]

Someone posted on Rennlist asking to borrow a borescope and one of our M.D. members suggested this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-2M-Mini-...645?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item231f809c2d

Got one on order but haven't received it yet - figured it was worth try for 16 bucks....

I'll post back once I've had a chance to try it out.

Please do-I'm thinking this might be workable with a tablet.

 

[Stuey]

19mm doesn't sound right, that's only 3/4" - so much for greater length

19mm width, 37" length.

He was asking about swapping heads, so I figured he was interested in narrower cables, hence the 19mm mention. Sorry, I should have been more descriptive.

 

[zeekh]

length - 39"

Thanks

 

[928'er]

Well, I received my little USB endoscope.

It has 4 LEDs and about a 6' cable with a controller consisting of a thumb wheel to adjust brightness and a button to capture stills at about the middle of the cable. It comes with a mini CD which mainly contains various photo's of the unit and a bunch of shots of some chinese guys pointing the camera at various components on a couple of cars (but no screen captures). Obviously, it needs to be connected to a computer to function.

Documentation is virtually nill. By poking around I found kind of a "read
me" that says to "run the application RSCap1.10.exe" of course there is no such file on the disc. I picked the one which looked like it should be the "exe" file and, low and behold, it opened a video window!

I've only played around with it a little bit, looking at such things as the inside of my mouth. Focus is a matter of moving the unit back and forth. Resolution seems to be pretty good, but two of the LEDs went out within minutes of plugging it in (while I've been typing this I noticed that they're back on again).

Took a shot of the inside of a AAA LED flashlight and it produced a sharp, clear image of the contact at the end of the barrel. I'll try to attach an image, but I've never tried it on this site, so I don't know if I can just upload from my computer.

Well, I think it worked, but I had to crop the image quite a bit....

Assuming all 4 LEDs keep working, this looks like a pretty cool tool for $16.

 

[crucible]

Thanks 928-I'm going to order one as well and see if I can get it to work on my Android tablet (which has a full size, powered USB).

We'll see.....