Just received a call today from a woman who has called several tanning bed distributors looking for a replacement timer for her tanning bed, but no one can help her. The bed is a SunCraze, and the distributor is out of business. Since they were only in business in a couple of years, I am not familiar with them, or know which parts will or won’t work. The main problem is that the timer is a digital setup, NOT an analog windknob style. You can only use the original part to make it work, or modify the bed to use a analog timer. I will try to outline the basics of how to do this here.

WARNING: You need to know what you are doing when it comes to electricity or you can get electrocuted, resulting in injury or death. Get an electrician to do this! This conversion is simple in theory, but not so simple in practice unless the electrician is familiar with ELECTRONICS as well as electricity.

Keep in mind, a tanning bed is just a fancy light fixture. To turn it on, you are just supplying electricity to the ballasts, and disconnecting them to turn it off. The timer is just a device to turn it on, wait a while, then turn it off. On small home beds, this is as simple as TWO WIRES. When they are connected, the bed is on, when disconnected, the bed is off. The timer is just a switch to connect and disconnect them.

If your digital timer connects to a relay/contactor that uses a 120VAC coil, then retrofitting is super easy. If it has a 24VDC coil, it is still fairly easy, but requires a 120VAC to 24VDC converter (a transformer and bridge rectifier combination, just like the “wall wart” transformers that most electronics use). It may be easier to just replace the relay with one that uses a 120V coil.

You would use a MECHANICAL timer, not electricial. This is what we call a “clicker” timer, and just uses two posts. It simply connects and disconnects the two posts to turn the bed on and off. Deihl is a good example, and they run around $25 plus shipping. If you need to swap out the relay, I suggest the one they use on SunMaster beds. They are sealed, easy to connect, inexpensive, handle 25 amps and are extremely reliable. You can get all these parts at 1-800-274-1744. (This is where I work, and I normally don’t like to plug us, but in this case, we really are the best bet as most parts sellers will not help you make this conversion or sell these parts.)

We can NOT help you install these, all we can do is supply the parts and give you the basics on how this is done. (Liability issues…) The hardest part is usually punching a hole to mount the timer in, and firmly attaching the timer. If your bed already has a 120V coil relay, or you are going to run the whole load through the timer (16 lamp beds) then the retrofit will take about 1 to 3 hours, depending on the bed. If you have to add a new relay, then the time may be as much as 30 to 60 minutes longer. Your time will vary, as I can’t know every possible bed, the skill level of every electrician, and many other factors. It ain’t cheap, but it is cheaper than throwing a tanning bed away. Here is a support image to help your electrician:

To turn the bed on, ANY timer system can be retrofitted to an analog system. The goal is to simply connect the hot incoming wire to the coil (assuming it is a 120V coil). 24VAC coils may require transformer/rectifier or change out to a 120V relay. In this example, when A1 and L1 are connected, the bed comes on. When disconnected, the bed is off. Be sure to check voltage rating on the relay coil before assuming anything.

Now, with this basic information, and experienced technician should be able to convert your digital system to an analog system without too much trouble.