Professional_Tool_And_Equipment_News_December_2019 - 42

Oasis Scientific

Vividia ME-610 Automotive
Articulating Borescope
The 360-degree articulation offers
visual confirmation into enclosed
and not-so-easily accessed areas.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:
The Oasis Scientific Vividia ME-610 Automotive
Articulating Borescope is designed for quick
inspection of hot car engines and diagnostics with
special air cooling channels. The ME-610 has a 1m
long, 6.5mm diameter waterproof probe with 360
degrees of articulation controlled by a joystick. The
Vividia ME-610 provides high quality images with
high illuminance LEDs. The insertion tube and camera probe are cooled with compressed air, so it can
be used at temperatures as high as 572 degrees F.
Circle 124 on card, or enter at "e-inquiry" on
VehicleServicePros.com

by Sara Scullin, Editor

THE REVIEW:

hen it comes to a thorough inspection, it
doesn't get much better
than full articulation and a clear picture.
Matt Fanslow of Riverside Automotive
in Red Wing, Minnesota, was impressed
with the span of the Vividia ME-610's
360-degree articulation, which helped
him to see into the heater core from the
heater box, among other uses.
"You can whip [the borescope] around
in every direction, not (having to) twist on
the cable or try to orient it right," Fanslow
says. "I really liked that. It articulates in
every direction and points back to you,
which is ... really nice, especially when
you're trying to wind your way through
something and watching as you go."
Setup for the tool consisted of a simple plug in and charge. Fanslow added,
the ME-610 comes well packaged in a
"very nice, sturdy plastic blow molded case with its charging adapter and
cleaning cloths."
The Automatic Articulating Borescope
allowed Fanslow to get an inside look
into places and parts he could not see

PTEN

DECEMBER 2019

into otherwise, like a
burnt spark plug, or
to confirm a suspected
leak coming from the intake.
Not only does seeing the problem
help technicians confirm a diagnosis - they can take this visual back to
the customer.
"Before [this product], you would
have no visual confirmation something
was wrong," Fanslow says. "You could
be looking at [performing] some hefty
disassembly to verify a problem, and [in
some cases] you still end up using your
imagination. This is visual proof. Take a
picture and send it to the client."
Fanslow was impressed with the image
quality, too, compared with borescopes
he's used in the past which seemed to lack
focus at a couple of inches away.
"The [Vividia cameras] seem to do
much better up close - they remain clear,"
he says. "I was very happy with that."
Fanslow says he would like to see a

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bigger screen on a future iteration of this
product (the current screen is 3.5 inches)
or have an output to his cellphone, and
possibly a narrower probe - 4 or 5mm
versus the current 6mm.
At the shop, Fanslow said "this
was the first grab" for him and his
fellow technicians.
"You could look into those enclosed or
hard-to-reach areas without taking a lot
of stuff apart, like in the case of a dropped
bolt - you could quick run the borescope
in there and sneak [the bolt] out with a
retriever tool," he says.
Overall, Fanslow found the ME-610 to
be a powerful diagnostic tool for visual
confirmation in several scenarios, saying
"this is the one to get."

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