AVIATION MAINTENANCE MAGAZINE
Top Uses for the 2.8mm

VJ-Advance Video Borescope

by ViewTech Borescopes | RF System Lab

With our extensive video borescope knowledge, ViewTech | RF System Lab discussed the top uses for the 2.8mm video borescope for Aviation Maintenance Magazine.

To read the full article on Aviation Maintenance Magazine’s website, please go here, view the PDF version here or read the text version below…

July 22, 2014
ViewTech Borescopes | RF System Lab

In January RF System Lab announced the arrival of the 2.8mm VJ-Advance (VJ-ADV) video borescope. Now, the creators of the 2.8mm VJ-ADV would like to provide an update regarding the different industries that are utilizing the super slim 2.8mm VJ-ADV, as well as detail what makes this video borescope such a necessity in those industries.

The 2.8mm has all the same features as their original, 6.9mm VJ-Advance, including four-way joystick-controlled camera articulation, medical grade camera technology, and trigger activated image capture. However, as indicated by the name, the 2.8mm VJ-ADV offers a much slimmer insertion tube diameter, allowing inspection of much tighter spaces.

A function that was noted in several instances was the aerospace industry’s use of the 2.8mm VJ-ADV to complete casting inspections. Internal Foreign Object Debris (FOD) detection is crucial, especially for integral parts such as the small cord oil passageways in the casting that surround the turbine engine. The 2.8mm video borescope is ideal for casting inspection because of its slender size and smaller bending radius, allowing it to easily navigate through tight corners and small tubing to detect corrosion or FOD.

The small passageways of the casting are extremely expensive to replace, so a majority of companies in the Aviation and Aerospace industry use borescopes like the 2.8mm VJ-ADV to perform preventive avionics maintenance to ensure that the welding is fully sealed and that there are no ruptures or leakage in the joints of the casting. Performing this inspection prior to installing the casting also instills confidence that future inspections will be passed and that the integrity of all parts that make up the casting is upheld.

Another notable industry in which to 2.8mm has been popular is 3D printing and other electronic inspections. 3D printers are becoming standard in many industries and making sure the 3D printer you are using to create parts is in full working order, as well as inspecting the finished printed parts, is a must. The 2.8mm seamlessly fits into small openings and guides effortlessly through compact inner workings of electronics and the products they create. Uses of the VJ-ADV within the electronic industry have included solder paste inspections, circuit board inspections and different methods of preventative maintenance.
In addition to those industries, the 2.8mm VJ-ADV has been used for inspections that fall into the “other” category. These “other” inspections range from inspecting the inside of golf club heads to looking inside 300-year-old violins.

RF System Lab says the 2.8mm articulating video borescope has become a top-seller in the industries above and in many others that require a sub-4mm borescope such as oil and gas, chemical processing and manufacturing.

Aviation Maintenance Magazine
Borescopes: Seeing Your Aircraft Inside Out

Borescopes Inspect Where You Can’t

by ViewTech Borescopes | RF System Lab

With our extensive knowledge, ViewTech | Rf System Lab discussed how borescopes help your aviation maintenance inspections, seeing where you can’t, with Aviation Maintenance Magazine.

To read the full article on Aviation Maintenance Magazines website, please go here, view the PDF version here or read the text version below…

October 17, 2013
ViewTech Borescopes | RF System Lab

Borescopes Inspect Where You Can’t
“Critical in supporting safe operation and quality control of turbines and other aircraft body parts, this nondestructive testing tool enables the detection and evaluation of defects or imperfections in materials or structural properties, without disassembling or producing harmful effects on the subjects being tested,” says Melissa Stancato, product manager, Aerospace at GE Measurement & Control, a business division of GE Oil & Gas, Skaneateles, N.Y. “GE’s borescopes are used thousands of times a week globally to ensure readiness of commercial and military aircraft.”

A Small Access Hole
A borescope can be used on almost any piece of mechanical aviation equipment that has a small access hole. “Applications include inspecting airframes, flap tracks, wiring harnesses and combustion chambers on recip engines,” says Sean O’Connor, general manager, RF System Lab., Traverse City, Mich. “Additionally, borescopes are used in corrosion inspections.”

One of the most common uses of borescopes in aviation is inspecting turbine engines. “A borescope’s function is to go inside and look at the engine turbine blades to see cracks, discoloration, burring marks and indentations on a blade that can cause problems,” says Jitu Patel, V.P. Industrial Division, Machida Inc., Orangeburg, N.Y. “Place the borescope in the engine and rotate the turbine so you can see the blades one by one.”

Frank Lafleur, product manager of remote visual inspection Americas at Olympus NDT, in Houston says other borescope-inspected aviation parts can include anything from first-stage compressor blades or stators, combustion liners, injector nozzles and HPT sections. “This inspection looks for wear, damage or abnormalities to ensure the engine is safe to fly,” he says. “Each engine has a set of safe conditions for chips, dents, scratches or even cracks. The most advanced borescopes can quantify these faults through measurement, to ensure tolerances from the engine manufacturers are followed precisely.”

A borescope can inspect just about anywhere there’s an access hole large enough to accept its diameter. With the use of guides or different lengths, engines, structure, or anything else that needs visual inspection can be quickly viewed. There are locations on an aircraft that can more easily be inspected with other visual methods. Also, there are considerations to be made when dealing with fuel lines or tanks as many modern borescopes have electric components at the end of the scope, which naturally could cause a spark.

“Special care should be taken when using a borescope to inspect fuel tanks, with proper grounding being very important,” says O’Connor. “Aside from fuel tanks, as long as the scope is liquid proof and resistant to the common fluids found in various aircraft systems, a borescope can safely be used anywhere.”

Lafleur believes that each manufacturer or service center needs to educate themselves on the limitations of any borescope to ensure safe operation. “This is important for the safety of the technician of course, but also for the equipment,” he says. “These tools are a capital investment. Avoid insertion into a hot engine which could destroy the scope. Some may even have limitations on oil or water contact.”