Our demo tree is a 225 cm (7.5 ft) hinged pre-lit tree in three sections. It needs no tools, takes about 45 minutes and goes up in 10 steps:

  1. Lay out the stand, the cup, sections A, B and C, the topper and the foot switch. Lift sections by the pole, never by the branches or the wire.
  2. Open the stand into an X at least 1 m (3 ft) from heaters, radiators, candles and the fireplace, and seat the cup.
  3. Seat pole A and turn the three thumb screws a turn each in rotation, so the tree stands straight.
  4. Lower section A's branches, keeping the light wire clear of each hinge.
  5. Add section B. Check the tag: pole C looks similar but is thinner, and it wobbles in pole A.
  6. Add section C from a step stool, not a chair.
  7. Push plug C into the socket on pole B and plug B into pole A, all the way in. Then plug the tree in for a minute to test it.
  8. Fluff from the bottom up, wearing gloves.
  9. Fit the topper. Under a 244 cm (8 ft) ceiling this tree leaves about 19 cm for it.
  10. Plug the tree into the foot switch, the switch into a timer, and the timer into the wall.

For a dark section, BuildMog's care guide "Find the dead section" takes about 20 minutes and comes up every November:

  1. Unplug the tree and push every plug between the sections all the way in. A loose plug is the most common dead section.
  2. Open the little door on the main plug and hold the fuses to the light. Replace a dark or broken one with a spare of the same amp rating, never higher.
  3. Plug in. If a section is still dark, run a bulb tester along its wire from the plug end: the beeping stops near the bad bulb.
  4. Unplug, pull that bulb straight out, straighten its two leads and push in a spare of the same voltage.
  5. Still dark? Put a light repair tool in an empty socket of that section and pull its trigger until the section lights.