I thought the long hours of stringing lights on trees was over. Did I think the trees would last forever…no. However, I didn't think about the time "IT" would happen. What is the IT, you ask?
This is IT…
That moment in time when the lights on all of my trees don't work...hence, my love hate relationship with pre-lit trees.
Come on in to see more…
Here we have a tree with the bottom row, some of the middle sections and of course, the top section of lights burned out.
This tree was our 12 foot family room tree. I removed one of the middle sections and turned it into a 9 foot tree for my bedroom. It's a little older, so I'm thankful at least some of the lights are on.
On a side note, that is not a real ladder up against the tree. I brought up all the decorations and that is a special ladder my neighbor's dad made for me years ago. I love it!! I always put a little Santa or elf climbing up the tree to help decorate it.
This tree is for Courtney's room…middle and top sections are gone.
I've tried ALL the options to fix them…
- changing those little fuses in the plugs
- checking for missing light bulbs
- pushing in all the light bulbs to make sure they aren't loose (that, I will never do again)
- and running the sections on their own extension cords to see if it was a cord problem
Nothing works.
So how do I fix this love/hate relationship, besides going to therapy or pulling my hair out in frustration?
I'm back to stringing again…plain and simple.
Here's the before…
and here's the after…
Before…
After…
Will I throw these trees out? Absolutely NOT! I love the shape of all my trees and the branches and pine needles are still perfect. I actually still have the tree from our first Christmas 27 years ago.
So, it seems I have come full circle with my pre-lit trees. Well, my "not so" pre-lit trees.
How are your pre-lit trees doing?
Thanks for stopping by,
~Karen~
I have the same issue. My 6 foot tree had the bottom portion of lights burn out and I got so frustrated that I just threw out the lower section (after stripping it of the branches to make some wreaths and garland) and now I have a smaller 4 foot tree for our upstairs loft. When the lights burn out on that one, I'll just add strings of lights.
ReplyDeleteYup!! 1 year several neighbors threw theirs out & I was shocked!! It drove my Hubby MAD last season when our huge pre-lit did the same. lol. He ordered replacements & hand set each 1.
ReplyDeleteOurs is 4 years old and so far so good....cross fingers and dog toes. We have not pulled it out yet this year, I hope you haven't jinxed me.........
ReplyDeleteTwo years ago we bought a new tree and hummed and ha'd about whether or not to get a pre lit one, but decided against it in case this very thing happened. I have kept with stringing lights, but, I did buy some new lights that have a much thinner wire and are LED's rather than bulbs so that at least if one goes the rest stay alight. I am hoping that will keep us going for longer! I hope that you can sort your trees out, it looks as though your light stringing has done the touch! I love the ladder!! xx
ReplyDeleteWe got a prelit tree a few years ago, and once the lights stopped working, we donated it (hubby tried to fix it and couldn't). He also said it was looking a little shabby, so we bought a new prelit tree. This one is more expensive, so it had better last longer. I do like the idea of multiple trees, but HATE putting lights on a tree.
ReplyDeleteI just bought the coolest little tool. It's a little red pistol shaped thing that can be found in the Christmas Dept at Lowes, Home Depot, Wally World...etc. for $20. I purchased an 80% off display tree after last Christmas and two strands we out when we plugged it in last week. This little gadget came with 4 replacement bulbs and tracked down the problem on lights that have flocking on them in short order. Reading the instruction leaflet is interesting...it states that fuses are rarely the problem!
ReplyDeleteAnd that's exactly why I've never bought pre-lit trees! As much as I really, really, really hate stringing the lights on the trees, I'd just rather do that and deal with a string of lights than a tree that won't work. There's just no easy fix, is there? But they sure are beautiful when they're all lit.
ReplyDeleteSame story at my house the last few years and it's infuriating!!!!!
ReplyDeleteSo love visiting your home at Christmas. Thanks for taking us along.
ReplyDelete:^D
Last year our pre-lit tree had a few lights toward the top and a couple along the bottom....I tried looking for the burnt bulb and replaced the batteries but after spending over an hour trying to "fix" it, I just unplugged the lights and grabbed the wire cutters; I spent hours clipping and yanking out wires but I'm happy to say that we salvaged the tree and it looked beautiful with our newly purchased multi-color lights.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your story.
I'm with you on this one sister! In fact, I hauled my tree upstairs yesterday to begin decorating; plugged the tree in and what do you know ... a string burnt out. After fiddling with it for almost a half hour, I got so ticked off that I hauled the tree back downstairs and have decided we will not have any tree this Christmas. BaHumbug!!!
ReplyDeleteWe have had pre lit trees for years now. they are sooo much safer and easier then dealing with the real thing. so far we have been lucky and have not had to deal with burnt out litebulbs but if the tree lasts us for a few years before this problem occurs I would still simply replace it as the price would be worth it. have you checked the prices on the real pre cut trees lately?
ReplyDeleteKaren -- I too have a 12 foot tree. I've had it about 5 years now and the lights gave me a little fuss last year but I did get them working (after I traded out some of the red tipped bulbs). I usually string additional lights on my tree anyway -- you know cause i want the space station to be able to see it -- but I do like this compromise that you have arranged so that the trees don't just get tossed. You might try going to a second hand store like goodwill and looking to see if they have trees like yours and possibly replacing the sections, I've also done this if i didn't feel my trees had enough fullness.
ReplyDeleteSmiling......I'm had the same problem with our12' tree. Hated the 'dark' areas. Found a great product that can be found anywhere, even Wal-Mart. It looks like a little gun. It will check not only individual bulbs, but, the string it's on as well. This year the tree was so dark that I broke it down to only 8' high. It took an entire afternoon to check out the problem areas, but I have to say that the tree is now fully lit! Instructions on mine stated that when 5 or more bulbs are out the entire string will not light. I replaced 97 bulbs! Try this thing....Found in the Christmas decor dept.
ReplyDeleteSame problem here..however I was lucky enought to find the culprit bulb quickly and replaced it...and we are all glowing now....so one more year notched out on the plastic trunk....I do understand why you do not trash them...they are very pretty trees....Sheyl
ReplyDeleteI only have one tree Karen but it was a pre-lit that stopped lighting in the center section. We did exactly what you did and put lights on that section but the good news is that if you're careful to put them only on the section that is out you can leave them on the tree. We ran an extension cord up near the trunk so that we could just unplug it when we were ready to store it. blessings, marlene
ReplyDeleteMy pre-lit tree also ended up with a middle section that did not light and I ended up stringing lights again too! It truly is a love-hate relationship! We have a new tree (got it last year) so I hope that this year we have no lighting issues!
ReplyDeleteLinda
mysewwhatblog
Karen - the red gun gadget being referred to is Lightkeeper Pro sold at most home improvement & discount stores. I've had one for 4 or 5 years.Not only does it find the dead bulb, it will also "clear" the circuit. Don't know what that means as I am not an electrician. That's what the company advertises. You simply remove the bulb, insert the socket into the gadget, click the trigger a few times and the lights come on. I did have a Martha Stewart tree where it didn't work because the line had a short in it. So then I replaced the string. It's especially helpful when you already have the tree up or the outside lights on and something goes out. Made a great Christmas gift for my grown children. I highly recommend this tool.
ReplyDelete