Dear TanningBeds.org,

I have a Sundash R26-B. I bought this bed from an indivudal for my home use. The problem I am having is I have to plug and unplug the bed to turn it on and off. I would like to fix this problem not only because it is inconvenient but you get alittle shock when you unplug the bed. Can you help me fix this problem?

Tammy
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Dear Tammy,

The bed should have a remote timer on it. Also, if you are getting a shock when you plug and unplug it, it is wired wrong. Likely someone wired it as a 3 wire 230V when it MUST be 4 wire with two hots, one neutral, one ground. You can NOT combine the neutral and ground safely, which appears to be what has happened. On the back of the bed there will be a timer port, which would now have two wires shorted (connected). This makes the bed always on. This is extremely dangerous and should not be wired this way.

You can buy a TMax timer for about $100 where I work, or anywhere else. This will need to have wire run to it, but it isn’t that hard. You really need to fix both the main power coming in, and this timer, or else you are seriously risking injury. This isn’t a minor detail, this is serious, and you should get this fixed before you use the bed again.

Dennis

Right now is the busiest time of the year for tanning bed, lamp and lotion sales, so I am as swamped as I can be. I am still answering all email, usually within a day, so keep them coming. You have to remember, I get some great mainstream questions here, and then I get some really unique questions posed. You only get to see some of what is asked on a daily basis. Here is a quick update to some topics I am working on from visitors to the site. I am hoping to write some articles on these in the near future, with photos.

Solar Powered Tanning Bed – You heard me right. I am helping an artist and a solar engineer who are making a “tanning device” as part of a solar powered display house. This should prove interesting.

Ultraviolet’s Effects On Microorganisms – The University of Ohio has contacted me about needing some lighting that is very sun-similar, and I am hoping to get some decent info from helping them. The focus is on UVA and UVB from the sun, not using UVC as a disinfectant.

And of course, I work daily helping people make ultraviolet devices for curing wood, help with skin problems (I am not a doctor!), set automotive paint, cure acrylic finishes. Oh, and tanning skin as well :) That and deal with the usual assortment of vandalism on Wikipedia in the UV rated topics. It has been an interesting February, to say the least. Keep the letters coming.

Dennis

Dear TanningBeds.org,

This may seem like a silly question, but what does a tanning lamp look like inside? I don’t want to break one open to find out because I am sure it will make a mess. Are they about the same as a regular screw in light bulb?

Thom
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Dear Thom,

Not really a silly question, and it is good to NOT break a fluorescent lamp of any kind since they have mercury in them and generally make a big mess. I saved your letter for a week so I could get one from a shipping damaged lamp, and photograph it. And while the inside may look similar to a standard screw in type light bulb, it is not. A screw in bulb provides its own resistance, so you can use either a 40w, 90w or 120w bulb by just replacing the bulb. All flourescent lamps require a ballast (current limiter). If not, they would get hotter, which makes electricity flow better, which makes them hotter….and in a few seconds it would end up with the lamp self-destructing. If you put a 160w bulb in a bed with 100w ballasts, you just get 100w out of it. Same with neon signs and high pressure bulbs, they are externally regulated. Here is the inside of a SunMaster Custom Bronzer tanning lamp, which is typical of all tanning lamps:

The metal shield is isolation, in that it is not connected to either pin. The two pins come into the lamp end, then are connected to each other via a filament. It has about 3 ohms, give or take. This is a PREHEAT style lamp end, although RAPID START ballasts will work fine with it, just not using the filament.

Preheat is the style with lamp starters, where the start cycle has the current run through the filaments on both ends for about a second, to preheat the lamps so plasma will flow inside. Rapid or Instant Start ballasts use a transformer to jump the voltage up to about 600 volts, so they don’t need to preheat the lamp, or use lamp starters. In general, rapid/instant start ballasts are a bit harder on the preheat style lamp ends because they hit it with 600v instantly, which causes the ends to “shed” some material. There is another type of lamp end for rapid start ballasts, but most tanning lamps use this same preheat style for both kinds of ballasts. Older office lights (and maybe some new ones) look similar as well.

The glass itself is pretty much clear, and the white power you see is a blend of different phosphors. Which chemicals are used determine the light spectrum, be it a tanning lamp, grow light or office lamp. And of course, there is a small amount of mercury, which makes the whole thing work by providing electrons to ionize. The lamp itself is under a partial vaccum, and what little “air” there is inside is actually argon, which is a noble gas (won’t combine with other elements).

Dennis

Dear TanningBeds.org,

We have a Wolff Montego Bay 3200 tanning bed. The cable in the back of the bed has a connector with 4 wires that go to a timing system that the tanning salon was using. If I wanted to convert this to home use, what should the wiring be for the 4 wires. The bed had a separate connector to the 220V. Wolff tanning wants me to buy a $200.00 timer that comes with a cable. I want to make a switch to do this manually as since this is only for home use.

Thanks,
Jennifer C.
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Dear Jennifer,

$200 is a little high but not that bad. I would make sure to get it from PC Marketing, Inc. who owns Montego Bay, or from a company that knows the bed well, like Tan Systems or UVA SunSystems. Fortunately, I know those beds pretty well as I sold and worked on them back in the mid 90s. There are two another option if you don’t mind doing a little work, and assuming you still have several feet of cable on the timer cord. First, let us quickly cover the incoming power for the whole bed.

On the power cord side, there are 4 wires, red, black, green and white. Red and black are HOT wires, white is neutral, green is ground.

On the timer cord side (assuming this is an analog system) you also have red, black, white and green. The green is ground, the white is neutral, the black is hot and the red is the “trigger” wire. Basically, you can not use the green and white (should be capped off properly), and when the red and black are connected, the bed is on. When disconnected, they are off. 120V flows through here. One option is to buy a TMax timer and connect it yourself. We sell them for $100, as do many others. You would connect the red and black wires to the “J3 Contact” on the timer board, either wire to either terminal.

What you should NOT do is a manual on/off switch with no timer, which is exceedingly dangerous. If you really want to get by on the cheap, you could buy a Siebel 120V timer (this is what is inside the timer they want to sell you) for $25 plus shipping, and add another $5 for a knob. You would have to make your own box, put connectors on the wires coming out of the timer cable, use a strain relief, etc. but all those parts can be bought for around $20-$30 at Home Depot or Lowes home improvement. You need a little technical skill to do this, but it isn’t brain surgery. Most people would choose to NOT do this, by the way, as it is work.

You would need something like a 6″x6″x6″ box, one strain relief, sized for your timer cable, some female blade connectors, small screws, a voltmeter and a drill with bits. You would drill a small hole in the front for the shaft of the timer, plus two small holes to connect the timer to the front plate. Next drill a hole in the side of the box, larger, for the cable and strain relief.

Push the cable through the big hole, crimp the female blade connectors on the ends of the 4 wires. On the timer, you will see 4 male blade connectors. It is best to just get advice from whoever you buy the timer from, but you will only be using 3 of them. The green ground wire from the cable is only connected to the casing of the timer if the housing is steel. Otherwise, it would be capped off.

In short, if you can get an exact timer for $200, it would have the cord with the AMP plug, etc. and that is a so-so deal. A TMax can be used for about $100 plus shipping with a little work. For a lot of work, you can make your own for around $50-$65 if you are pretty technical and have some time on your hands. Let me know which you choose! If you do build your own, a picture would be appreciated.

Dennis