Borescope inspection
| Borescope inspection | |
| Type | Inspection method |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Endoscope inspection, inspection camera |
| Access | Small drilled or existing hole |
| Gives | Direct visual sight of a concealed void |
| Nature | Minimally invasive rather than non-invasive |
A borescope inspection uses a small camera on a flexible or rigid probe, with its own light source, to look inside a space that cannot otherwise be seen: a wall cavity, a floor void, a duct, a boxed-in pipe run or the space beneath a bath. In leak investigation it is normally the confirming step rather than the searching one, used after another method has narrowed the area, because it requires an access hole and therefore only inspects where the operator has already decided to look. No statute or published standard defines the technique, so the description below is of established industry practice and carries no citation.
Method[edit]
A hole of a few millimetres is drilled where access is needed, or an existing opening such as a service penetration or removed socket is used. The probe is fed through and the view is displayed on a screen or recorded. Articulating probes allow the tip to be steered, which matters in a cavity where the feature of interest is not directly in line with the access point.
Because the hole is small and can be made in an inconspicuous position, the intervention is usually far less than opening up a wall or lifting a floor, which is the reason the method is used at all.
Role in an investigation[edit]
A borescope answers a question the indirect methods leave open. Acoustic work, thermal imaging and moisture mapping all infer the presence and position of water from a signal; a borescope shows the pipe, the joint or the standing water directly. It is commonly used to confirm which of two adjacent services is leaking, to see whether a stain in a ceiling void is active or historic, and to check a repair without reopening the whole area.
It is described as minimally invasive rather than non-invasive, because it does make a hole. Where the fabric is a finished or historic surface that distinction matters and the access point is chosen accordingly.
Limitations[edit]
The instrument sees only the void it is inserted into. A leak behind a second layer, above a ceiling that has not been penetrated, or within a duct that the probe cannot enter remains unseen. Confined cavities filled with insulation give a view of the insulation. Water that has tracked along a joist from its source will be found where it collected rather than where it escaped, so a borescope confirms presence and not necessarily origin.