We bought a BH tree 3 years ago and after a year and a week the bottom part of the tree was completely out. It was out of warranty which in itself is an issue if you think about it. It takes a year + for you to find out the tree does not work after the first holiday season so it should be at least an18 month or 2 year warranty. In any case, customer service did point me to numerous videos and instructions on checking bulbs, fuses, master bulb, etc to no avail. BH did send me 3 sets of strands to re-strand the entire tree but it would literally take at least 5-6 hours to do the entire tree - think about that for a minute. The process is simply unbelievably time consuming as these trees have hundredths of lights. I ended up just laying a regular strand of lights for the season. This year, we unpack the tree and set it up and guess what, 90% of the tree is dark. I messed with it for at least an hour to no avail again so the options is to now completely restrand the tree, but, what if the same thing starts happening? do we start restranding from scratch - CRAZY. Save yourself money and buy either a cheaper tree and use regular lights to strand it. The cost and pain of dealing with the lights out is simply not worth it.
@@rahzellsutton2854 I believe the point he is trying to illustrate is that there is no point getting a prelit christmas tree if they end up burning out in just a couple of seasons. So buy a tree that is not prelit, costing hundreds less than a prelit tree and saving you the grief of dealing with the ultimate demise of prelit trees. I too went through a couple prelit trees with the same situation... the problem is really the incadescent bulbs, the better (and even more costly) choice are trees prelit with LED bulbs.
We’ve had the same Black Friday Home Depot $69 Christmas tree for probably 10 years or more. Lights up every year, big and looks pretty. I have read a lot of reviews saying Balsam Hill just doesn’t last and for that price, it really should.
@@theoriginallaceyI’ve heard the same thing. I was seriously contemplating getting a Balsam Hill to replace our older artificial tree that has big sections of lights out but after reading reviews, I think I’ll save my money. Seems like a product at their price level should last much much longer.
Found out I’m out of warranty yesterday and I have a 7ft slim tree. Top and bottom are out. After watching this video I’m like Omg this will take hours to do.
So what I got from the comments was to not buy a tree from Balsam Hill. I consider it a "bullet dodged!" Taking the time to comment does help others. Thanks people!
My Ashland brand pre-lit tree I bought from Michaels was fine the first year, the 2nd year strings started to go out, and this year - the 3rd year - the whole top 2 strings and some bottom strings were out. I found out about the testing/repair gun so I purchased at Home Depot. It did not work on this string and it suggested to check for burnt out bulbs - nearly ALL the bulbs along the strings that were out were burnt out! BTW, the gun did work on another set of lights, so the gun is cool and I would suggest having one on hand if you have a lot of the incandescent lights. I removed the top string of lights and it is a pain. LED is the way. I just wish I knew where to buy the replacement sets.
If you start now, you will be finished by next Christmas. I am still working on it after several days. I finally have the top done. I ended up sniping them all off. If it takes 3-5 minutes per bulb and your tree has 300 bulbs...
6 years into my Balsam Hill tree and I'm starting to experience issues with the lights that I'm now realizing is unfortunately common. I purchased a pre-lit, white-light Vermont White Spruce in 2017 (6 years ago). When I put the tree away last year, I noticed for the first time bulbs that had burned out. This year, when I put the tree together, large swaths of the strings were completely out. Several hours, a surprisingly helpful call to Balsam Hill, some more hours, purchase of the Light Keeper Pro, and then some more hours, the tree is up and running. Mostly. All the strings are now lit, however, I'm 62 - yes, sixty-two - bulbs poorer. Thankfully, the tree was fairly heavily lit, so it still looks good, but 62 empty sockets is a little bit noticeable. And, as others have mentioned, the BH bulbs have a different base. I will call BH again and ask, if by some chance, they can give me a bunch of bulbs, but I'm not expecting anything. After 6+ hours of diagnostics, I hope the lights get me at least through this season, but I'm mentally preparing for when I'll have to remove them and just string my own lights the old-fashioned way. I highly doubt I will try to "pre-light" the tree again because, sooner rather than later, the next set of lights will fail, too. Beautiful tree, but I'd advise others to consider buying a bare tree and lighting it themselves. To those that are throwing their tree away because the lights are failing, could I implore you to re-use what you have? Consider the waste, please. Through specialty salvage recyclers, the lights themselves are recyclable and the tree is still 100% usable and in great condition.
Our tree is also 1 year old. The lights on 4 of the limbs went out. After 5 phone calls to Balsam Hill technical support the problem was not resolved. The troubleshooting found in the documentation is inaccurate and the support personnel provided conflicting information which made the troubleshooting effort even more difficult. We were told by technical support that the replacement "section" will not be available for 7-9 months. Good money was spent on an inferior product.
My Ashland brand pre-lit tree I bought from Michaels was fine the first year, the 2nd year strings started to go out, and this year - the 3rd year - the whole top 2 strings and some bottom strings were out. I found out about the testing/repair gun so I purchased at Home Depot. It did not work on this string and it suggested to check for burnt out bulbs - nearly ALL the bulbs along the strings that were out were burnt out! BTW, the gun did work on another set of lights, so the gun is cool and I would suggest having one on hand if you have a lot of the incandescent lights. I removed the top string of lights and it is a pain. LED is the way. I just wish I knew where to buy LED replacement sets.
although I didn't have to restring my lights this was very helpful in seeing what a 'master bulb' looked like. Mine were not marked gray. Jiggled the bulb and all the lights came back on!
There is ZERO information out there on master bulbs. They look like they're different from the others. Are they different? It would be nice to know before I start trying to pull mine to figure out why 2/3 of my lower section won't light.
