21316 Giraffe Sure Grip Ligh Bulb Changing System

I bought this to change about 100 lightbulbs to LEDs and it has been an amazing tool.It is a 9V battery eating monster but other than that I'm amazed by this product's design. It is a modular tool with extension wand. A piece that turns left "OUT" or right "IN" to out a bulb or but a bulb in. A piece that creates vacuum to hold on to bulbs. A remote control that attaches to wand and signals other pieces what to do. And a piece that allows turns to 90 degrees.Optional, there is another piece to allow it to turn up to 90 degrees more, increasing max turn from 90 degrees to 180 degrees allowing you to unscrew and screw bulbs in chandeliers from below. And a non-vacuum candelabra holder for those bulbs.The standard head uses suction to create a vacuum to hold on lightbulb and it works great. It also uses the noise of the pump to indicate if it is hold on to not. The pump has a slow pitch when it is pumping or not creating a vacuum and goes into a high pitch win it does have the vacuum (on flood lamps art holds the whole tool hanging from the bulb if you let it go). So there is never any question on whether their is a vacuum or not.The candelabra attachment (separate purchase) is a different tech. It is a shape holding loop which depending on whether you turn to "I N" or "OUT" a bulb expands to grab a bulb or tightens around it. I had a big fear of dropping lightbulbs two stories down in a foyer but luckily it works fine and the fear is gone.A few things I learned after changing all these bulbs:The vacuum part takes practice of one or two bulb changes. At first I thought it was broken because it wasn't grabbing the bulbs.You have to remember to turn on and off reach piece. They are all disconnected and have their own power buttons which needs to be turned off.The vacuum uses a lot of 9V batteries. Budget one battery per 25 bulbs or so.The vacuum light of green means ready, red means low battery. It only starts sucking when it is pushed against an item but you can activate it by putting hand on it and forcing a suction and making it start. And then using it to grab a bulb. This even prods it to work in red / low battery mode but it is obviously a gamble.At the end, it not only worked well, but was very fun to use. After finishing bulbs I used it to move a bunch around a second time, moving warm glow bulbs to different floor from standard bulbs.

Like several other folks who have reviewed this product, I have a chandelier with upward-facing bulbs in one of our two-story-tall foyers. One of the bulbs had been burned out for quite some time. It bugged me having one of the bulbs not working, but to change it out, I would have either had to have bought (and store) a new ladder, or hire someone to do it, both of which were expensive options. Even if I had a ladder tall enough, I would have to schlep the heavy, unwieldy thing into the area myself, while trying not to damage anything.I already had a long telescoping pole that I purchased with a bulb changer for use in other areas of the house, but it didn't allow the angle needed to access the bulbs upward-facing bulbs. When a second bulb burned out, I had to do something.I'm a bit of a tinkerer, and was searching online for parts I could use to rig up something that would allow me to access and change the bulbs, when I found and ordered this product. After I had the item in hand and assembled it, I had both bulbs changed in less than ten minutes.As others had stated, the included pole was too short to be of any use in this situation, unless used in conjunction with a standard-sized ladder (but it might be a bit dangerous manipulating this changer while also on a ladder). So, I used my existing telescoping pole - the bulb changer has standard painter-pole threading.Note that I have an open walkway on the second floor that passes over the foyer, so I didn't need to change the bulbs from the first floor, but rather needed to reach out from the walkway to access the bulbs. The adjustable head allowed the angle needed to seat the suction cup cleanly down on the bulb. Note also that - since I wasn't changing the bulbs from the first floor - I can't speak to the range limitations of the remote, as others have mentioned.Had I needed to change the bulbs from below, I would have needed the right-angle attachment, which is sold separately. I purchased this, as well, as it also comes with the attachment that allows you to grip onto flame-shaped bulbs, since the suction cup would not work in these situations. I have not yet had the need to try it on my other chandelier with these types of bulbs, so I can't yet say how well it would work.I will say that one of the two included batteries (one for the rotating head, the other for the remote) was already installed, leading me to feel that the unit had been a return. The package seemed to be factory sealed, but this was irksome to me, and the reason I knocked off two stars. But overall, I am satisfied with this product.

Works as advertised. I needed this to change a 2 story foyer's 9 inverted light bulbs. This product was MUCH cheaper than renting a ladder (And I don't have room for a 2 story A-frame ladder in my foyer) or scaffold.A word of advice: put in a new 9V battery; the product uses a vacuum pump to hold the bulb in place, and to power the motor to turn the bulb. And you need all that power. My first battery, still in a package, but not NEW, didn't have enough juice to run the vacuum, so I thought it was broken.The motor could use more torque....If the original bulbs were put in too tightly, this tool won't be able to get them out. This happened with 2 of my 9 bulbs. I needed to unscrew them by hand, after pulling the chandelier over to the upstairs while 2 people grabbed my belt as I leaned forward (not safe!). It probably can't use any more power, because the suction may not be strong enough to hold on if it had much more power.It installs bulbs perfectly, and anything you swap out afterwards (if you used this to install the bulbs) should be fine...or install LEDs, so you never need to do it again.