Ryobi TEK4 Digital Inspection Scope Review

Ryobi TEK4 Digital Inspection Scope – Model RP4205

This year we’ve tested several of the Ryobi TEK4 products and now we want to share our thoughts about their Digital Inspection Scope. Inspection camera/scope devices have become very popular throughout the industry providing home owners and DIY’ers an inexpensive diagnostic tool. These type of tools were once only available to specialty contractors that could afford the high prices. Today all that has changed! Read on to learn more about this really cool tool.

From Ryobi

RYOBI introduces the TEK4 Digital Inspection Scope powered by TEK4 4V Lithium-Ion battery technology. This tool offers a number of advanced features such as: Digital Zoom with up to 2X magnification, High Resolution/Color 2.7” LCD Screen, 4 stage ultra-bright LED light for complete image brightness control, 5 hours of continuous runtime, and an on-screen battery voltage indicator that alerts you when its time to recharge. The TEK4 Inspection Scope is built for the jobsite and is great for plumbing, HVAC work, home repairs, and more. The camera cable can be submersed in water for up to 30 minutes, and the on-screen image rotates 180 degrees to adjust to the operator’s perspective. The Inspection Scope is backed by RYOBI’s 2 year limited warranty.

Features:

• Digital zoom feature provides up to 2x magnification
• 4 stage ultra-bright LED light for complete image brightness control
• On-screen image rotates 180 degrees to adjust to operator’s perspective
• Bright, 2.7” high resolution color LCD Screen for crisp, clear images
• Durable 3’ flexible, water resistant camera cable for viewing in confined areas
• On-screen battery voltage indicator alerts you when its time to recharge

Ryobi TEK4 Digital Inspection Scope Review

I recently had the chance to test the inspection scope when a friend called and asked for my help. His home (only about 6 years old) has a propane boiler that is vented up through the roof in PVC pipe. The pipe is buried in a tall finished wall in the center of the home and it makes a very loud noise every time the boiler comes on.

My guess is the pipe gets hot and expands and then rubs against some framing. However, in order to test this theory we really needed to see inside the wall and see how tight the pipe was. I told him I  had the perfect tool for the job!

We drilled a 1 inch diameter hole in the drywall and inserted the scope in the area of the noise. The scope was easy to insert in the hole and push up into the stud cavity for us to look around.

Using this scope we were able to quickly and easily look inside the wall without removing a huge section of drywall. We were able to find an area inside the wall that we feel is causing the problem. By doing this we were able to drastically limit the amount of drywall removal and repair.

Easy To Use Controls

The TEK4 Inspection Scope is very easy to use. All you do is insert the scope into the area of concern, turn it on and start pushing the extension into the hole. After just a few minutes it’s pretty easy to figure out how to push, pull, twist and turn the scope to find a good view angle.

Once the scope is in an area of interest there are several functions to help make it easier to see. As you can see in the adjacent photo there is an on/off switch, a zoom function, a rotate view (rotate the view 180 degrees) and light switch which turns on a LED light at the end of the scope. The rotate feature is particularly helpful when trying to get a good perspective when the object is over head or at a strange viewing angle.

Overall Impression

The TEK4 Digital Inspection Scope is extremely useful and easy to use. The quality of the images is very good even in low light conditions. There are a couple of small items that might make the scope even better:

• It would be really nice if they offered an option for extensions to the scope. The camera cable is only 3 feet long which can be limiting for certain applications.
• It would be nice to have a feature for recording the images. When I do inspection work or insurance claim type work it would be nice to take a still image of problem areas.

Even though there are a couple items that I’d like to see incorporated into this tool my overall impression was very good. For a tool that only costs $139 it’s uses are numerous and invaluable. If you have a need for an inspection scope I highly recommend you consider the Ryobi TEK4 Digital Inspection Scope.

You can buy the scope here:  Tek4 Inspection Scope with FREE Tek4 4V Portable Power Source – a $19.97 Value!