This 3 part series is reprinted with the kindpermission of

Safe & Vault TechnologyMagazine

3003 Live Oak StreetDallas, Texas 75204

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and the author Ken Doyle, owner

Advanced Safe & VaultEngineering

http://www.advancedsafe.com

Ok, boys and girls, this month I'll betalking about illumination, lightsources, and flexible borescopes (alsoknown as fiberscopes); and their uses,importance, features, advantages anddisadvantages.

from hell."light. Daylight is what we use to "nor-mally" view things. If you're like me,and have limited color perception (a lotof men do), you go around everydaymisjudging colors viewed under a vari-ety of artificial lights. The more natural-looking the light, the better you can dis-tinguish gradations in color, hue, con-trast and texture.

Colors definitely look different whenobserved with different kinds of light.This is why quality camcorders and pro-fes-sional video systems usually havesome sort of white balance system tocompensate for dif-ferences in colortemperature.

When looking at structures on theinside of a container, through a smallhole, we need all the help we can get toidentify compon-ents. Remember, weonly get to use one of our senses whenlooking through a borescope. The struc-tures on the inside can be painted, madeof different materials, and will certain-ly be difficult to see even under the bestof circumstances. Any augmentation toour sense of sight might make the dif-ference between a smooth, profitableopening and the proverbial "opening

IlluminationGood illumination plays a key role in

the sucessful use of borescopes. Verylittle illumination may be required tolook into the interior of a lock casethrough a small, shallow, accuratelyplaced hole that has been drilled into thefront of a safe door. Illuminationbecomes much more critical when weare unfamiliar with the lock or contain-er, or if the cause of the lockout involvesremotely placed locks or relockers.Another situation where it would beadvantageous to have lots of light wouldbe if you were dealing with internalmalfunctions of an unknown nature inlarge containers or vaults.

The more "high quality" light, the bet-ter, in these situations. A good quality,high-output lightsource and lightguideis- desirable. I use "high quality" todescribe light that is the closest to day-

Light sourcesTungsten-halogen and quartz-halogen

light sources with output ranges of 30 to150 watts are readily available from avariety of sources. New, they range inprice from $200-$600. The most com-mon are the ISO-watt halogen variety,but I've seen them with outputs up to300 watts. The difference betweenquartz and tungsten is mainly one ofcolor temperature. Tungsten-halogentends to produce a much whiter light.Whiter light provides better illumina-tion and more accurate colors.

The lamps that are used in both thesetypes of units are similar to those usedin movie projectors. They are very frag-ile and expensive. Touching the tube ofthe lamp with your hand (resulting inthe deposit of debris and body oils) c;:anreduce its useful life. Handle lamps bythe ends when installing or replacingthem. Clean lamp fixtures gently andregularly to remove corrosion and otherdeposits. Always keep a spare lamp onhand. ,.

The intensity of the transmitted light

Julv 2000 PaQe 21

in these light sources is controlled byone of two different ways. The first is byuse of a simple rheostat (usually usedwith quartz-halogen lamps), and thesecond (used predom-inantly for tung-sten-halogen) uses a mechanical irissystem similar to that which controlsincoming light to the human eye or to avideo camera's CCD via the lens assem-bly. A rheostat changes the color tem-perature of the light throughout its rangeof intensity. An iris doesn't. Lamp life isalso greatly increased when used in con-junction with the iris type mechanisms,because the heat up and cool downcycles that occur with rheostats drasti-cally effect filament life. Both typesrequire a fan to keep the interior of thelight source cool. If they are of goodquality, they also provide some sort ofthermal and circuit overload protection.

A very common quartz-halogen lightsource (made by Chiu TechnicalIndustries) is sold under a variety of dif-ferent brand names. I've seen the pricefor this unit vary as much as $200.00,depending on whose brand name was onits case. High-output light sources arealso available for resale in the used andmilitary surplus market, in good toexcellent and even new condition,priced at 30-60 percent off their originalcost. There is, however, a lot of junk outthere, so the classic marketplace ruleswill apply.

