Fix those dang Christmas lights!

[Mike OMelia]

Every single year I buy at least 10-12 boxes of of those white Christmas lights form the Borg. And really, I do not mind. At $1.99, who gives a rip. One of the reasons is my bushes keep getting bigger. The other is attrition. But, invariably, 10-20 of my year old strings will not light. And, at $1.99, who wants to spend the time debugging them? Last year, I bought this handy tool from a local Borg store. It seemed worth a try at $20. If I can relight a 1-2 year old string, then it pays for itself in about 2 years. Get this. It works!!! Modern light strings use light bulbs that close a circuit when they burn out so the rest of the string stays lit. But, this does not always work as intended. Pull any light out of the unlit circuit (normally two circuits per 100 lights) and plug the socket into the gun's recepticle. Pull the piezo trigger until the lights turn back on. The high voltage surge is what causes the faulty bulb to activate the designed short circuit. I am able to salvage more than 90% of my strings doing this.

This tool also checks bulbs & fuses and has a live AC signal detector as well. NFI.

Merry Christmas!

Mike

[Dewey Torres]

Mike,
Sounds like a great find. I love gadgets and I may just give this one a try. Thanks!

[Kyle Kraft]

I just saw that device at 'nards the other day and am going to pick one up today! Saturday I spent 2.5 hours on the roof putting up my Christmas lights. When I fired them up only 25% of them lit..half of one string. I ripped them down and stuffed them in the trash. Later after doing some research on the net, I pulled them back out of the trash to see if the tool works!!!

[Mike OMelia]

Has anybody besides me tried this tool? I saved 12 strings this year. At $2 a string, it paid for itself. But, like and addict, I still bought 10 more strings. Those bushes keep getting bigger.

Mike

[Greg Cuetara]

ok Mike I think we need some pictures of all your lights....not sure i believe your bushes are that big

[Gary Herrmann]

I've had that tool for a few years now. Definitely worth it. My wife and I call it "the gun." As in "gimme the gun, we have a section out."

That said, the wife also wants to move to LCDs, just to avoid this kinda thing in the future. We'll see...

[Dewey Torres]

Has anybody besides me tried this tool? I saved 12 strings this year. At $2 a string, it paid for itself. But, like and addict, I still bought 10 more strings. Those bushes keep getting bigger.

Mike

Hey Mike... Is this thing made by the "light makers"???

You may be onto something.

[Jim Pinkerton]

I also have used this tool this year. We have a banquet business and my wife (and I) put up alot of lights inside around our rooms. The first two strings that I tried it on were fixed in seconds. Well worth the $20.00 just in the agrivation it saves. On another string with the AC signal I found a burned off wire on a bulb, never would have found that without taking out evey bulb. The inventor should get some kind of award The Nobel Peace On Earth (and at my house) Prize.

Jim

[Clara Koss]

glad i only have to change a couple of the 9 menorah bulbs every few years!!!! jejejejeje....