Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 96
 Works great December 29, 2006
R. Musumeci
46 out of 46 found this review helpful
This item is more expensive than others in its category, but it works great! I was able to fix multiple strings of lights in a matter of minutes instead of getting frustrated and throwing them out like I used to. I liked it so much I bought one for 2 of my family members as well. Just take one of the lights out of the dead string, and plug the empty socket into a receptacle on the front of the device. Pull the trigger about 10-15 times and all of the working lights light up making it easy to identify and replace the dead ones. After trying 2 other similar devices that did not work at all, this was a great find and I highly recommend it.
How it works December 14, 2008
Thomas Dibble
22 out of 23 found this review helpful
Okay, admit it: you read the package, mix in even a basic understanding of electricity, and wonder why anyone would fall for such an outlandish claim. Surely, you can't fix a lightbulb by passing more electricity through it, no matter the "shape" of the pulse!
This DOES work, though, and it's because Christmas light bulbs have long been designed to work this way. Every bulb in the light set you own has a "shunt" which is supposed to "melt through" when the filament burns out. And, fairly often, it works just fine. However, every once in a while the shunt doesn't melt through given the "normal" voltage difference across the bulb, and so the circuit (for the 50 lights in that set or portion of the set) is lost. That's when not just one lgith goes out (which you might often not even notice), but the entire section of lights turns off.
That's where the "pulse" fixes things. It provides a low-current, high-voltage difference across the bulbs, which is sufficient to melt the shunts in any burnt-out bulb while not affecting functioning bulbs. Then, you scan for the bulb (or two) which is/are still burnt out, and replace just those. Those are the ones which have been burnt out from the start, but at least one of whose shunts had not melted through.
Now, that said, where can this process, and thus product, fail? For one, if there are a huge number of burnt-out bulbs in your chain and they ALL failed to melt through their filaments, it is likely that the device won't be able to work through them.
Further, if you have a *loose* bulb in the set, this will do nothing at all for you. You'll need to use the current detector (also a part of this device) to scan along the wire to see where continuity is lost, and replace that bulb or try just reseating it. Depending on the quality of your light set (and they all are trending towards identical quality) this might be the result of a slightly "loose" socket, a bulb improperly put in at the factory, or, maybe, a bulb you replaced improperly previously. In storage or in transit, bulbs undergo some stress which can twist or pull on them, transforming a "good enough" bulb-socket connection to a not-gonna-work kind. Long story short: bulbs get unseated, and you'll need the circuit proximity detector in that case, which is a much more involved process than just plugging in and hitting a button.
LightKeeper Stress Reliever! November 23, 2007
Voracious Reader (Connecticut)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
Being a skeptic it was sheer frustration and some positive web reviews that drove me to get this. I had two strings out on a pre-lit tree and was contemplating my limited options. After buying this I had both strings repaired - two bulbs per string - in 15 minutes. THIS PRODUCT WORKS AS ADVERTISED! I plugged it in and had to give only one pulse on each string and all working bulbs lit up! I no longer stress about a string dying during the season after the ornaments are on. I highly recommend it!
I Was Amazed March 29, 2007
T. Lassagne (Napa, CA USA)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This product really works, right out of the box! I first tried it on a small Christmas tree that I had worked on for a half hour. Three pulls of the trigger and it lit right up. Next, I fixed two older light strings with one pull each. The instructions are very clear. The clear plastic case is re-closable. It's a great value.
Fantastic time and frustration saver November 30, 2006
Ontogenist (Aurora, CO USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This wonderful tool came out Oct 2004 as an improvement to the first Lightkeeper. Basic differences are addition of ability to pulse to a bulb socket in addition to the outlet plug, so you can activate failed bulb shunt in just one section of a string now. The other addition is a fuse tester perpendicular to the bulb tester. Typical 2006 retail price $16.97 - $17.99 at places like Lowes and Home Depot. I saved several hours work with this tool when I wanted to repair rather than replace my many mini-light sets.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 96
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