AIT will be exhibiting at the 2017 annual ASNT conference October 30th to November 2nd. This years annual ASNT conference will be held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. You can find us at the conference entrance booth 1000.

AIT will be exhibiting our video borescopes, pipe inspection cameras, Tank and Vessel inspection cameras, Small diameter inspection solutions and other remote visual inspection equipment. We look forward to speaking with you about your remote visual inspection requirements and how AIT can help.

Equipment you can look forward to seeing includes:

The NEW X-LED Plus videoscope will be available for demo! The new high definition video borescope offers probes from 2.4mm diameter and lengths up to 7.5m. An HD camera provides brilliant resolution. A high high defintion 7" widescreen LCD with a touch screen user interface makes inspections a breeze.

The Mentor Visual IQ is the most advanced high resolution 3D measurement video borescope manufactured. The Mentor IQ is available with fully interchangeable probes with diameters of 4.0, 6.1, 6.2 and 8.4mm. The system boasts the most complete set of interchangeable tip optics including 3D stereo and 3D phased measurement. A high resolution TFT touch screen LCD makes the user interface a breeze.

The PTZx Portable inspection system is tank and vessel inspection cameras will be available at the ASNT conference. Perfect for inspection of tanks, vessels, drums and other large confined spaces. State-of-the-art white LED lighting provides over 1000 lumens of light along with add-on auxiliary lighting brightens the darkest of environments. Coupled with a low-lux, high-resolution CCD imager, zoom optics, continuous pan rotation and 270° of tilt, this sub-4" camera provides excellent quality images with which well-informed decisions can be made.

The MC360 is the best industrial pan and tilt pipe inspection camera. AIT will have the MC360 available for view to show off the ability to inspection long lengths of pipes and other lines without missing any detail. The 50mm diameter head is the smallest diameter pan and tilt camera head in it’s class. The small diameter allows you to inspect smaller pipes that other systems can’t.

The ASNT Annual Conference 2014 will provide Advanced Inspection Technologies Inc. a forum to demonstrate all the latest remote visual inspection equipment that AIT offerers for sale and rental. The newest addition to AIT’s rapidly growing pool of borescope rental equipment is the IPLEX RT video borescope. The addition of new Olympus video borescope rental equipment will ensure that AIT can meet the most demanding needs of our rental customers.

In addition AIT will have several different types of video borescopes, pipe cameras and small diameter fiberscopes on display. AIT is the only remote visual inspection rental company that offers in-depth knowledge of remote visual inspection equipment. No other company offers such a wide variety of borescopes and inspection cameras for rent.

Having an expert staff in the field of remote visual inspection and a wide choice of instruments available allows AIT to help our customers select the best instrument for their particular inspection. Other rental companies have little knowledge of the remote visual inspection equipment they rent and do not have a sufficient inventory properly help most inspection requirements. Instead they simply rent the same borescope regardless of the inspection

Portable Videoscope inspection for Wind Turbine Inspections

Remote visual inspection of wind turbines is needed to  inspect gear boxes, wind turbine blades,and other critical components. A videoscope inspection is used to inspect the interior areas that are not accessible. A video borescope or videoscope can be inserted into impossible to reach areas that will allow the borescope camera to view the interior components. Borescope inspection of areas such as the gear box and interior of the turbine blades allows engineers to check for overall condition of the component. A videoscope or video borescope can reveal hairline cracks, corrosion, pitting, rubbing and other defects.

Renal of borescopes, videoscopes, fiberscopes and pipe cameras has become a common method of meeting remote visual inspection needs. In the past past the only option to inspecting a one time or emergency application was to purchase equipment for that one purpose.

Today a remote visual inspection rentals can be delivered overnight or even the same day the inspection is required. The appeal of a videoscope rental the cost savings and fast turn around. Remote visual inspection equipment rentals have many benefits for both long an short term requirements.

Some Applications for remote visual inspection rentals include:

• Turbine Inspections. Turbines need to be periodically borescoped to determine the condition. A video borescope rental may be needed if existing equipment is being serviced, there is not enough existing videoscope for the work or you simply do not have the appropriate diameter or length videoscope for the turbine.

• Architectural Inspections. Architectural firms may need to inspect behind a wall, an expensive ornamental fixture or in other difficult to reach area. A Video borescope rental will provide a quick and cost effective method to determine the interior condition of old architectural buildings with damage to the surface.
• Marine Surveys. Luxury yachts and commercial shipping may require a thorough examination prior to closing a sale or lease contract, for an accident investigation or to periodically determine the condition. A video borescope rental can be used for these short term applications for little cost.
• Boiler tube inspections. Boiler tubes at industrial plants need to be inspected for scale, pitting corrosion and other defects. a long videoscope, pipe inspection camera or push camera rental is the perfect solution to quickly and inexpensively complete these inspections.
• Heat exchanger inspections. Heat exchangers at industrial plants need to be inspected for scale, pitting corrosion and other defects. a long videoscope, or video borescope rental quickly provides the best remote visual inspection equipment.

Steel and concrete structures are subject to corrosion, fatigue, Wear and structural design flaws. Remote visual inspection of bridges can utilize industrial videoscopes  or video borescopes to inspect inside voids, cavities and other impossible to reach areas to determine the condition of a bridge.

Video Borescopes are Used to Perform Remote Visual Inspection of Bridges

Remote visual inspection of bridges—a videoscope or Video borescope is typically used to evaluate the condition of areas difficult to access for visual inspection. These instruments can be snaked to various internal areas of a bridge and transmit images viewed by a video scope camera attached to the tip of a thin flexible tube that can be as long as 15 meters. Common applications in bridge evaluation include bearing inspection and tendon inspection. Remote visual inspection access can be through existing holes/cracks or small holes (typically 10-20mm) drilled into the structure.

