Pre-Lit Christmas Tree Will Not Light Up

First, for sanity sake, make sure the tree is plugged in to a working outlet. Sounds silly, but it doesn't hurt to check.

If your pre-lit tree has multiple light strands, ensure they are all plugged into one another.

Find the fuse compartment in the male end of the faulty string of lights. Slide open the latch and pop out the fuse. Replace with a new fuse. Some pre-lit Christmas trees are sold with extra fuses.

To identify a broken fuse, look for a break in the wire or a dark smudge located inside of the fuse. Either of these indicate the fuse has blown. You can also use a multimeter to confirm that the fuse has blown.

Pre-Lit Christmas Tree Incandescent Light Fuse Replacement

If the bulb is damaged, burnt out, or missing you will need to replace it. Some pre-lit Christmas trees are sold with extra bulbs. Make sure the new bulb is seated firmly in the socket.

Tip: While removing bulbs check for corrosion or blockages in the sockets on the strand.

If replacing the first few bulbs with known-good bulbs doesn't work, check that there is a good connection between socket and bulb. Remove grime and other blockages with tweezers or a toothpick, and clean up corrosion(rust) with contact cleaner or isopropyl alcohol.

Tip: Tools like the LightKeeper Pro can help bridge broken circuits and further diagnose and fix problems. The video below demonstrates the use of the Quick Fix function.

Christmas Light Repair

Fixing Broken Christmas Lights