If you have an Artificial Christmas Tree you will want to tune it up before using it during the holiday season. Just a few minutes of your time can ensure that you have a great working Pre-Lit Christmas Tree that will give you hours of great enjoyment. You will need to have your Artificial Christmas Tree out of the box and then you will be ready to start the tune up. You also should have a Christmas Light Bulb Tester and a few replacement bulbs just in case you have some bad lights on your strand.
Step one of your Artificial Christmas Tree Tune Up will be to inspect is the condition of the plugs and the wires on the Christmas Light strands. If you see any worn or bare wires you will want to immediately throw that strand of Christmas Lights away because they are considered unsafe if they are in that condition. If you have an artificial Christmas Tree that is considered "Pre-Lit" which means the lights are built into the tree, then you will also want to inspect the wiring harness and all of the cords that run up and down the artificial tree trunk. If you find broken, bare, or damaged wires you will want to either remove that strand from the tree so that they cannot be used and then replace them with a new strand or you can just throw the entire tree away and buy a new one.
Usually when the wires on the artificial Christmas tree start to dry rot or get brittle from age, it usually means that the tree is very old and should be replaced anyhow. If you are a cat owner you also will want to inspect the wires for any nicks and breaks. Sometimes cats and kittens will chew on electrical wires when no one is looking and then when you go to plug the tree in the lights will not work. This is also another reason you should use an artificial tree storage bag to also protect your tree from rodents eating the wires during the off season.
Step Two of your Christmas Tree Tune Up will be to check that all the bulbs are working on each of the strands of Christmas Lights. If you have three strand Christmas Tree Lights you will want to plug in each strand and look for bulbs that are not working. If you bulbs that are not lit you can replace them with a new colored bulb, white bulb or even a flasher bulb. If you have two strand lights and a bulb goes bad the whole strand of lights will go out and you will need to test each bulb to see which is bad. You can test the Christmas Light Bulbs with something called a bulb tester. You will have to take each bulb and place it inside the tester to see if it lights up and if it does you can then re-install it into the strand. You repeat this process until you find all of the bag light bulbs in your strand.
Step Three In The Artificial Christmas Tree Tune Up Guide is to check the condition of all the branches and needles on the tree. You will want to give each branch a few shakes to see how many needles fall off. If you notice that many needles are falling off you might want to think about replacing the tree. Normally the needles are not supposed to fall of an Artificial Christmas Tree. In fact the reason that many people prefer the artificial tree Vs the real tree on Christmas is because there is no mess of pine needles to clean up after the holiday is over. If your tree is not that old and this is happening you should look into the place that you are storing the tree on the off season. Sometimes a real hot and dry storage area can cause the artificial Christmas trees plastic branches and needles to dry out quicker then normal and that will result in the artificial tree shedding its needles only after a few years or sooner. Artificial Christmas Trees should be stored in a climate controlled area to prevent damage from not being stored properly.
Now that you have completed the steps above you will either have a fully tuned up Artificial Christmas Tree or you have decided to make a smart decision and replace your old artificial tree that just needed to much work and was not worth the hassle. Chances are if you have decided to buy a new artificial Christmas tree you will be much happier when you set it up because the trees on the market today have so many more cool features and bells and whistles that are sure to help you ring in the holiday spirit.