How To Save Your Pre-Lit Christmas Tree From The Trash

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I was this close to throwing my pre-lit Christmas Tree in the trash! Those dag-gum lights! Seriously! 😞

But we saved it!! Yay!😀   I discovered the answer, after searching LONG and HARD on Google and YouTube.

Disclaimer: Hubby and I are not electricians. We are not here claiming we have knowledge of electricity. This is just a tip we found that worked for us. We do not guarantee that this will fix your Christmas tree.... but it might!

We have two 9ft. GE Pre-lit Christmas trees. They are supposed to stay on even if one of the lights burns out. Sounds great, right? Well, it has worked well for almost 8 years. Last year, we started have a lot of lights burn out and we purchased the Light Keeper Pro.  This is what it looks like. That affiliate link is included for your convenience.

That little tool is awesome and has made fixing some of the light issues soooo much easier!! You can test light strands for power, test light bulbs, and so much more!! One of the best $20 we've spent!

HOWEVER.... this year we had a whole NEW set of problems.... I seriously was at my wits end.  Whole sections were out! What? 😤 😣 😵  And I'll show you the culprit!

Our Christmas tree has a little light called a current resistor bulb. It looks different than all the other lights on the tree. Do you see how the base of the bulb is white? On some trees, I've heard they can be black.

Most of your lights will be green, like these. 

When that current resistor bulb goes out, the lights following it have no power.  Somehow, when that light is burnt out it stops the flow of electricity. Anyway, that light bulb needs to be changed.

But! GE glued that baby in and gave no lip to pry it out or anything! Really??? What??  Is your Christmas Tree done then?? I think that really stinks. I would've thought that GE would have done a better job. But we all know it's about the $$. They don't want your tree lasting forever!

So, I watched this guy on You Tube. Click HERE to see it.

Basically, Hubby took an Exacto knife and carefully cut a bit of green off around the top edge of the bulb. ( The guy in the video used a Dremel, either way it gets the job done.)

Now, that the white bulb base is exposed, you can grab it and wiggle it loose. It might get a bit mangled using needle nose pliers, but that's fine. Remember, they are probably glued, so it takes a bit of work to loosen it.

When it's loose, take it out.

The white bulb base looked very similar to the other light bulbs on the tree. The easy part is next.

Just replace the bulb. 😊  Then replace the light bulb base back into the light strand.

Yay! We didn't have to toss the tree! 

Here's a tip we learned.  Every year be diligent about replacing burned out light bulbs. That keeps the current resistor bulb from burning out. Now we're pros at replacing light bulbs and that Light Keeper Pro helps a TON!

Unfortunately, that didn't fix all of our Christmas tree light problems... We made due this year, by adding some lights in areas we couldn't get to work. Bummer... but we have a plan for next year that doesn't involve trashing the tree!

I really hopes this helps some of you!

Blessings!