Review of Lightkeeper Pro Miniature Light Repairing Tool - Fixes Christmas

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So I'm as skeptical as the next guy. I looked at this thing several times over the last few weeks. I finally decided to pick one up after 10 strands of my icicle lights were not working. I was going to toss out the sets because I just did not want to spend the time going through a 300 bulb set bulb by bulb. To make a long story short, it fixed every set in 1/10th the time it would have taken. I highly recommend this to anyone who has multiple strands of lights they hang each year. It'll save you a ton of time and frustration, not to mention wear and tear on your fingers!

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I saw this at Home Depot last week. I have purchased various similar tools down through the ages, none of them were worth the effort to pull back my arm and throw them into the woods next to my house where my Christmas trees go to die and create "habitat" for wild critters. So, I looked skeptically at this product, but I was motivated to find a solution to the yearly tradition comprised of: 1) remove a bulb from a section not working, 2) insert it into a section that IS working, 3) if it lights put it back where it came from it's not the problem 4) if it doesn't light, replace with new bulb and hope the dead section lights now 5) find that it still doesn't light, curse, keep repeating the process. With garland it's especially difficult because the bulbs are well hidden in the greenery, and you can miss some (AAARRRGGGHHH). You can also create a new problem by not reinserting a bulb properly.

My motivation to consider this product came from the many hours I had already spent this year trying to find the "bad bulb" in the garland we use on our porch rail, five sections were out. Two had miraculously decided to light when I wasn't even messing with them (but I had already tried). The lighted garland, which we bought on sale after Christmas a few years back, sells now for $80 to $100 per strand here on Amazon. Each year I gird my loins, put on armor and my high voltage glove, ground myself to a water pipe, and grab a bottle of libation (just kidding about the libation, inebriation just makes the process harder), and try to get the five strands of garland working again.

At the store, I picked up the box and read the description. "Bulbs contain a 'shunt' wire that is supposed to keep the strand lit when a bulb's filament burns out". I know this to be true. "Strands fail when the shunt fails". That makes perfect sense, never occurred to me.

"This gizmo will REPAIR the failed shunt". Ok, THIS I've GOT to see!!

I purchased the gizmo expecting to return it the next day. If the thing worked, it would be worth $50 to me, much less the $20 I paid for it.

I took it home, followed the instructions, and after 7 "clicks" of the trigger on the first section, the section LIT!!! I almost fainted. I called my wife to watch me try it on the next section, where five clicks sufficed.

I fixed dead sections on my son's light strands with one click and two clicks respectively.

AMAZING!!!

I have discussed this with electrical engineers who were at a loss for how it works. I have a theory. When you plug the gun into an open socket in a dead section, WITH the string plugged into the 120 volt wall outlet, the circuit is "open", that is to say, the gun is NOT completing the circuit yet. There is an instantaneous switch in the gun, that ever so briefly connects the circuit when you pull the trigger. A spark jumps the gap in the shunt, a tiny wire, and "welds" the shunt wire back together at the break. No one has yet proven me wrong on my theory, and frankly I don't care if Leprechauns or Elves effect the repair, but the darned thing WORKS!!!

If the problem is not a failed shunt wire, then it might be a bad socket or connection, and the gun has a "proximity voltage tester", which beeps if voltage is present at a socket (if no beep at the socket, something is wrong at that socket). This function seems to work well, too.

I do feel a personal sense of loss, and must warn you that you might, too. it seems I have begun to look forward to spending endless hours swapping bulbs mindlessly, but I'll try to get over it.

As with any product, you need to understand how and why it works to be satisfied with it's function. It won't fix a bad socket, or improperly inserted bulb, that's up to you, but it can help you FIND the bad socket or improperly inserted bulb. But the shunt repair is simply amazing. Oh, and much older bulbs do not have a shunt wire, so don't blame the gizmo. If your bulbs have a shunt wire, you will be able to see it inside the bulb wrapped around the base.

This gizmo could easily pay for itself. Go around your neighborhood and offer to fix other's lights for $10. Or better yet, bet your neighbors that you can actually FIX their strands with the gun. This could be a real money maker in this horrid economy.

I strongly recommend this product. It's far cheaper than anger management courses, trips to the ER, or buying just one bottle of libation.

Update: It's two days later. The gizmo did not "fix" an outdoor string that's at least ten years old, BUT, the problem was in the power plug, the problem was NOT the shunts. The tiny fuses were corroded and not making contact. The proximity voltage detector said there was voltage at each socket (I'm a bit confused by that result, since the fuses were not making contact??). The gizmo helped me rule out the other issues, giggling the plug made the lights blink, then I found the cause of the problem in the fuse compartment. The gizmo did what it was supposed to do, so I am still a very happy customer.

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I never would have bought this voodoo product. How gullible do they think I am? But the positive reviewers were right. 10 minutes puzzling out the directions (which were clear, unlike my brain), then I plugged this widget into a socket: Click, click, click, and Pow! The string lit up. Amazing.

Do check out R. Shulz 3 star review and the comments below; apparently, you should use this product as soon as the string goes dark or the wiring stresses out and the string becomes near-unsalvageable.

Update: more manufacturers are producing 3-wire strings. These stay on when one bulb goes bad; buy those and you won't need this clever product.

Honest reviews on Lightkeeper Pro Miniature Light Repairing Tool - Fixes Christmas

I got one of these a couple of years ago at Target on clearance after Christmas. Last year I broke it out to help diagnose dead strings. It works.

I've tried using old fashioned tools that work by sensing electrical potential (which the Lightkeeper includes) and it was hit or miss, and completely useless with nets.

The Lightkeeper's best function is the ability to connect a mini-bulb socket and pull the trigger several times. This sends a pulse down the string which will usually and eventually close the shunt every bulb has. The shunt is what makes "the string stays lit when a bulb burns out" work. It is supposed to close when a bulb burns out so current can pass through the dead bulb. The shunt does not always close. When it doesn't, the whole string goes out. The Lightkeeper is your best shot at getting the string to light so you can replace the bad bulbs. Tonight, my second season with the thing, I saved a long string of lights with two dead sections and a net. I scavenged bulbs from old sets I replaced before I had the Lightkeeper.

The gun also has a bulb and fuse tester (good to make sure the scavenged bulb you are about to put in works) and a few areas where you can wedge the bulb and pry to loosen it from a stubborn socket. Not the best feature but it helps.

I've started to replace some areas of my house display with LEDs, and this won't work with those, but if you are trying to get another year or two out of your mini-light strings while the price of LEDs come down and the technology improves, get one of these. They work. Really.

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This fixed our lights last year and this year. One thing to remember is that you have to replace the dead lights right away, or another may blow. I have "clicked" a string back to life many times though. It says it doesn't work on strings that have "boxes" on them, but I used it on a tri-color string that had a box controlling the pattern of the lights. It's important because we put mini lights into garlands that we made ourselves and undoing the entire string to replace it would be a real hassle.

Also, don't buy the replacement lights by themselves, it's expensive. Just buy another string of minilights and pop them out. Much cheaper! This is a great tool.