Micro Borescopes
There are a number of industrial and aerospace applications that demand an extremely small diameter borescope. The narrow passages and entry points require micro borescopes or sometimes called mini borescopes, miniature borescopes or tiny borescope to inspect these areas. These micro borescopes are available as small as .37mm (.014 inches) up to 2.0 mm (.078 inches). The smaller diameter borescopes such as the .37 mm to .70 mm are only available with a 0-degree angle of view (AOV), or straight view. Meaning that the mini borescope is looking straight ahead as it enters the inspection area. For system around the 1 mm (.039 inches) you can customize the AOV to a side view meaning as the micro borescope enters the desired inspection area you will be viewing the side of the bore. A point to consider is that this is an extensive manufacturing process for the side viewing systems and will be considered a special-order item. The straight view systems are much more common and generally a selection of diameters is readily available for shipping. Average lead time on a side viewing micro fiberscope is approximately 20 business days. The side viewing systems are not that popular as you a generally inspecting a small passage and with the straight view and 70-degree field of view you can generally see the inspection area adequately These tiny borescopes offer a poly exterior sheathing and which makes the probe easy to clean and durable. Stainless steel sheathing on the micro fiberscope is optional on diameters of .7mm and larger. The image bundle in the micro borescope is a fused glass quartz with fiber bundles from 3k and up to 30k depending on the probe diameter and desired image quality.
The micro borescope is manufactured with a semi flexible probe which makes it easier to viewing around bends and corners. Semi rigid micro borescopes are available and customizable to your requirements. Standard length for these systems is 500 mm to 1 meter however, if you require a custom length, whether longer or shorter please advise.
The micro borescope is designed with a detachable eye piece. This means that your eye piece can support various probe diameters for your diverse inspections. In addition, this makes the probe field replaceable and reduces your down time as you can easily change the probe when a damage issue occurs.
With the small diameter of the micro borescope and the supporting light bundle for these probes we strongly recommend a high intensity LED light source. This is especially true if you are going to utilize an USB camera to take pictures and record video of the inspection area.
Can you repair a micro fiberscope?
To obtain the small diameter of the micro fiberscope the image bundle, light bundle and exterior sheathing are fused as a singular body. Once the fused glass fiber is broken it is nearly impossible fuse back together. The pixels are so small in a 3k or 10k bundle to try and perfectly align them again and glue back together is not feasible. Its more cost effective to purchase a replacement probe. This goes the same with the illumination fiber. The fibers are only 25μm in diameter, which is a third of a human hair. Once they are damaged there is no repairing them. The advantage of our mini borescope is that the eyepiece is detachable from the probe. This allows for a replacement micro borescope to be attached without having to purchase a complete system including the ocular viewer. In addition, the detachable focusing eyepiece allows you to use various other diameter and length small diameter borescopes.