Toothmother how did you get replacement light strand? I have an old tree where you can't replace the master bulb so I have no choice, but I can't get help from customer service so I'm wondering if you found a compatible strand elsewhere?
Hi Lisa I plan on using good quality lights from GE or another company. I will not be buying lights from Balsam Hill. The strands from them have been horrible.
Are you replacing entire tree lights? I have one strand out only (seems to me the "older" trees have better lights that last longer, 5 years and only a few bulbs outside that one strand need replacing is pretty good, I'll give them that). So I'm wondering if you're trying to plug into their trees power system? If so what strength lights are you buying? I'm afraid to overdo it and burn out the other bulbs.
I have way too many lights out to just replace single bulbs and they are out on all the strands. I have no choice, believe me I am not looking forward to replacing the strands. I think you are in a pickle because the new lights will be brighter than 5 year old lights. Sorry but I am not an expert. I would just replace the bad strand and be happy you are not me! :)
Our BH incandescent bulb prelit tree lasted 7 years. After 8 years, I tried to no avail to fix 2 big stretches of lights that were out. I just added string lights to it to fill in the dead zones. I'm torn between cutting off all the prestrung lights and restringing with new lights or just restringing with new lights & leaving the prestrung lights on the tree. I don't regret my purchase. I love my tree. And it lasted for many years. But I wish they offered unlit versions of all their trees. Especially now that they have moved on to just led lights for most.
My tree was only 1 year old and the lights went out in one section. They sent me free strand of lights to restring with no clips. Had to call back and request. Please note .... lighting warranty is three years and Balsam Hill does honor their warranty by sending free light strand but you have to restring it. As the video states it is a tedious and time consuming process. Think twice before buying is the lesson I am learning the restringing light way.
I bought a BH in January of 2018 on sale at $450 and didn't set up until Dec of 2018. Brand new out of the box with multi- and clear lights, middle section was not working. I strung a section of both clear and multi myself and called it a Christmas. Called BH a week later and they sent me replacement lights (which I still have and never strung but can now if something else happens). I then called back in January 2019 and asked for a replacement since it was "out of box" new. They honored my request. Sent me a new section. Lights up perfect. Only problem now is that at the top of the section they sent, one entire branch section is missing causing a huge gap at the top. UGH. I'm done. Faced it toward back of wall and I'll live with it. So much money but what I do love is that with a touch of remote, I can have all white, all colored or combined lights (which is my preferred look).
Very similar experience here. My restringing story follows. First, our BH tree now 5 years old and it’s just depressing to pull it out and hook it up. In 2017 when we bought the LED lights were a ridiculous premium, and, the marketing made it hard to know for sure if you were getting LED. I thought we did, but didn’t. So expensive. We justified the cost by thinking “this is our tree for the next twenty years”. A year plus a day = issues. Every year it gets worse. Plus that whole “check every bulb and fuse” thing is so 1980s Christmas Vacation. Give me a break Balsam Hill! This isn’t a normal issue - this shouldn’t be happening still. So after five years of this, I looked into replacing the tree. The tree itself is still valuable and would be quite expensive to replace (lots of tips). I went to Amazon and bought 1200 LED lights and am doing this painful re-stringing. The only reason to send along this comment is to share with others - restringing is worth it. I’m halfway done and my family loves the progress. The LED light options these days are so much better, more features, less energy. I bought four strings of 300 lights, will put one strand on each section (so I can take it apart) then use the final strand to wrap each year. My tree had 1000 lights. Taking them off took four hours. Once I got going, I cut the wires between each branch. Then cut those first two zip ties. Save all those c-clips. Wear nitrile gloves, which give the dexterity needed but help as your finger and thumb tips will get sore from the clip pulling and pushing. Use string or rope to hold up the tiers of branches you’re not working on. This helps both getting rid of old lights, and putting on new. Record the basic pattern. Mine used 16 lights per branch on the lower tiers then started to lessen as the branches got smaller going up the tree. I’m replacing with 18 lights per branch. Do a little recording of the patterns as you take it apart. It’s December 3rd, this will be done today, and be a distant memory by Christmas. I’m bitter about my BH tree, but a BH tree with good LEDs, well, it might still be worth it. Those of us with incandescent - absolutely not. I would not judge anyone who just pitched it and started over. It’s expensive to do that, and a bit wasteful, but time is all we control and it’s time consuming.
I've taken off the lights of my 9 foot pre lit tree, and my hands and fingers are so raw from doing so, it wasn't really worth it. The biggest pain in the ass I've ever had to deal with.
Our warranty ended last month (November). Our tree, apparently, has to be re-strung (December). This is year 3 for our tree - one would think re-stringing would be after years or heavy use. Our issue isn't one on their menu. We've replaced master bulbs; replaced fuses; checked bulbs for damage. Yadda-yadda-yadda. Not happy.
Kevin Murphy i have almost the exact same problem with my tree. i purchased it three years ago and was just 9 days outside of the warranty when i discovered multiple light sections were out.
I am in the same boat. I had a tree for 10 years and never had problems with it until year 8! This one is 4 years old this year and half the dang tree is out. So much money for a pre-lit tree that I thought was great quality. NOPE!
This looks like a nightmare. I just did two small outdoor trees. No way I’m doing this on our 10 ft. tree. Throwing some string lights on that bad boy and calling it a day.
