I used to think those cheap fiber optic inspection scopes were junk

A guy at the hangar in Phoenix swore by his $80 model, but I figured you needed the $500+ tool for real work. He showed me his scope finding a tiny crack in a 737's wingtip nav light connector last month, something my eyes missed. After that, I bought one and it caught a bad pin in an A320's data bus coupler just yesterday. The image isn't perfect, but for a quick look inside a tight connector, it's totally worth it. Anyone have a favorite brand for these budget scopes that's held up?

3 comments

3 Comments

brooke5201mo ago

But what about the risk of missing something with a blurry image? A cheap tool might give you false confidence, and then you skip the proper inspection. That seems like a bad trade to save a few hundred bucks.

milesj701mo ago

Exactly that "false confidence" thing happened to my buddy. He bought a cheap scope, thought his pipes were fine, and ended up with a massive leak a month later.

jesse_fisher1mo ago

Right? It's like that cheap scope my brother-in-law got, the picture was so dark and grainy he missed a huge crack in a sewer line. @milesj70's buddy isn't alone, that false confidence is the real cost. Ended up costing him thousands in yard repair after the whole thing collapsed.