Pre-Lit Christmas Tree Has a Short

We have a pre-lit Christmas tree that has worked for years beautifully, but this year the whole tree has been going out on us. The first time it happened we figured it was the main 5 amp fuse. We bought another and we were right, it lit again beautifully, but only for 1 day.

We again put in a new fuse and have found that the tree will light for a few hours and then everything goes off. As soon as I change the main fuse it goes on again. Obviously we must have some sort of short somewhere but how do I find it?

By Sara from NJ

Answers: Pre-Lit Christmas Tree Has a Short

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By 01/09/2010

We had the same problem with our prelit Christmas tree. I spent hours trying to find the problem. Finally my Irish temper got the better of me and I removed the light sets (time consuming). I bought individual light sets and just placed them on the tree. The newer sets have a v in the wire that just sit on the branches. I put the tree away with the light sets still on them and they were fine the next year!

By 01/05/2010

First and foremost, if I were you, I'd check with an electrician and make absolutely positive that your tree isn't going to short out and maybe cause a fire. If it were me, I'd trash the tree and find a new one. Sorry but the cost of a new tree is nothing compared to what the cost would be if it caused even a small fire. I once had a toaster short out and I was standing maybe 10 feet away. It scorched a spot on my wall about a foot wide and almost twice that up the wall before I could get to the electrical box and flip switches which took probably less than 90 seconds.

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