Tell me about it... I used my wire cutters and cut the damn strings off and THAT was even frustrating and hours of work!! I cut out the whole clear plastic sleeve too that the light strings fed into at the trunk base. Done with that nonsense. Next will be switching next year to high quality LED lights from a reputable company. Supposedly they last sooo much longer. I found a special 3-outlet cord to use along the tree trunk for a total of 9-outlets. When used up the trunk of a Christmas tree, the cord provides outlets through center of the tree. This way you don't have to plug them into each other and can plug each into the plug station of the cord. Another tip I read is to use 50 light strands so if you have a problem (this was for incandescent), there is not a lot of unraveling to do and testing is easy. Talk about a great idea!
I feel you! I'm going to punch however l whoever thought of tangling these lights in a prelit tree. They are impossible to get out, easily. I'm cutting them out....it's a mess
I bought a prelit tree a couple days ago and the lights were so poorly strung I couldn't move the branches properly. I spent over 2 hours taking all the lights and clips out. And my tree is only 4.5 feet tall...
And the moral of the story is if you want a BH tree buy an unlit tree. Stringing your own lights is a cinch compared to taking them off the pre strung tree. Or you could do what I did and buy a platinum tree with ProTime lights from Treetime. Last Christmas was the 9th year I used my tree and it’s worked like a charm each year. It’s gorgeous too. I am not in anyway affiliated with Treetime, but just a very happy customer.
After hours of troubleshooting a strand of lights in the middle section of my 9' BH tree, I gave up. It appears that one or more control bulb fixtures are out. Not really sure, but finally gave up and spent 5 minutes stringing a loose strand around that section and voila, done. I inserted a box plug that had one male prong and 4 female faces. ( probably got it at Amazon) I could, but do not need to, plug another strand in if I wanted too. Good Luck
My tree is still under warranty so BH sent me a new strand, but it does not match the original strand. I have spent hours on this already. I am so frustrated! You may want to look at another brand. I paid $950 on my tree and after 2 years, I am ready to throw it away.
You mention checking the fuses - what exactly am I looking for? My tree hasn't worked for two years....now my wreath has given up. Haven't had the heart to put the batteries in my garlands and find I have the same issues......this product is way too expensive for the number of people having major issues.
Ok first I have to thank everyone for helping me know I am not alone on horrible journey. We have had our prelit balsam for about 5 years and had all sorts of issues with sections of lights not working. None of the trouble shooting fixes them. Last night, at my witts end, I just started removing the lights. It is incredibly slow and tedious. I was worried that I was missing something or would regret going down this path but it appears its the only way. But this video made me laugh out loud. Total insanity I am not doing that 😂
Just buy one of those gun shaped bulb testers, get the one you can actually plug where a bulb would go. It lights up to the burned out bulb then you can replace it. Best $10 ever spent on Christmas.
i've had mine two years and my garland and reef has failed this year. very disappointed i'll contact customer service i'll be able to fix it for next year. thanks for the video i've saved it to come back to in january
I was very disappointed with the quality of the stringing of my pre-lit tree. I am going to have to remove the lights and restring my tree. I do not look forward to this which is why I ordered my tree pre-lit. It is pretty bad when you pay for something and it is not done correctly. I love my flip tree, but I don't appreciate shoddy workmanship. I have to admit to being very angry about this. Customer service was milktoast and unhelpful.
I found 30 zip ties on the top half of my tree. 30!! Very excessive. Also, if you find things wrong with your tree I would advise you to do two things. 1. Photo document your problems. 2. Do not make any changes to your tree. They will exchange it if it hasn’t been altered and if you do alter it in any way the warranty is void. Although I did document the defects I found on my tree, I had replaced my lights. Gahhh! It was very frustrating dealing with most of the people at customer service via email.
Thinking about ordering a flip tree. Just chatted with customer service about the warranty and the lights. She said if I don't want to restring lights they will send a replacement section. But she said it didn't actually say that in the warranty, but assured me they would do it. Not sure I believe her. My husband wants to get the unlit Vermont flip tree and just string lights on it himself every year. As a previous buyer of the flip tree, what would you recommend? I really love the whole flip thing.
Jan Wendt Just buy an unlit flip tree. If your husband is willing to put the lights on that is great. When he does put the lights on, make sure he puts the top half on separately that way you won’t have to remove the lights every year. Like I said in my remarks above, they do a pretty lousy job of putting the lights on the tree. And I was told that any alterations I made voided the warranty.
My section went out because the section plug broke out of warranty, so no BH help, at all. They sent clips. See below comments. My fix? I bought the $5 50-light set from the Home Depot, checking that it had the usual pair of 3 amp fuses in the plug. Unplug everything. This is very important: On the HD set identify the “line” wire coming out of the first light. Put a colored tape on that wire about 6 inches from the plug. The other is the “common” wire and it does not run to an individual light, but runs along as the line wire goes to each light in turn. On your BH tree put colored tape on the line wire coming out of its first light about 4 inches from that plug. Use a wire cutter and cut both sets of wires leaving the tapes in place so you can still easily identify line and common wires. . Strip the ends of all 4 wires. Connect and insulate the two .line wires and then the two common wires(small connector caps or electrical tape; ask a hardware store if not sure). Test with an extension cord. Should light up. If it pops, you mixed up the two sets of line and common wires. Replace the fuses, switch the wires, and try again. Fortunately the HD gives you a spare set of fuses and there was one in the broken BH plug. Editorial comment: I admit my tree is about 10 years old, and it is a genuinely nice tree. But for what BH charges, those trees should have a lifetime warranty. And the customer service folks are sweet, but useless. To ask their customers to strip the entire BH light string and re-clip all those lights is ridiculous. Sorry, but I’m going to Costco next time.
Please offer Hook in trees again, these give the best service, they aren't prelit, but can be decorated more beautiful and not a pain to string as you can go along layer by layer to the top.