----.-:E-... ~~

CROSS SEctION Of' fLUUL6 FIBUOPTIC 'KOBE

end of the lightguide is attached to I

a port usual-lylocated in the frontpanel of the light-source. The otherend is thenattached to thelightguide inputport of the scopehead. It is a flexi-ble tube of varyingdiameters, withfiber-optic materialinside.

Light guides arecommonly avail- .

able in lengths of 6-8 feet, three differ-ent diameters (6-13 rom), and two dif-ferent types. The first type uses a a largeglass fiberoptic bundle. The second is atube filled with a special liquid that hasfiberotic properties. (See Illustration.)The liquid type carries light more effi-ciently, is less prone to yellowing overtime, and is less susceptible to damage(from being over-stressed or stepped on)that would inhibit its light carrying abil-ity. They are more expensive, but in myopinion they are worth the extra cost.

At either end of the light guide are ter-minators that allow firm attachment tothe lightsource and scope, respectively.Adapters are sometimes required oneither end to connect the light guide todif-ferent brands of light sources andscopes. The most common type of con-nector used in the industry is "ACMI."Adaptors are usually provided (either aspart of a kit or as an optional accessory)

by the variouslight-source, light-guide and scope

I manufacturers, toadapt their equip-ment to othermaker's equip-ment.

Light guidesA fiberoptic light guide (some-times

called a light cable) is used to carry thelight from the source to the scope. One

Flexible ScopesFlexible probe

borescopes maybe one of the leastunderstood piecesof equipment inour industry. It's

obvious from talking to many techs attrade shows and in classes, that thevalue of this type of borescope is notfully appreciated. I think this is becausethey are very expen-sive (when pur-chased new) and also because the tech-nology is not exactly commonplace inour industry. It's hard to justify pur-chasing equipment that you don't under-stand and don't appreciate.

I fIrst learned to appreciate this when Ifound I was able to utilize existingopenings in depository safes instead ofdrilling. Scoping change key holesthrough mounting holes, drop slots orrotary hoppers became a routine way ofopening these containers withoutdrilling and repairing. I've also beenable to read and decode keys that wereaccidentally dropped into drop slots,and easily fit a new key for an obsoletekeylock. No drilling! This is a goodthing, isn't it?

I charge the same for these openings,as I do for the more back-breaking vari-ety. I don't feel like I have to appologizefor not working up a sweat. I'm usingavailable technology that I have invest-ed in. The customer benefits by gettingthe same res-ult with much less messand disruption to their routine, and alsogets a container that is returned to ser-vice much faster.

Later on, I started finding lots of usesfor flexible scopes that wouldn't haveoccurred to me until I had this technolo-gy in my bag of tricks.

Shops in Europe (especially tho~ thatdo a lot of work on high security con-

Page 22 Safe c& Vault

or less is not uncommon. With the inclu-sion of tip articulation, you can see thatthis can be very useful in a lot of situa-tions.

probe and the thickness of the fibers,there may be several hun-dred fiberspacked into the shaft. Each fiber carrysa different seg-ment of the image.

The "pixelized" resolution of flexiblescopes depends on the quantity, qualityand diameter of the fibers that are used.Some of these scopes, from the betterbrands, can approach the resolu-tionfound in rigid scopes that use glass relaylens systems.

As with the rigid borescopes, in addi-tion to the fibers that convey the image,there are additional fiberoptics thatcarry the light from the light source tothe probe tip. These fiber optic bundlesare also what allow a certain degree offlexibility to the shaft.

How much flexibility is inherent inthe probe? The actual bend radius variesdepending on the type of construction,sheathing material, brand, and price ofthe scope. Two to 6 inches bend radius

ArticulationFlexible scopes may also contain a set

of lever controls in the head which areconnected to thin cables that run withinthe length of the probe. These cablesconnect to and control movement of thetip so that you can easily guide thescope past obstructions and also so thatit is possible to view objects to the sideand even to the rear without incorporat-ing a prism or mirror to change thedirection of view.

This is called an articulating tip (seephoto). Four way articu-Iation (verydesirable) allows movement of the tip infour directions (up, down, right andleft).

