Read more about Tanning Bed Information here:
Much like automobiles today, tanning beds
come in many different flavors... but they all do the same thing, get you from point A to point B. Or, in the case of indoor tanning
equipment, somehow get your body close
to a tanning bed bulb by either laying you down on a "bed" or bench made of "acrylic", or standing you in a phone booth next to the bulbs.
A tanning bed may be made of steel, plastic, or a combination of
both.
Commercial and residential tanning beds are built the same:
consist of a bench, which is mounted to legs or a base, and hold the bench acrylics and lamps.
The bench may also house the lamp sockets, relays, ballasts,
built-in timer, and body fans. Many of the tanning beds
with 32 lamps or more (level 2 and higher) move the ballasts,
relays, and capacitors to a movable "power supply" or ballast
tray on wheels. This is due to the extreme weight of
ballast, especially the 160 watt variety and higher. When
multiplied by 24 ballast or more (for a 42 lamp bed), the weight
of the bench alone can exceed 350 lbs, so the manufacturers
separate the ballast from the bench and canopy and put them on
wheels for easier installation.
Click here to buy
tanning bed parts.
Tanning bed "acrylics" are the clear or frosted plastic shields you lay down on
when indoor tanning in a
sun bed.
Acrylics are also utilized in upright and vertical stand up tanning booths
to protect the lamps and customers from each other. Tanning
acrylics are
generally clear but there is a "frosted"
acrylic produced by some tanning bed manufacturers which
give the tanning equipment a newer and cleaner look.
Tanning bed shocks, struts, or springs are used to raise and lower the canopy. These are the same type of shocks which lift the rear door on SUVs and similar
automobiles.
The springs are the same used for garage door operations and are adjusted by turning a large screw on the front of the bed. The shock style lifts are not adjustable and wear out over time and must be replaced.
The price for replacement shocks for tanning beds can range from $60 to $180 each for very expensive and exclusive models.
Tanning bed bulbs are the most important component of tanning bed construction. Because this is the "end" product from which your client will ultimately
judge their tan. Tanning bed lamps are generally 100 watts for level 1 and 2 beds and 160 watts or higher, 180w to 220w, for level 3 and 4 beds. Most lamps or bulbs are made in the same factory
so the name, like Wolff, etc, really means very little. The most important
factor, or common denominator which separates lamps other than wattage is the percentage of UVB.
Each tanning bed bulb has a % of UVB which will dictate it's tanning characteristics. A 20 minute max session bulb will have a 5.5% UVB and as the UVB goes up, to 8.5% or higher, the bulb becomes more burning or reddening. As the UVB goes down, to around 1% or less, the bulb becomes more bronzing. A
high pressure facial bulb, for example, has 0% UVB and 100% UVA, and is a pure bronzing device. If a brand new tanner, with
creamy white skin enters a 100% UVA tanning device they will see NO results.
This is because the UVA light only interacts melanin present in
the dead skin layer to turn it brown...if there is no melanin
present, there will be no tanning or bronzing process. A
person with white skin has NO melanin present, as opposed to a
South American or Native American who may inherently have
melanin present in their skin and tan during the first session.
Do not put a creamy white skin person in a "bronzing" bed, it
will not work.
There is a reason why a tanning salon is built in a "pyramid" shape with the base, or most units in the salon, being the 20 minute "starter" beds with 28-32 lamps. Why are they called starter beds? Because they are the beds you put every client in who has not tanned in over 30 days and you know their creamy white behinds have not seen the light of day. A typical 20 minute starter bed has bulbs which contain a UVB to UVA blend of 5% UVB To 95% UVA. This 5% UVB bulb should be the "standard" by which you lamp your other tanning beds. Read more below on the tanning bed bulbs page.
Read more about Tanning Bed Construction here:
Once you have learned the basics about tanning bed construction,
you probably want to know where to buy them and why some
tanning beds are
$4,000 and other beds are $40,000, when they all do the same
thing. The best analogy is tanning beds are like cars,
they all get you from point A to point B, but some do it faster
and with style! There are tanning bed
manufacturers, like American Quality MFG, you made the Sunal
tanning beds twenty years ago and still offer service today on
these all-steel models with lifetime guarantees. They have
since updated their design to the Tropical Rayz design pictured
here, but the bed is essentially the same powder-coated and
welded steel body with graphics. If you want a tanning bed
to last forever and for a great price, you can buy the level one
20 minute Tropical Rayz beds for about $4,000, the level two
beds for about $5,000 and the 38-46 lamp level three 10 minute
beds and stand up vertical tanners for about $8,000. Check
out their main website here:
www.tanningonline.com
. They also have a premium line of tanning salon
equipment, called Royal Sun, you can check out here
www.royalsunusa.com
and they have parts for all makes of tanning beds here
www.sunalparts.com,
including Sunal, Tropical Rayz, Perfect Tan, South Beach, &
Royal Sun model tanning beds. American Quality beds make
great used tanning beds to start a new salon with because of the
life-time warranty and parts availability. Companies to
avoid include Pure Tan, Sonnebraune, and Pro Sun because of
their lack of support.