Unfortunately, the string you sent as replacement are different than what was originally installed. This means following light by light replacement sequence is not feasible/practical.
I had the exact same problem...they sent me 3 strings before they admitted they don't offer that string type any longer. The old string was a mesh type with 4 different shoots. The new ones are all straight line.
I am also very disappointed with my tree. I've owned this $700 tree for 3 years and have about 5 light strands that are not working. I managed to get the top re-strung with my own lights from Home Depot and the very bottom but I cannot figure out the contorted mess of light strands going on in the center section. Wish I would have purchased a live tree and strung my own lights. Would have saved a lot of time and aggravation. This tree also has a few large bare spots which are noticeable and have to be filled with lots of ornaments and garland to cover.
Just got our new 10" tree and a strand of clear lights on Section 1 doesn't work. I chatted with customer service and they're sending me a new strand. I just watched the video..... Sweet Baby Jesus. I'll put that section of the tree in the corner next year where nobody will see it. I'm not restringing this!!!
Just took the lights off our 5 year old balsam crap tree, as in this was the 5th year we would've used it. The lights did not last long at all. To remove lights quickly, cut off all the bulbs, use pliers to remove c-clamps and wire cutters for the zip ties. So I am left with a tree with a power pole. I am going to restring each of the three tiers separately with conventional lights and secure them with zip ties. The central power pole makes this possible. In the end with balsam crap that is all you are really getting, a tree with a central power pole.
I have. 2 year old Balsen Hill tree that Was ridiculously expensive. Just pulled it out of its bag and I have three sections where there are no lights. Balsam Hill sucks literally
Our tree is out of warranty by 28 days. No help from the manufacturer. Would think the tree would hold up after only 3 years of use and storage in the original BH boxes. This expensive of a tree should last a lot longer. Had tree from Costco for 10+ years and thru 2 moves, always working. Customer service was not much help - and they don't even sell the light strands!
I just had the exact same problem with a tree that is out of warranty by one month. Not worth it in my book. Should have gotten a lot longer life.Very disappointing.
We are on our second, and LAST, Balsam Hill tree. Never again! The tree is good quality but the lights are terrible!!! I mean horrible! Every year there is another section out - and we keep the tree in an air-conditioned closet all year! There is no excuse. One light goes out and the whole strand goes out. And the master bulb wirings are terrible and cause a lot of issues. Save yourself the headache (and money) and buy something else...
Lady? You are crazy! I spent days removing my pre-lit lights before adding new ones. And you are suggesting that we do both at the same time? What kind of sadistic advice is this?
You guys are crazy, i do this with my normal tree every year. There is always a section that has burnt or a light i have to look for that is out and then I need a whole new string and hook up to the extension chord in middle of tree. I also put my lights through every branch through the back. This has been a pain to do every year. Having a prelit tree is still worth it as you aren’t doing any additional work. If you have to restring a section, cry me a river. I have to do my whole 10 ft tree each year which takes forever
Don't buy from them. My tree lasted one year and lights keep burning out. So frustrating and Steins would not do anything about it at the time. Terrible!
Balsam Hill is the WORST! The lights on the top of the tree stopped working 2 years ago. I ended up just throwing some light strands over the burnt out strands. All Customer Service could do is send me fuses, master bulbs and light replacements. NOTHING worked. Conveniently the tree was just out of warranty. NO HELP AT ALL. Now, the bottom of the tree is not lighting. The bulbs are all burnt out and black. Again NO HELP AT ALL. They basically told me to re-string the lights and sent me to this video. Why would I spend so much money on a tree like Balsam Hill and get no offer to replace it, even if it is out of warranty? They should do the right thing. The reason to buy this type of "High Quality" tree is so that you don't have to worry about re-stringing. Thanks for NOTHING Balsam Hill.
Removing lights from a pre-lite Balsam Hill is a joke!!!! Removing and replacing lights as shown in this video is not practical. Balsam Hill light stings are really one long string with 3 separate sections. Imagine if you will having a double handful of rubber bands in your hands but the rubber bands are tied together in a string. Now take a duplicate rubber band string and tie it to the wad in your hand, but you must tie it at each knot. Balsam trees are disposable, just do it before the warranty ends.
It took me 7 hours to redo my whole tree, this video made it look way too easy 😂👍
I agree! Thumbs and fingers are nearly bleeding removing those C-clips!
We bought a BH tree 3 years ago and after a year and a week the bottom part of the tree was completely out. It was out of warranty which in itself is an issue if you think about it. It takes a year + for you to find out the tree does not work after the first holiday season so it should be at least an18 month or 2 year warranty. In any case, customer service did point me to numerous videos and instructions on checking bulbs, fuses, master bulb, etc to no avail. BH did send me 3 sets of strands to re-strand the entire tree but it would literally take at least 5-6 hours to do the entire tree - think about that for a minute. The process is simply unbelievably time consuming as these trees have hundredths of lights. I ended up just laying a regular strand of lights for the season. This year, we unpack the tree and set it up and guess what, 90% of the tree is dark. I messed with it for at least an hour to no avail again so the options is to now completely restrand the tree, but, what if the same thing starts happening? do we start restranding from scratch - CRAZY. Save yourself money and buy either a cheaper tree and use regular lights to strand it. The cost and pain of dealing with the lights out is simply not worth it.
What's the point of having a prillet tree if you have to put lights on every year? Lol
@@rahzellsutton2854 I believe the point he is trying to illustrate is that there is no point getting a prelit christmas tree if they end up burning out in just a couple of seasons. So buy a tree that is not prelit, costing hundreds less than a prelit tree and saving you the grief of dealing with the ultimate demise of prelit trees. I too went through a couple prelit trees with the same situation... the problem is really the incadescent bulbs, the better (and even more costly) choice are trees prelit with LED bulbs.
