Improved LED Light Source for Borescope — Under $25

The standard light source for the Hawkeye Borescope works just fine. However, some users prefer a brighter light with a more pure white tint. A “whiter” light, folks have found, does a better job revealing traces of copper and small imperfections in the bore. Gradient Lens Corp. offers a high-tech Xenon “SuperNova” light source that provides ten times more light than the standard lamp. This works great, but the SuperNova lists for $225.00. Now there is a much more affordable option. Forum member Alf suggests: “I’d skip the SuperNova. Just go to Wally World and buy the $5.00 LED light upgrade for the mini-mag. Batteries last 10 times longer and the light is a whiter white, not a yellowish hue.”

Forum member Drano38 was the first to report on the inexpensive LED options for the Hawkeye Borescope: “I saw Maglite now has a 3-watt LED Mini-Maglite®, so I picked up one. The bulb bell is a little longer, and has more threads, but the thread pattern is the same. A quick comparison down the barrel showed much brighter and whiter than the Maglite shipped with the borescope. Is it worth about $24.00 for a brighter light? I think so. The LED Mini-Maglite flashlight is about 3/8″ longer than the regular, but it can still be [fitted into the borescope case].

Price Comparison: $24 for Mini-Maglite LED vs $225.00 for SuperNova Xenon
Forum member Gunamonth reports: “I’m not so concerned about brighter but whiter would make it a whole lot better. The color from the regular incandescent Mini-Maglite is kind of yellowish-orange which makes a lot of stuff seem like copper. I had considered buying the Nova light source until I saw this post by drano38 about a 3 watt LED version of a Mini-Maglite. It solves the problem of the regular incandescent bulb having a yellowish color that makes copper hard to see. The LED light is very white.

Thanks drano38. This is one of the best tips on this site. I was considering buying the Hawkeye Xenon SuperNova light to get rid of the yellow color of the standard lamp but the LED Mini-Maglite does the same thing for $200 less. Home Depot has the LED Mini-Maglite for for less than $24. Now the copper looks like copper and the stainless doesn’t.”

HOT DEAL: TylerTool.com sells 3-watt LED Mini-Maglites for just $19.35.

NOTE: While an LED MagLite does offer a brighter, whiter light, the Hawkeye SuperNova Xenon light source is even brighter yet. It is ten times brighter than the standard (non-LED) Mini-Maglite and it has a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery. If cost is not an issue, the SuperNova is the most powerful light source for the Hawkeye.