iRobot 12101 Looj Electric Gutter Cleaning Robot

• Avoid climbing and repositioning the ladder multiple times.
• Works with standard K-style, aluminum, copper, metal or vinyl gutters
• Avoid over reaching into gutters from dangerous heights
• Cleans a 60-foot section of gutter in just 10 minutes

Wonderful tool:
This is the second year I have used this nifty tool. One of my neighbors always comes over to watch this machine in action. It does a superb job of cleaning the gutters and ensures that I don't have to keep moving the ladder. The longest gutter I have is roughly 40 feet, and it usually has a certain amount of water under the leaves. With very little effort, the Looj plows through the worst of it, throwing water, leaves and debris to the ground. It will, on occasion, flip over, but it always rights itself and continues on its way. I don't understand some of the critical reviews of the Looj. Like anything else, it takes a little bit of patience to learn how to operate it. Once learned, it should work flawlessly unless, of course, there is something technically wrong with the unit.

Looj handles a messy job better than I do on my own:
So I have read the mix of good and bad reviews and was inspired to add a perspective and some hints. First the perspective: my gutters are cleaner after the looj than after I do them by hand so score one for the looj! Second some hints: - there is a little loop on the back of the looj...tie a long piece of string to it so you can tug the looj back a little when it gets stuck or rides up on gunk - try alternating auger rotation directions to break up the crud in the gutter - remember that string I mentioned? tie a loop of it around the antenna so you can wiggle that if it gets stuck on something (my gutters are only just barely big enough for the looj so this happens to me a lot.

Won't handle the big jobs:
We live in a wooded area so our eaves are full of leaves, twigs, seeds, etc. The Looj wouldn't go one foot in one of our eaves before flipping up and over. I followed all of the tips but to no avail. It may have worked okay if all it encountered were leaves -- and if I cleaned the eaves more than once or twice a year. Big disappointment and a total waste of money for me. : (

Looj on the run:
The below reviews are very good. I wanted to add that even with its peculiar hangups, flipping over, and plastering my car with some of the nastiest slime known to man; the looj made good on some of its potential. Let me put this in context. I can't remember the last time I cleaned my gutters. I was surprised to find a few plants growing in them. There was moisture frozen to the bottom of the gutter. I was obviously way over the designed function of the Looj, and probably well into abusing it. I did have to do a considerable amount of the gutter manually, but I was still able to get the job done much quicker because of the Looj. I was generally removing the icy dirt clogs. What is usually a lengthy 3-4 hour job, was reduced to half an hour all told (minus cleaning my car afterward). The only problem I had was that the range of the handle remote. It is not possible to avoid mangling the antenna while operating the Looj. I did find putting the handle physically onto the gutter, the range of transmission went a lot further. It does not completely clean the gutter, but it removed all the debris from it. I am pretty sure if I keep up with it, I will be able to keep my gutters clear with minimal effort. Spray it down, or wait for the next rain will get the remaining slime from the gutter. I will also add that it is amusing to watch this thing go.

It works pretty well:
The product works alright. It could use a few engineering upgrades. Maybe the more expensive models have them. It does clean out gutter as advertised. The biggest drawback is it's antenna. If your gutter is held on by the long nails at the top of the gutter, the antenna can get caught in them and sometimes the edge of the roof shingle too.