We’ve had the same Black Friday Home Depot $69 Christmas tree for probably 10 years or more. Lights up every year, big and looks pretty. I have read a lot of reviews saying Balsam Hill just doesn’t last and for that price, it really should.
@@theoriginallaceyI’ve heard the same thing. I was seriously contemplating getting a Balsam Hill to replace our older artificial tree that has big sections of lights out but after reading reviews, I think I’ll save my money. Seems like a product at their price level should last much much longer.
Found out I’m out of warranty yesterday and I have a 7ft slim tree. Top and bottom are out. After watching this video I’m like Omg this will take hours to do.
So what I got from the comments was to not buy a tree from Balsam Hill. I consider it a "bullet dodged!" Taking the time to comment does help others. Thanks people!
This videos quite old, their trees can now be purchased with LED bulbs, they last much longer. Incandescents are just not made to last.
don't buy pre-lit. the trees themselves look very nice.
My Ashland brand pre-lit tree I bought from Michaels was fine the first year, the 2nd year strings started to go out, and this year - the 3rd year - the whole top 2 strings and some bottom strings were out. I found out about the testing/repair gun so I purchased at Home Depot. It did not work on this string and it suggested to check for burnt out bulbs - nearly ALL the bulbs along the strings that were out were burnt out! BTW, the gun did work on another set of lights, so the gun is cool and I would suggest having one on hand if you have a lot of the incandescent lights. I removed the top string of lights and it is a pain. LED is the way. I just wish I knew where to buy the replacement sets.
If you start now, you will be finished by next Christmas. I am still working on it after several days. I finally have the top done. I ended up sniping them all off. If it takes 3-5 minutes per bulb and your tree has 300 bulbs...
hi...I made a Christmas Tree after watching your video. Thank you for being an inspiration to me.
6 years into my Balsam Hill tree and I'm starting to experience issues with the lights that I'm now realizing is unfortunately common. I purchased a pre-lit, white-light Vermont White Spruce in 2017 (6 years ago). When I put the tree away last year, I noticed for the first time bulbs that had burned out. This year, when I put the tree together, large swaths of the strings were completely out. Several hours, a surprisingly helpful call to Balsam Hill, some more hours, purchase of the Light Keeper Pro, and then some more hours, the tree is up and running. Mostly. All the strings are now lit, however, I'm 62 - yes, sixty-two - bulbs poorer. Thankfully, the tree was fairly heavily lit, so it still looks good, but 62 empty sockets is a little bit noticeable. And, as others have mentioned, the BH bulbs have a different base. I will call BH again and ask, if by some chance, they can give me a bunch of bulbs, but I'm not expecting anything. After 6+ hours of diagnostics, I hope the lights get me at least through this season, but I'm mentally preparing for when I'll have to remove them and just string my own lights the old-fashioned way. I highly doubt I will try to "pre-light" the tree again because, sooner rather than later, the next set of lights will fail, too. Beautiful tree, but I'd advise others to consider buying a bare tree and lighting it themselves. To those that are throwing their tree away because the lights are failing, could I implore you to re-use what you have? Consider the waste, please. Through specialty salvage recyclers, the lights themselves are recyclable and the tree is still 100% usable and in great condition.
Our tree is also 1 year old. The lights on 4 of the limbs went out. After 5 phone calls to Balsam Hill technical support the problem was not resolved. The troubleshooting found in the documentation is inaccurate and the support personnel provided conflicting information which made the troubleshooting effort even more difficult. We were told by technical support that the replacement "section" will not be available for 7-9 months. Good money was spent on an inferior product.
My Ashland brand pre-lit tree I bought from Michaels was fine the first year, the 2nd year strings started to go out, and this year - the 3rd year - the whole top 2 strings and some bottom strings were out. I found out about the testing/repair gun so I purchased at Home Depot. It did not work on this string and it suggested to check for burnt out bulbs - nearly ALL the bulbs along the strings that were out were burnt out! BTW, the gun did work on another set of lights, so the gun is cool and I would suggest having one on hand if you have a lot of the incandescent lights. I removed the top string of lights and it is a pain. LED is the way. I just wish I knew where to buy LED replacement sets.
although I didn't have to restring my lights this was very helpful in seeing what a 'master bulb' looked like. Mine were not marked gray. Jiggled the bulb and all the lights came back on!
There is ZERO information out there on master bulbs. They look like they're different from the others. Are they different? It would be nice to know before I start trying to pull mine to figure out why 2/3 of my lower section won't light.
oh man i need to do this and it is going to suck.
Toothmother how did you get replacement light strand? I have an old tree where you can't replace the master bulb so I have no choice, but I can't get help from customer service so I'm wondering if you found a compatible strand elsewhere?
Hi Lisa I plan on using good quality lights from GE or another company. I will not be buying lights from Balsam Hill. The strands from them have been horrible.
Are you replacing entire tree lights? I have one strand out only (seems to me the "older" trees have better lights that last longer, 5 years and only a few bulbs outside that one strand need replacing is pretty good, I'll give them that). So I'm wondering if you're trying to plug into their trees power system? If so what strength lights are you buying? I'm afraid to overdo it and burn out the other bulbs.
