Boiler tube inspection by camera goes right or wrong in the outage package, weeks before anyone opens a drum. Crews that write access, reach and documentation into the package leave with a tube-by-tube record. Crews that pull a camera off the shelf on day one leave with a folder of clips nobody can match to a tube.
Six items need to be settled before the unit comes down: tube ID, entry, reach, power, viewing and documentation. After those come the tracking rules for the outage itself and the steps to finish before the window closes. The list assumes a visual ID inspection of boiler or heat exchanger tubes with a push camera, run alongside the plant's other NDT.
Before the outage starts, confirm the smallest tube ID and the manway the system has to pass, measure the longest run against the cable, plan cordless power with a spare battery, decide who watches live, and set a file-naming rule that comes from the tube map. Agree up front whether the job ends with raw footage or a finished report.
Why Boiler Tube Inspection Camera Plans Fail in the Outage Window
Camera work fails in outages for ordinary reasons. The camera on the shelf turns out to be a drain camera (see Pipe Camera vs Tube Inspection Camera). The head does not clear a ferrule nobody measured. The cable comes up short of the far end of the longest run. The only battery dies on night shift with no outlet near the drum. Footage gets named by timestamp and sorted after the window closes, when nobody remembers which clip came from which row.
Each of these is a planning gap. Visual tube work rarely gets the pre-job attention that an IRIS or eddy current scope gets in a turnaround inspection plan, because the camera looks like a simple tool. On a power plant turnaround it is a scheduled task with its own access, power and data requirements, and it belongs in the outage package with the rest.
Pre-Outage Checklist: Tubes, Access and Reach
Settle these while there is still time to change the configuration or order a different centering device.
- Tube OD, gauge and the smallest ID on the route, including ferrules, inserts and rolled ends.
- Restrictions past the tube end: swages, U-bends and tight-radius bends.
- Entry point (steam drum, mud drum or tube sheet), with manway shape and clear opening.
- System footprint against the manway. Edgevision measures 16.5 x 15.0 x 7.5 in (42 x 38 x 19 cm).
- Longest run from the access point to the far tube end, against the cable: 98.4 ft (30 m) on Edgevision.
- Centering devices sized for the tube ID, plus a spare. Edgevision ships with three.
Ask the plant for a photo of each manway with a tape measure in frame, taken from the side the crew will enter. Drawings show the nominal opening. Hinges, davits and drum internals only show up in the photo.
Pre-Outage Checklist: Power, Viewing and Records
The second half covers power, viewing and the record the crew hands over.
- Power: cordless with hot-swap batteries, or an outlet at the drum? Plan a spare battery and an external charger.
- Network: assume no plant Wi-Fi or internet at the boiler. The system has to record and store offline.
- Live viewing: a tablet for the operator and an HDMI feed for the supervisor keeps the tube sheet clear.
- Record standard: video for every tube, a still for every finding, one naming rule for both.
- Reporting: raw files handed to the client, or a report generated on the unit before the crew leaves.
- Spares: second battery, optional second tablet, spare centering device.
A naming rule works only if it comes from the tube map. A pattern of unit, component, row, tube, date and pass (U2-HXA-R12-T14-20261014-P1) sorts correctly in any file browser and matches the map the reliability engineer already uses.
On Edgevision, the Report Generator and Image Analysis packages tie each capture to the tube selected on the tablet, so naming happens at capture. The Basic package records video and stills for flash drive output, and the crew applies the naming rule. The reporting options are covered in How Edgevision Uses AI-Assisted RVI to Speed Up Reporting.
During the Outage: Tally, Tag, Reshoot, Hand Off
Mark every tube on the map as inspected, blocked, skipped or reshoot.
Set the tube ID before the head goes in.
Take a still at each finding and note its distance from the tube end.
Re-run any tube with a fogged lens, glare or an off-center head before moving rows.
Pass the map, battery status and open reshoots to the next shift in writing.
Write the reshoot rule into the job plan before the first shift. For example, any tube where the inspector cannot see the full circumference along some stretch gets another pass.
Keep the supervisor on the HDMI feed for the first rows of each bundle. Agreeing early on what counts as a finding keeps the night shift calling the same things the day shift called.
After the Window Closes: Export, Archive, Report
- Export all files by USB before the system leaves site, and check the file count against the tube tally.
- Archive raw video with the naming rule intact, so the next outage crew has footage to compare against.
- Deliver the report in the format agreed before the outage.
- List open items with tube numbers: blocked tubes, skipped rows and findings that need NDT follow-up.
- Record what to change next time: centering size, cable, battery count, access route.
- Put the open-items list into the next outage scope while the details are fresh.
Boiler Tube Inspection by Camera vs IRIS, Eddy Current and UT
A camera records what the tube ID looks like: deposits, scale, pitting, corrosion product, erosion patterns, blockages and foreign material. It does not measure remaining wall. Most search results for boiler tube inspection are NDT service pages, because measuring wall loss is their work. Plan the camera as the visual record that sits next to those methods.
The plant's inspection procedure, the owner's acceptance criteria and the applicable code decide what a finding means and what gets repaired. Camera footage is evidence for that decision.
Matching Edgevision to the Checklist
Edgevision for Outage Tube Work
Edgevision was designed for boiler and heat exchanger tube ID inspection in planned outages. The table maps its published specs to the checklist. The case for a purpose-built tube camera is in Boiler and Heat Exchanger Tube Inspection: Why Purpose-Built Push Camera Matters.
Review the Edgevision brochure for current configurations.
When a Push Camera Is the Wrong Tool for the Outage
Three cases call for something else. Tubes whose ID will not clear the head plus a centering device need a videoscope. Many shell-and-tube exchangers use 3/4 in or 1 in OD tubes, and the AIT K Series HD Videoscope reaches those IDs with 6.0 mm and 8.0 mm probes up to 10 m long. Send AIT the tube OD and gauge if you are unsure which side of the line a bundle falls on.
Wall-loss questions need IRIS, eddy current or UT. Drum internals and other large spaces are a PTZ camera job: the XyloQ HD PTZ Camera is built for vessels and large pipes, with 30x optical zoom and continuous 360° pan.
What to Send AIT Before the Outage
Send these to sales@aitproducts.com, call (321) 610-8977, or use the contact form, and we will confirm the configuration, spares and reporting package:
- Outage dates and the components in scope
- Tube OD, gauge, material and smallest ID
- Manway photos with dimensions, and the path to the tube ends
- Longest run and tube count per component
- Who needs live viewing, and the report format required
- Whether you want a demo on your own tubes before the outage
Key Takeaways
- Write tube ID, entry, reach, power, viewing and documentation into the outage package before the unit comes down.
- Name every file from the tube map, or use a camera that tags each capture to its tube.
- Set the reshoot and shift-handoff rules before the first shift starts.
- A camera documents the ID surface while IRIS, eddy current and UT measure the wall, so plan them together.
- Edgevision covers the checklist with an under 1 in (25 mm) head, 98.4 ft (30 m) cable, a manway-size chassis, hot-swap batteries and offline recording.
