hawkeye borescope

[lpreddick]

i'v had mine for 9 months and it BROKE! the light would flicker or not come on. i changed batteries and it flickered. i took the handle apart ant the very tiney ?led( light bulb) fell out of the two very tiney holes into which it was inserted. one prong was bent, so i straightened it and reinserted...same problem, so i called the 800 no of parent co...i DID mail in my warranty registration. i was advised that a replacement light source bulb was in the handle screw cap in a red plastic holder. VOILA! IT IS TINEY . replaced the old with the new and YAHOOO! I have light!!! the instructions didn't mention this extra bulb so i thought i'd report my experience in case others have the same problem. a reall great tool!

 

[fdshuster]

Yes, all my Mini Mag flashlights have a spare bulb stored in the end caps.

I make it a point to keep several spare bulbs in the hard case with the borescope. For some reason it "eats" the light bulbs at a faster rate than if they were in the Mini Mag flashlights.

I do use the Energizer Lithium batteries & do get a very long life out of them.

 

[SmokinJoe]

Best thing you can do with the Hawkeye is to get a LED (mine is 3 bulb) conversion. LED's last forever & batteries, too.

 

[lpreddick]

LED conversion...tell us more. where to get this..? thanks.

 

[SmokinJoe]

I got mine at Lowes. Probably available at Home Depot, WalMart & on-line. Just look around some.

 

[CoverDog]

+1 on the 3 bulb LED conversion. The LED light is almost a blue/white where as the standard bulb looks almost white/ yellow in comparison.

 

[thefitter]

Can you see colors with the LED?

 

[CoverDog]

Can you see colors with the LED?

Yes you can, not a problem at all.

 

[thefitter]

Can you see colors with the LED?

Yes you can, not a problem at all.

You can see copper fouling?

 

[SmokinJoe]

The LED light gives better contrast kind of like flourescent vs incandesent. Yes, you can see copper very well.

 

[Forum Boss]

Joe,

I'd like to report on this. Is this a conversion to the mini-maglight that goes on the viewing end of the borescope? Does it just replace the top part of the maglight, or is a a different lamp unit altogether?

I found this: LED Maglite from Lowes

 

[thefitter]

This is all very interesting. Prior to buying my bore scope I talked at length with a Rep/Tech at Hawkeye about different issues. He told me that they do not recommend the led lights because "it washes out everything white, and you can not see color differentials very well". He said they only offer it because some customers think that LED is always a better light source.

Not trying to stir the pot just passing along the info I received.

 

[CoverDog]

This is what I am using....

www.ebay.com/itm/Nite-Ize-3-White-LED-Upgrade-Bulb-AA-Mini-Mag-LRB-07-/370607603171?pt=US_Flashlights&hash=item5649ef3de3#ht_2250wt_1177

 

[lpreddick]

the photo by Forum Boss is what i got yesterday and it fits the hawkeye a little differently than original, but works...MUCH TOO WELL on full power! a clean bore reflect so much light it may be dangerous to the eye. the unit pictured, as mine, has a function to reduce power to "25%", and this intensity is more than the original bulb but comfortable on the eye. i was able to see the color of copper fouling. i'll use this conversion for now.

 

[flatlander]

I swapped-out the original MiniMaglite bulb for the NiteEyz a couple of years ago, and have never had a single reason to regret the change. I feel the LED lites give better color definition, contrary to the factory mentioning 'washing everything out'. Copper fouling is easily seen, as is carbon, and the life expectency of the LED emitters is something like 50,000hrs - somehow, I doubt I'll live quite long enough to outlast the LEDs.

Oh yeah - one more thing - I haven't changed the batteries since making the switch. I DO check for leakage/corrosion regularly, but so far, can't say how long a set of AAs will last when used in conjunction with the NiteEyz conversion.