I have way too many lights out to just replace single bulbs and they are out on all the strands. I have no choice, believe me I am not looking forward to replacing the strands. I think you are in a pickle because the new lights will be brighter than 5 year old lights. Sorry but I am not an expert. I would just replace the bad strand and be happy you are not me! :)
Toothmother... I’m not doing it I can’t , I guess I thought the lights would stay lit forever as long as I had the tree
Our BH incandescent bulb prelit tree lasted 7 years. After 8 years, I tried to no avail to fix 2 big stretches of lights that were out. I just added string lights to it to fill in the dead zones. I'm torn between cutting off all the prestrung lights and restringing with new lights or just restringing with new lights & leaving the prestrung lights on the tree. I don't regret my purchase. I love my tree. And it lasted for many years. But I wish they offered unlit versions of all their trees. Especially now that they have moved on to just led lights for most.
My tree was only 1 year old and the lights went out in one section. They sent me free strand of lights to restring with no clips. Had to call back and request. Please note .... lighting warranty is three years and Balsam Hill does honor their warranty by sending free light strand but you have to restring it. As the video states it is a tedious and time consuming process. Think twice before buying is the lesson I am learning the restringing light way.
My tree is also only 1 year old, and I have to replace a strand a lights. Very frustrating!!
I bought a BH in January of 2018 on sale at $450 and didn't set up until Dec of 2018. Brand new out of the box with multi- and clear lights, middle section was not working. I strung a section of both clear and multi myself and called it a Christmas. Called BH a week later and they sent me replacement lights (which I still have and never strung but can now if something else happens). I then called back in January 2019 and asked for a replacement since it was "out of box" new. They honored my request. Sent me a new section. Lights up perfect. Only problem now is that at the top of the section they sent, one entire branch section is missing causing a huge gap at the top. UGH. I'm done. Faced it toward back of wall and I'll live with it. So much money but what I do love is that with a touch of remote, I can have all white, all colored or combined lights (which is my preferred look).
Very similar experience here. My restringing story follows. First, our BH tree now 5 years old and it’s just depressing to pull it out and hook it up. In 2017 when we bought the LED lights were a ridiculous premium, and, the marketing made it hard to know for sure if you were getting LED. I thought we did, but didn’t. So expensive. We justified the cost by thinking “this is our tree for the next twenty years”. A year plus a day = issues. Every year it gets worse. Plus that whole “check every bulb and fuse” thing is so 1980s Christmas Vacation. Give me a break Balsam Hill! This isn’t a normal issue - this shouldn’t be happening still.
So after five years of this, I looked into replacing the tree. The tree itself is still valuable and would be quite expensive to replace (lots of tips). I went to Amazon and bought 1200 LED lights and am doing this painful re-stringing. The only reason to send along this comment is to share with others - restringing is worth it. I’m halfway done and my family loves the progress. The LED light options these days are so much better, more features, less energy. I bought four strings of 300 lights, will put one strand on each section (so I can take it apart) then use the final strand to wrap each year.
My tree had 1000 lights. Taking them off took four hours. Once I got going, I cut the wires between each branch. Then cut those first two zip ties. Save all those c-clips. Wear nitrile gloves, which give the dexterity needed but help as your finger and thumb tips will get sore from the clip pulling and pushing. Use string or rope to hold up the tiers of branches you’re not working on. This helps both getting rid of old lights, and putting on new. Record the basic pattern. Mine used 16 lights per branch on the lower tiers then started to lessen as the branches got smaller going up the tree. I’m replacing with 18 lights per branch. Do a little recording of the patterns as you take it apart.
It’s December 3rd, this will be done today, and be a distant memory by Christmas.
I’m bitter about my BH tree, but a BH tree with good LEDs, well, it might still be worth it. Those of us with incandescent - absolutely not.
I would not judge anyone who just pitched it and started over. It’s expensive to do that, and a bit wasteful, but time is all we control and it’s time consuming.
I've taken off the lights of my 9 foot pre lit tree, and my hands and fingers are so raw from doing so, it wasn't really worth it. The biggest pain in the ass I've ever had to deal with.
why not just hang the new lights on the tree like any other light without clipping them on. Then take the lights off when xmas is done.
😂 right!
Because I like my stuff done right.
Wish I had read comments on Balsam Hill lights. I purchased perlite tree for easy set up.
If you have a clear lit tree can you change to multi easily?
Our warranty ended last month (November). Our tree, apparently, has to be re-strung (December). This is year 3 for our tree - one would think re-stringing would be after years or heavy use. Our issue isn't one on their menu. We've replaced master bulbs; replaced fuses; checked bulbs for damage. Yadda-yadda-yadda. Not happy.
Kevin Murphy i have almost the exact same problem with my tree. i purchased it three years ago and was just 9 days outside of the warranty when i discovered multiple light sections were out.
Has anyone noticed that BH is not responding to these comments?
I am in the same boat. I had a tree for 10 years and never had problems with it until year 8! This one is 4 years old this year and half the dang tree is out. So much money for a pre-lit tree that I thought was great quality. NOPE!
This looks like a nightmare. I just did two small outdoor trees. No way I’m doing this on our 10 ft. tree. Throwing some string lights on that bad boy and calling it a day.
Love On The Spectrum .... me too that’s a lot and merry Christmas 🎄
@@jdwrcc thanks! same to you!
I agree
Throw the damn tree away. I’m dealing with this and it’s a living nightmare. The lights are twisted in unimaginable contortions.
Tell me about it... I used my wire cutters and cut the damn strings off and THAT was even frustrating and hours of work!! I cut out the whole clear plastic sleeve too that the light strings fed into at the trunk base. Done with that nonsense. Next will be switching next year to high quality LED lights from a reputable company. Supposedly they last sooo much longer. I found a special 3-outlet cord to use along the tree trunk for a total of 9-outlets. When used up the trunk of a Christmas tree, the cord provides outlets through center of the tree. This way you don't have to plug them into each other and can plug each into the plug station of the cord. Another tip I read is to use 50 light strands so if you have a problem (this was for incandescent), there is not a lot of unraveling to do and testing is easy. Talk about a great idea!