Facts About Bridges:

• The US has 578,000 highway bridges.
• Corrosion, cracking and other damage can all affect a bridge’s performance.
• The collapse of the Silver Bridge in 1967 resulted in loss of 47 lives.
• Bridges should have a visual inspection about every 2 years.

Video borescopes come in many forms and are called many names: Videoscope, VideoProbe, Videoimage Scope etc. By what ever name you call them, video borescopes are an essential part of any remote visual inspection program. These inspection instruments are used to inspect some of the toughest industrial areas imaginable. Snaking through rough boiler tubes, turbine inspections, rotating machinery and other harsh environments can take a toll on these expensive tools.

With so many manufacturers introducing new videoscopes to the market, many customers may be confused as to what is suitable for an "Industrial" remote visual inspection application. Lower cost "consumer grade videoscopes." do not hold up to the rigorous environment of an industrial application. There are some basic construction qualities that you should look for when selecting your video borescope.

Features of Industrial Video Borescopes:

Working length is constructed of tungsten. Tungsten has 5 times the wear resistance of stainless steel and is far more durable than either stainless steel or polyurethane.

CCD Camera is housed in a stainless steel head can. This protects the camera and ensures it will stand up to the hits and drops.

Ability to Center Articulation. Video borescopes can bend around tight corners, but if not returned to zero before withdrawing, an inspector risks snagging the bending neck and damaging the videoscope.

Interior steel mono coil adds crush protection and ensures your videoscope will stand up to crimping and being stepped on.

Water tight construction. Industrial video borescope inspections may expose your borescope to being submerged in water or harsh chemicals. Industrial videoscopes are constructed to work in these environments.

Look for these important features when selecting a videoscope for your industrial Inspection. Remember you still need to exercise proper video borescope care and maintenance.

Micro borescopes are typically used to remotely inspect the smallest application. Some remote visual inspection applications require access through tiny holes that are less than 2.0 mm (0.078 in). A micro borescope or mini borescope may be semi-flexible or rigid. Typically these small borescopes are limited in length and direction of view is 0° forward with the option for side view mirror sleeves.

These small inspection areas provide remote visual inspection professionals with many challenges. The access dictates the inspection requirements more than any other factor. The smaller the inspection area the more limited the choice of micro borescopes available and the number of manufacturers of these mini borescopes.  Finally, Due to the nature of a micro borescope, it is more susceptible to damage. Users need to be aware of the limitations of smaller diameter borescopes and fiberscopes and work within these.

Applications for Micro Borescopes:

• Engineering & Manufacturing. Micro Borescopes provide cost-effective examination of internal structures without tear down. A micro borescope allows engineers to check for pitting, cracking, corrosion, erosion, weld and other defects.

• Quality Control. Micro Borescope instruments allow manufactures to inspect components for defects. Mini borescopes provide the ability to inspect internal components, bore holes, castings and other manufactured items such as turbine blades, automotive components, circuit boards, rifle barrels and welds.

• Castings. Micro Borescopes can be used to inspect inside casting of engine blocks and other high quality casted components. Micro Borescope instruments as small as 0.5 mm in diameter and larger are offered to accommodate all casting inspection needs.

Industrial Push Cameras offer remote visual inspection professionals a versatile tool to inspect long length industrial pipe line. The ability to "snake" a camera up to 200 feet through lines and view the condition of the interior reduces the possibility of unplanned outages and prevents unessential maintenance.

Push Camera Applications Include:

• Inspection of boiler tubes. Boiler tubes need to be checked for scale, deposits, cracking and other defects. The most reliable method is an industrial push camera with a diameter of approximately 1 inch.
• Inspection of floor drains. Food plants need to check floor drains for cleanliness and blockages or food borne bacteria can grow. Push cameras or drain cameras allow for quick inspection.
• Process lines need to be inspected for condition. A push camera allow fast inspection of long industrial line to check for pitting, corrosion, erosion, cracking, scaling and other problems.
• Cleaning Validation can be performed at pharmaceutical and chemical plants with a push camera. Process lines at these plants need to be cleaned of previous product ingredients or the next batch may be contaminated. A push camera is used to ensure no residue is remaining after cleaning.
• Steam feed lines need to be inspected for interior condition. A Push camera or pipe camera can see scale build up, pitting, corrosion, cracking and other defects.
• Foreign Material Exclusion (FME) programs benefit from the capability of a push camera to locate foreign objects, loose parts and other debris in industrial piping. Once the push camera locates the foreign material it can then be used to direct retrieval tools to remove the objects without tear down.

Aircraft turbines are subject to ingested foreign object damage (FOD), Corrosion, erosion, thermal deterioration, cracking, and distortion. Since the parts that are most vulnerable to damage are not readily available to unaided visual inspection, the only available method to determine the condition of a turbine is the use of a videoscope, borescope or fiberscope.

Borescope inspection of an engine internally “on the wing” for signs of FOD, wear, thermal and mechanical damage is a common practice. Turbine borescope inspections help maintain the reliability of the aircraft gas turbine. This means commercial, military and business aviation greater safety and more time that an engine can operate on wing without costly and time consuming tear down and unnecessary maintenance. Today many aircraft turbine borescope inspections are mandated by the FAA and manufacturers. Continue reading →

Today's slow economic environment means that the larger budgets of the past are no longer available to purchase your remote visual inspection equipment. The need to inspect critical systems at your plant has not gone away though. I have noticed that capital sales of remote visual inspection equipment is not growing as rapidly as rentals. Recently, rental of remote visual inspection equipment has been a popular choice to conduct required inspections at industrial sites. Renting borescopes, videoscopes, fiberscopes and push or pipe inspection cameras can be a cost-effective way to meet your remote visual inspection requirements. Continue reading →