Phone endoscope

Sometimes a single use tool is the only tool that will work. An endoscope is a long coil of stiff, but not too stiff, wire with a tineeweenie camera and LED light at the end. You snake the wire/camera into crevices, down pipes, behind cabinets, inside engines to find out stuff. There’s usually no other way to see deep inside. Not too long ago endoscopes were extremely expensive, but I bought mine for $21. The business end is about 8mm or a 1/4” thick and the other end of the 5 meter (16ft) wire connects to my phone, which serves as the screen, camera and power source. It comes with a clip-on hook or magnet for retrieving tiny objects. I downloaded its app and this Ennovor Endoscope worked instantly. (Lots of generic versions available.) I used mine to troubleshoot a blocked dishwasher-garbage disposal line. For $21 it was worth stashing it in a drawer for another just-in-case use. — KK