I feel you! I'm going to punch however l whoever thought of tangling these lights in a prelit tree. They are impossible to get out, easily. I'm cutting them out....it's a mess
I bought a prelit tree a couple days ago and the lights were so poorly strung I couldn't move the branches properly. I spent over 2 hours taking all the lights and clips out. And my tree is only 4.5 feet tall...
where does one get the replacement master bulbs? I don’t think the website has them.
They don't sell them at BH!
And the moral of the story is if you want a BH tree buy an unlit tree. Stringing your own lights is a cinch compared to taking them off the pre strung tree. Or you could do what I did and buy a platinum tree with ProTime lights from Treetime. Last Christmas was the 9th year I used my tree and it’s worked like a charm each year. It’s gorgeous too. I am not in anyway affiliated with Treetime, but just a very happy customer.
After hours of troubleshooting a strand of lights in the middle section of my 9' BH tree, I gave up. It appears that one or more control bulb fixtures are out. Not really sure, but finally gave up and spent 5 minutes stringing a loose strand around that section and voila, done. I inserted a box plug that had one male prong and 4 female faces. ( probably got it at Amazon) I could, but do not need to, plug another strand in if I wanted too. Good Luck
My tree is still under warranty so BH sent me a new strand, but it does not match the original strand. I have spent hours on this already. I am so frustrated! You may want to look at another brand. I paid $950 on my tree and after 2 years, I am ready to throw it away.
You mention checking the fuses - what exactly am I looking for? My tree hasn't worked for two years....now my wreath has given up. Haven't had the heart to put the batteries in my garlands and find I have the same issues......this product is way too expensive for the number of people having major issues.
Ok first I have to thank everyone for helping me know I am not alone on horrible journey. We have had our prelit balsam for about 5 years and had all sorts of issues with sections of lights not working. None of the trouble shooting fixes them. Last night, at my witts end, I just started removing the lights. It is incredibly slow and tedious. I was worried that I was missing something or would regret going down this path but it appears its the only way. But this video made me laugh out loud. Total insanity I am not doing that 😂
1 year out from warranty and I have to restring our tree from Balsam Hill. Very disappointed with what is supposed to a high end product.
I’m in the same boat! This sucks!
Me too! 1 year out of warranty and need to restring. I am so disappointed with this high end tree! It sucks!
How do I get the lights? I see on the bottom branches the lights have long leads to the ends of the branches. Do you sell the strands?
I've put tree up, purchased last year. The lights all worked. Today they just went off 😭😭
Can you use non prelit lights with the prelit lights at the same time for more lights
Just buy one of those gun shaped bulb testers, get the one you can actually plug where a bulb would go. It lights up to the burned out bulb then you can replace it. Best $10 ever spent on Christmas.
I keep putting bulbs in and they blow out instantly
We have a preflight 10’ BH noble fir that’s 8 yrs old. No issues with our lights except for standard bulb/fuse replacement.
i've had mine two years and my garland and reef has failed this year. very disappointed i'll contact customer service i'll be able to fix it for next year. thanks for the video i've saved it to come back to in january
There should be a 3 year warranty. Don't wait!
Where can I get the c-clips and zip ties?
did you find c clips i cant find them
Do you know where you can buy more of the clips? We need a lot more, as a bunch got swept up and tossed out. Thank you, Joanne
Joanne M got mines at Home Depot
Were they that same c clip style? I can’t seem to find them anywhere.
What type of BH tree is shown in this video?
I was very disappointed with the quality of the stringing of my pre-lit tree. I am going to have to remove the lights and restring my tree. I do not look forward to this which is why I ordered my tree pre-lit. It is pretty bad when you pay for something and it is not done correctly. I love my flip tree, but I don't appreciate shoddy workmanship. I have to admit to being very angry about this. Customer service was milktoast and unhelpful.
I found 30 zip ties on the top half of my tree. 30!! Very excessive. Also, if you find things wrong with your tree I would advise you to do two things. 1. Photo document your problems. 2. Do not make any changes to your tree. They will exchange it if it hasn’t been altered and if you do alter it in any way the warranty is void. Although I did document the defects I found on my tree, I had replaced my lights. Gahhh! It was very frustrating dealing with most of the people at customer service via email.
Thinking about ordering a flip tree. Just chatted with customer service about the warranty and the lights. She said if I don't want to restring lights they will send a replacement section. But she said it didn't actually say that in the warranty, but assured me they would do it. Not sure I believe her. My husband wants to get the unlit Vermont flip tree and just string lights on it himself every year. As a previous buyer of the flip tree, what would you recommend? I really love the whole flip thing.
Jan Wendt Just buy an unlit flip tree. If your husband is willing to put the lights on that is great. When he does put the lights on, make sure he puts the top half on separately that way you won’t have to remove the lights every year. Like I said in my remarks above, they do a pretty lousy job of putting the lights on the tree. And I was told that any alterations I made voided the warranty.