With the addition Qf an assortment ofguide tubes, flexible scopes can be usedin much the same manner as rigidborescopes and also in ways rigidscopes couldn't possibly be used. Guidetubes are nothing more that thin-walledtubing with an inner diameter slightlylarger than the outer diameter of theprobe. With the proper bending equip-ment, they can be bent smoothly intoany needed shape to facilitate guidingthe probe to the target and then holdingit there. These can be made up inadvance or fashioned on-site to whatev-er shape is required.

Although much more resistant to dam-age than rigid borescopes, extreme orrepeated flexion of the probe (especial-ly beyond the recommended bend

tainers) use this technology all the time.They have learned that buying andmaintaining the proper equip-ment to dothe job is essential, and that the costs aredefrayed the same as they are with anyother equipment purchase. They bite thebullet, purchase the needed equipmentand reap the benefits of its use. Theprices for openings that they performreflect the investment in tools, equip-ment, training and skills aquisition and(hopefully) profit as well as actual hoursspent on .the job. That is the way itshould be.

Now that we have a greater app-recia-tion of the value of flex-ible scopes,let's discuss what they are and how theywork. Flexible probe borescopes containspecial lenses on either end of a bundleof tiny optical fibers which relay theimage from the tip of the probe back tothe eyepiece.

Depending on the diameter of the

July 2000 Page 23

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View of a CKH through a flexible bore-scope with less than 15% broken fibers

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radius) canresult in brokenfibers. Thesebroken fibersdo not relaythat particularsegment of theimage. Thisshows up asvery tiny blackdots in theviewed image(See photo).With proper.care, main-ten-ance, and storageprovide years ofitable service.

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I types describedabove, fre-

I quent-ly comeup for sale on

I the milit-arysurplus market.Brand name

I flexiblesincludingOlympus,Schott, Wolf

I and Lennox areavailable at less

. than half theiroriginal cost.

These scopes usually come on the sur-plus market due to facility closures, pur-chasing errors, excess stock andchanges in military specific-ations. Thelargest user of these types of scopes isthe U.S. Air Force. They are routinelyused for disassembly-free inspections ofaircraft air framt?,~, power plants andother critical systems.

A lot of these scopes have a probediameter of half an inch or more.Obviously, drilling a 5/S-inch hole in aTL-30X6 is going to be more work thanis desired. Try to locate used scopeswith small probe diameters (less than5/l6-inch) to minimize the neccessityfor drilting larger holes in tough materi-als. Guess what! Quality flexibles withprobe diameters of less than 5/16-inchtend to be the most expensive.

If you had to aquire a brand new onefrom a regular dealer, you'd paybetween six and ten thou-sand dollars.The surplus Olympus I purchasedrecently was only $695.00.

In part 3 of this article series, I will betalking about accessories, adjuncts andvideo systems that are used in conjunc-tion with both rigid and flexible scopes.These optional items are designed toovercome certain physical problems andlimitations that are encountered in thefield when using any scope system, andalso to maximize operator comfort.Others enable remote viewing or modi-fy and enhance the image quality. .

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About the Author: Ken Doyle lives in San

Francisco, California. He is an established writerfor S&V1: .

Used and surplus flexiblesAlthough the small defects, men-

tioned earlier, may be cause forreplacement of borescopes used forcritical medical and mechan-icalinspection purposes, a few brokenfibers here and there are not toosignificant when viewing the interi-or of a safe or lock. Medical scopeswhich have lost the ability to besucessfully sterilized (due to dam-age to the outer sheath), but stillretain their optical and mechanicalattributes, are an alternative sourceof barg-ain flexible scopes.

This is why used borescopes thatare no longer suitable for use inthese fields make an excellentchoice for the lock-smith orsafetech on a budget. These flawedbut perfectly serv-iceable scopesare routinely sold for only a smallfraction of their original cost. Onthe other hand, unrepairable focus-ing difficult-ies, an excessive num-ber of broken fibers (>15 percent),or an excessive amount of yellow-ing (due to fiber age), may be avery good reason to pass on whatotherwise looks like a "bargain"scope. These repairs may out-weigh any cost advanatage in buy-ing "used". It may not be possibleto repair certain types of damage atall. The problem is what isrepairable, and what isn't?

Brand new flexible scopes of the

Page 24 Safe & Vault

, these scopes canuseful and prof-