Inspection Camera

[asalcedo]

I need to find a leak inside a 110mm rain water PVC pipe

The pipe is inside a concrete slab which I will have to break, thus, spotting the precise location of the leak is important to minimize the breakage.

I have thought that the best way to proceed is to get an inspection camera to look inside the pipe. Is there a better way?

I have good, straight, access to the pipe around 6 - 10 meters from the likely location of the leak

Will a camera like the USB ones described in the link below be good enough?:

is a chance, however, that to get to the leak I will have to go through 90 degree elbows, located several meters from the camera entry point.

I find it very unlikely that I can make the camera turn so far from the entry point. Am I correct or is there a technique to allow it?

Do I need a different kind of equipment?

Thanks,

Antonio

[Dave Plowman (News)]

The ones I've seen at a reasonable price (and the USB one I've got) can only be inserted a distance of about a metre. For several metres from the access point, I'd use a pro.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Dave Plowman (News) brought next idea :

A USB cable, if plugged directly into a PC's USB port, can be fitted with an extension of around 10m (check the actual spec.), so the only problem would be sealing the plug joint in the cable.

[polygonum]

Easy enough to check before posting, isn't it?

"The USB 1.1 Standard specifies that a standard cable can have a maximum length of 3 meters with devices operating at Low Speed (1.5 Mbit/s), and a maximum length of 5 meters with devices operating at Full Speed (12 Mbit/s)."

that is Wiki, feel free to update. And USB 3 does not have a maximum cable length - it has a cable performance spec.)

[Harry Bloomfield]

The point I was making was that it could be extended and to check the spec. for the actual length.

[Lobster]

That doesn't help the OP though: these gizmos consist of a large handle/grip with a ~1m flexible fibre-optic wand with a camera/light on the tip; the handle has a cable with a USB plug. The OP would need to stick the wand into the access point while keeping hold of the handle, and then guide the tip where he wants it. So the length of USB cable is immaterial; that won't be going into the pipe.

David

[Lobster]

That doesn't help the OP though: these gizmos consist of a large handle/grip with a ~1m flexible fibre-optic wand with a camera/light on the tip; the handle has a cable with a USB plug. The OP would need to stick the wand into the access point while keeping hold of the handle, and then guide the tip where he wants it. So the length of USB cable is immaterial; that won't be going into the pipe.

David

[John Rumm]

Yours is a bit different from some that are in effect a camera on a long lead rather than on a semi rigid goose neck.

e.g.

For the OP, the best chance you have of getting a camera down there might be with a set of cable rods and the camera taped just behind the lead end of the rod. I doubt even then you would get through more than one elbow though.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Mine has a control for the LED output level and a capture button, on the box at the end of the snake, before the USB cable. They don't look waterproof to me.

[SteveW]

That's the specified length and it will probably work at much greater lengths. If not, you can buy cables with repeaters built into the sockets and you can put two of these (possibly 3) together to get you further.

SteveW