My section went out because the section plug broke out of warranty, so no BH help, at all. They sent clips. See below comments. My fix? I bought the $5 50-light set from the Home Depot, checking that it had the usual pair of 3 amp fuses in the plug. Unplug everything. This is very important: On the HD set identify the “line” wire coming out of the first light. Put a colored tape on that wire about 6 inches from the plug. The other is the “common” wire and it does not run to an individual light, but runs along as the line wire goes to each light in turn. On your BH tree put colored tape on the line wire coming out of its first light about 4 inches from that plug. Use a wire cutter and cut both sets of wires leaving the tapes in place so you can still easily identify line and common wires. . Strip the ends of all 4 wires. Connect and insulate the two .line wires and then the two common wires(small connector caps or electrical tape; ask a hardware store if not sure). Test with an extension cord. Should light up. If it pops, you mixed up the two sets of line and common wires. Replace the fuses, switch the wires, and try again. Fortunately the HD gives you a spare set of fuses and there was one in the broken BH plug. Editorial comment: I admit my tree is about 10 years old, and it is a genuinely nice tree. But for what BH charges, those trees should have a lifetime warranty. And the customer service folks are sweet, but useless. To ask their customers to strip the entire BH light string and re-clip all those lights is ridiculous. Sorry, but I’m going to Costco next time.
Please offer Hook in trees again, these give the best service, they aren't prelit, but can be decorated more beautiful and not a pain to string as you can go along layer by layer to the top.
Unfortunately, the string you sent as replacement are different than what was originally installed. This means following light by light replacement sequence is not feasible/practical.
I had the exact same problem...they sent me 3 strings before they admitted they don't offer that string type any longer. The old string was a mesh type with 4 different shoots. The new ones are all straight line.
I am also very disappointed with my tree. I've owned this $700 tree for 3 years and have about 5 light strands that are not working. I managed to get the top re-strung with my own lights from Home Depot and the very bottom but I cannot figure out the contorted mess of light strands going on in the center section. Wish I would have purchased a live tree and strung my own lights. Would have saved a lot of time and aggravation. This tree also has a few large bare spots which are noticeable and have to be filled with lots of ornaments and garland to cover.
Just got our new 10" tree and a strand of clear lights on Section 1 doesn't work. I chatted with customer service and they're sending me a new strand. I just watched the video..... Sweet Baby Jesus. I'll put that section of the tree in the corner next year where nobody will see it. I'm not restringing this!!!
Just took the lights off our 5 year old balsam crap tree, as in this was the 5th year we would've used it. The lights did not last long at all. To remove lights quickly, cut off all the bulbs, use pliers to remove c-clamps and wire cutters for the zip ties. So I am left with a tree with a power pole. I am going to restring each of the three tiers separately with conventional lights and secure them with zip ties. The central power pole makes this possible. In the end with balsam crap that is all you are really getting, a tree with a central power pole.
The most professional way, but who has time for that 🤦🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️ so frustrating having a strand or 2 burn 🔥 out a week b4 Christmas 🤬🤬🤬
Now I finally hate Christmas..
I have. 2 year old Balsen Hill tree that Was ridiculously expensive. Just pulled it out of its bag and I have three sections where there are no lights. Balsam Hill sucks literally
Our tree is out of warranty by 28 days. No help from the manufacturer. Would think the tree would hold up after only 3 years of use and storage in the original BH boxes. This expensive of a tree should last a lot longer. Had tree from Costco for 10+ years and thru 2 moves, always working.
Customer service was not much help - and they don't even sell the light strands!
I just had the exact same problem with a tree that is out of warranty by one month. Not worth it in my book. Should have gotten a lot longer life.Very disappointing.
We are on our second, and LAST, Balsam Hill tree. Never again! The tree is good quality but the lights are terrible!!! I mean horrible! Every year there is another section out - and we keep the tree in an air-conditioned closet all year! There is no excuse. One light goes out and the whole strand goes out. And the master bulb wirings are terrible and cause a lot of issues. Save yourself the headache (and money) and buy something else...
Lady? You are crazy! I spent days removing my pre-lit lights before adding new ones. And you are suggesting that we do both at the same time? What kind of sadistic advice is this?
Dear God I have 2 trees like that. It's gonna take weeks
Same problem here. Spent a lot of money for a shItty tree. I can’ imagine restringing a tree with1200 lights on it. Balsam Crap.
You guys are crazy, i do this with my normal tree every year. There is always a section that has burnt or a light i have to look for that is out and then I need a whole new string and hook up to the extension chord in middle of tree. I also put my lights through every branch through the back. This has been a pain to do every year. Having a prelit tree is still worth it as you aren’t doing any additional work. If you have to restring a section, cry me a river. I have to do my whole 10 ft tree each year which takes forever
That dose not look easy , I just don’t have the patient for that
Don't buy from them. My tree lasted one year and lights keep burning out. So frustrating and Steins would not do anything about it at the time. Terrible!
Hard pass
Balsam Hill is the WORST! The lights on the top of the tree stopped working 2 years ago. I ended up just throwing some light strands over the burnt out strands. All Customer Service could do is send me fuses, master bulbs and light replacements. NOTHING worked. Conveniently the tree was just out of warranty. NO HELP AT ALL. Now, the bottom of the tree is not lighting. The bulbs are all burnt out and black. Again NO HELP AT ALL. They basically told me to re-string the lights and sent me to this video. Why would I spend so much money on a tree like Balsam Hill and get no offer to replace it, even if it is out of warranty? They should do the right thing. The reason to buy this type of "High Quality" tree is so that you don't have to worry about re-stringing. Thanks for NOTHING Balsam Hill.
Removing lights from a pre-lite Balsam Hill is a joke!!!! Removing and replacing lights as shown in this video is not practical. Balsam Hill light stings are really one long string with 3 separate sections. Imagine if you will having a double handful of rubber bands in your hands but the rubber bands are tied together in a string. Now take a duplicate rubber band string and tie it to the wad in your hand, but you must tie it at each knot. Balsam trees are disposable, just do it before the warranty ends.