Endoscope/inspection camera buying advice please. 10 January at 12:08AM in Techie Stuff 9 replies 285 views

FrankFalcon

Hi all

I am looking to buy one of those endoscope cams. Here’s why. This morning I noticed drops of water dripping from a downlight in one of our rooms. So, I pulled out the downlight from the ceiling and lo and behold the shower waste from the bathroom is directly above the downlight hole. So, I Need to investigate where the water is dripping from so I want a camera on a Stick with a light on the end. I believe they are called endoscopes or inspection cameras. I have seen them on EBay and Facebook previously but they are so cheap they make me think they are junk. 

So, my question is… can anybody suggest a camera (with light) that I can use to stick in my dark ceiling space to see what’s going on (make a video or see live video?) I don’t want to chance sticking my iPhone up with its torch on. Surely there has to be a decent enough, cheap enough inspection camera? If so what do they connect to? PC? Phone? If there is such a device where do I see the images? PC Screen? Phone screen? 

Thanks in advance all. 

debitcardmayhem

Have you tried looking under your shower tray with your eyes ? Or perhaps it may be your silicone ? https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6370532/shower-silicone-leaking-after-8-weeks-it-adheres-to-shower-tiles-well-but-not-to-shower-tray-itself#latest

facade

I have one of the type that are £30 on eBay, a screen with a handle and a flexible tube affair. Pretty much useless. You can see something on the screen, and it records to a memory card that you can see in the computer.

Very very difficult to point the camera at what you want to see.

As suggested, examine your shower tray, the plastic ones often crack.

You will have to get access to the shower drain anyway to either fix the leak or change the shower tray, so you might as well just attack from the top and put the £30 towards materials.

RumRat

I had the same problem and it was the silicone that was leaking, the water mad it's way down along the outside of the pipe and dripped. Simple 10 minute job to try first before spending out on anything else.
Unless your iPhone is an old one, it would be fine if it got a few drips of water on it, they aren't like phones of the past. Check it's rating before trying it.

Grey_Critic

Water and Electrics do not mix and rectification needs to be done by someone who is qualified. I assume you have Home Insurance - if so do you have 24/7 Ememrgency cover? If so ring them and let them sort it out.

If they need to start pulling the shower out to rectify it could be expensive and you do not want them to turn down a claim because they dsay you have caused problems with trying a DIY repair.

GDB2222

I have an old usb endoscope camera, and it is pretty useless. So, I was looking forward to some sensible advice on what to buy to replace it. Sadly disappointed. Humph….

My own advice is:

Get something that connects to your phone via USB or Bluetooth, as there’s no point buying one with a dedicated screen.

You need autofocus. The one I have is fixed focus at only a few cms, whereas you need to get a wider picture before doing a close up shot.

I wouldn’t fixate on pixels, as the lens is bound to be carp. 

They all seem to have a light built in, as that’s the easy part!

Be prepared to spend quite a bit of money.


If you find a good one, please report back!

Chickereeeee

I bought a cheap USB borescope (£10-ish??) for checking wall cavities, and it was unusable. I recently bought a more expensive one (£67) that connects to your phone/pad via WiFi, and it is excellent. Full colour picture, front AND side cameras (vital, imo), clear picture on screen, 5m long, only 5mm diameter (perfect for airbricks)..
BUT remember they only have quite short focus, and the light is not bright enough for long distances. (However, if you can get more light into a dark area, you can get a reasonable wiew over a larger area.). It is ideal for my purposes anyway.

The one I bought was this one: 
DEPSTECH 5mm Wireless Endoscope,1080P Dual Lens Borescope Inspection Camera with Light,2.0 Megapixels Snake Camera with Flexible Semi-Rigid Cable for iPhone & Android-16.5FT https://amzn.eu/d/17FyKfP

benson1980

The DEPSTECH ones will do the job- my trouble with them was that I had one for just over year and it stopped working. I would also add that the cabling, if you buy one that is long, can actually be really unwieldy and really difficult to get the camera to where you actually want it to go. Next time I'd get one with as shorter cable as I think I would reasonably need for most household jobs- which is realistically probably a metre or so just to inspect a cavity.

Miser1964

Probably best to rent a good one. Unless you have an articulating-end controlled by a thumb-wheel, they are super-frustrating to use.

Chickereeeee

benson1980 said:

The DEPSTECH ones will do the job- my trouble with them was that I had one for just over year and it stopped working. I would also add that the cabling, if you buy one that is long, can actually be really unwieldy and really difficult to get the camera to where you actually want it to go. Next time I'd get one with as shorter cable as I think I would reasonably need for most household jobs- which is realistically probably a metre or so just to inspect a cavity.

Well, I just have most of the cable coiled up and held together with the supplied velcro straps, so it is not in the way, really. The length comes in handy for dropping down cavities, pushing along between floor joists, looking down drainage pipes, and looking under suspended ground floors. The cable is a good compromise between flexibility and stiffness, but it can take a bit of jiggling to get it to go where you want.

I needed  the 5mm one for my airbricks, but I imagine the thicker ones would provide a better picture, and maybe cheaper.