Customer Reviews

Ridgid 31123 SeeSnake Micro 9.5mm Inspection Camera

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

this is a very helpful product if you have to look into semi tight places, the LED lights up the surroundings very well the the camera provides a clear picture of what you are looking at, but it is not self leveling, so if it gets turned around, your view will also be turned around. if you do decide to get this product, make sure you get the one with an aluminum head. do not get the one with a plastic head as i am sure that you will eventually break it, it doesn't take much. that is probably why they came out with these aluminum heads. i bought mine with a plastic head and i eventually had to purchase a new head. it is not covered in the warranty. mine did come with an extra 3 foot long extension so i don't feel as bad about the broken head. so basically if you need a tool that can slip into places and inspect things without having to open up a wall or something, this is a great tool, just make sure you order the correct one

This scope has a clear color screen and the shaft is a lot thinner than the Milwaukee making it more flexible and easier to get into small holes. You have the option of extending the length with purchase of adapters and you can dim or brighten the led. The handle is very ergonomic as well and is easily maneuvered while viewing the screen. Highly recommended.

I bought this product to see behind sheetrock. It served my needs perfectly. I wasn't expecting a super high quality image from Rigid and I would say the screen resolution/detail is just average but fine for what I was doing. I think the picture quality really wanes if you are trying to see something more than a foot or two away. It's probably not the image sensor, I think it is just that such a small LED can only produce enough light for up-close inspection. Image quality was great up close.

I will say that keeping the camera end perfectly straight is sort of a pain. I found myself turning my head sideways on various occasions because the end had become twisted within the wall and the picture on screen was sideways as a result.

On the postive side, the unit seems very sturdy. I dropped it with no bad results. The storage case is compact with a compartment for batteries (so you don't store them inside the unit). Using it was as simple as putting in batteries and turning it on. I found that the length of the cable was more than enough for my needs. The cable is flexible but firm enough to hold its shape so I drilled a small hole and bent the cable to the desired angle before inserting...piece of cake.

One negative is my son thinks it is cool spyware since it will easily slide under a door. Keep out of reach of children. Ha Ha

This kind of scope is a MUST HAVE for any toolbox. Today I'm using a similar model to peek behind an electrical panel before I break open the wall.

After looking at this Rigid model I ended up buying the Ryobi Tek4 inspection scope which costs less and has a higher resolution of 320x240 (vs 234x160 on the Rigid scope). With LCD display and LED technology changing so fast these days I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a scope that would be obsolete a couple years from now. I didn't see the Ryobi Tek4 scope on Amazon yet, so I got it at the local store. So far it appears there are 3 competing brands in this category and price range, the Rigid, Milwaukee, and the recently introduced Ryobi. The Rigid and Milwaukee have extensions available but the Ryobi does not. So this could help to decide:

Looking for a compact, cheap scope with a good display? Get the Ryobi Tek4
Looking for a scope that can accept extensions? Get the Rigid or Milwaukee

This unit works as advertised. The only weakness is that it only has a single LED for illumination so if you put it into a large, dark place you will need some other light source to see anything that is more than a foot away from the camera probe.

The image from this device is OK. The orientation is difficult to maintain and it's not easy to get the camera into the crevice you seek to view.

My biggest gripe, however, has to do with the camera cable itself. Within 3 uses, it has become detached from the base, exposing the internal wiring. I'm sure it's on warranty, but the process to get service from Rigid is not very well documented on its website. Nobody to call, no RMA, simply send it in and pray that they will return it.

I'm not sold on this product or its manufacturer.

I bought the Rigid 31123 SeeSnake 9.5 mm inspection scope about a month ago, and thus far it has worked well. The LCD color screen provides a good detailed image, although like most similar screens it is much easier to view in dim light than in bright light. I bought this model because of the small diameter camera head ( 9.5 mm, or about 3/8 inches). The camera only provides a clearly focused image of objects less than a foot away, so this instrument is for closeups and not for long distance viewing. In a closeup, however, you can read a newspaper easily. The 3 foot flexible probe works well, and has both adequate stiffness and a small enough bending radius. The LED light on the end of the probe (next to the camera lens) has three brightness settings, although the brightest setting works best. If you want the small diameter probe head, be careful to buy the right model, as there are similar Rigid models with larger heads. I'm pleased with the quality and performance of this instrument.

The head is so small, pull the spark plug, insert and take a look! A must for analyzing engine damage.

This is a great product! Not the cheapest one available but, after reading the reviews, I went for this one. I'm glad I did as the picture quality is great and the range of viewing is even more than the specs say. The only downside is that you can't control the camera viewpoint without maneuvering the entire instrument. Of course, if you want this feature, you can spend a few thousand dollars! For me, I could manipulate the camera to where ever I wanted to look. Sometimes it's disorienting trying to figure out WHERE you are looking but just take your bearings and you'll figure it out.
Good buy, good shipping, good name. Buy it!

I received this as a gift and was pretty excited to have a method of looking in tight spaces without a mirror and flashlight, but today I took it out - second time - to look up a duct for blockage and when I positioned the imager head cable it broke off where it attached to the display unit.

I'll see how Ridgid handles the warranty - It would seem this must not be a typical problem or Ridgid wouldn't sell many of these. At this point I would definitely not recommend buying one.