Professional Broken Bulb Changer, Silver/Black

First, I must say that the earlier comment of "Works great, but REQUIRES a particular Unger extension pole to work!" is incorrect. I didn't know I was supposed to order an extension pole so I didn't get one. Still, I was able to unscrew a broken light bulb's base in less than a minute by using the broken light bulb changer. The broken light bulb base had earlier defied my efforts to remove it by using pliers. In the process, I managed to mess up the screw-in base much worse than it had been before. It bent badly. I had my doubts that I would ever get the base out but ordered the Unger #92133 Broken Light Bulb Changer hoping it might work. I didn't order any extension pole because I didn't know that was suggested. The instructions that came with the changer say to screw it into the extension pole. Since I didn't have one, I simply decided to try it without a pole. It worked. I shoved the two prongs into the broken light bulb base and twisted real hard. Nothing moved. I then took a screwdriver and inserted it horizontally through the loop in the bottom of the Light Bulb Changer (see the loop in the picture above) in order to gain a bit more leverage. I gave the screwdriver handle a hard shove and the light bulb socket started to unscrew itself. A couple more shoves and everything loosened up. The broken light bulb socket then was easily unscrewed by using my fingers alone. Before ordering the broken light bulb changer, I thought maybe I would have to replace the entire (and expensive) combination ceiling light and fan. Buying the broken light bulb changer saved money and a lot of work as it would have taken much longer to replace the entire ceiling light and fan.

If you're just looking for a short and sweet review: awesome. did it's job. works on recessed lights, but you may need the type of extension pole needed to use this product. long review: we live in a coastal environment and apparently it is a problem with all of the houses that were built by the same people as mine was, that the porch light makes it hard to get the bulbs out. we haven't had an actual porch light for 5+ years. Makes it hard to see when you go out, and if someone comes to your door, and you get spooked easily like me, it makes your heart beat even faster for the fact that you can't see who it is at your door. the way the broken bulb was in the socket, you couldn't just do the old plier trick. so, i considered the rubber knob version on here, and saw too many reviews that said it was crap, and so i looked elsewhere. saw this, and figured from the reviews, i could atleast try it. got my boyfriend on a step stool, because we don't have the type of extension pole that this thing would fit into/onto. He just put it into the broken light bulb screw part and twisted until it came out. Totally relieved. The only con is that if it is a high area you need to get this bulb out of and you don't have the type of extension pole or ladder, then you'd have to buy another product. other than that, i have no qualms about this product.

I really wanted this to work, but it failed to budge either of the two broken bulbs I tried it on. The taper is fixed so that it connects only a short sliver of metal on either side of the device to the bottom edge of the metal portion of the bulb to be removed. In fact, to keep it connected, you have to actually push it toward the socket to make sure it maintains even the sliver of a connection while trying to turn the device to extract the bulb in the opposite direction. There are a lot of favorable reviews for this product, but I sure don’t get it. I ended up going the needle-nosed pliers route, and this device is going in my next yard sale. Some gadget lover will snap it up and I will be glad it isn’t around to remind me of this silly purchase.

First, let me say that the Unger Bebbe broken bulb changer DOES work, and worked quite well at extracting a broken bulb from a recessed can light 21' high. It's the aggravating, intentionally incompatible design that forces me to give it 2 stars. First, and this is not Unger's fault, the Q&A here on Amazon has completely incorrect answers about the ability to attach it to any pole with a standard screw top - it doesn't. I bought it based on that incorrect information. Worse, Unger's own website claims "This tool works easily with any Unger Pole" - which is also WRONG. Luckily I figured out the incompatibility while at a local hardware store, so I didn't waste another week returning the wrong pole. This product requires one of the Unger poles with the ErgoTec Locking Cone Pole Adaptor on the end - so that the adapter can be removed exposing the clip-lock end of the pole. Compatible poles are the OptiLoc and TelePlus products. But the cheaper Unger Connect-and-Clean and UniTec poles will NOT attach to any of the Unger bulb-changing products. Which is embarrassing, as the product packaging itself advertises the Connect-and-Clean system! Had Unger simply used a female screw connection like so many other accessories, the Bebbe would be perfect for the job. Lastly, the plastic shield used to catch falling debris is poorly designed, and should not be used with recessed can lights if you can't reach the fixture. The shield gets snagged by the trim ring of the fixture, and because it's just loosely slipped onto the pole - it comes off, wedging itself in the fixture. In my case it took me 15 minutes of trying and cursing to remove it from 21' in the air. My advice is to avoid using it - just be careful of falling debris and clean up any mess.

This product effectively loosened the broken off bulb and I was able to get it out easily with needle-nose pliers. The only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is that it lost it's ability to grab the bulb remnant once it was loosened. But I did not succeed with the pliers until after using this, so those two tools will be my go-to for getting broken bulbs out in the future. The 2-step process worked well.

Item works well

Couldn't find anything like this in Canadian retail stores. It was the only gizmo that was able to remove two broken bulbs from a ceiling mounted fan mounted about 25' high. Only downside was the material it's fabricated from is a little flimsy and it bent out of shape as I was applying twisting pressure. Easy enough to twist back into shape though. Without this tool, I would've needed to call in professional help to get up high in my house to change the bulbs, or just live with the unsightly broken ones in the fixture.