Most tanning equipment employs glow-bottle starters to light the lamps. They are fairly inexpensive and need to be changed during every other lamp change, or at least every 6,000 starts. You can observe a glow-bottle starter lighting lamps when you turn the unit on, the lamps flicker a couple of times, and then light. [gap height=”15″]
Replace worn starters before they cause re-strikes or fail entirely. Worn starters can destroy a good lamp in a very short time. A glow-bottle starter is rated by the manufacturers for about 6,000 starts. In a 20-minute bed, this is about 2,000 “bed on” hours. Maybe replace starters every second or third lamp change, depending upon the number of hours you run a set of lamps. In a 10-minute tanning system, you should consider 1,000 hours as the replacement interval – maybe every other lamp change.[gap height=”15″]
Basic troubleshooting: [gap height=”15″]
• Lamps are slow to start, or do not light: If some of the lamps in a unit flicker but won’t stay lit, try turning the bed on and off once or twice to stabilize the lamps – if the flickering doesn’t stop, replace the starters. If lamps are not lighting, this is also a sign that it may be time to replace the starters. Take out a lamp that won’t light and switch it with a lamp that was lighting. If the lamp now lights, it’s time to replace the starters.[gap height=”15″][gap height=”15″]
• End Darkening: This is more noticeable in lamps that are 160W+ and is the result of the deposit of certain materials from the lamp’s cathode onto the lamp’s interior wall at starting. There are two reasons for this:[gap height=”15″]
◆ These lamps have more power (compared to a 100W lamp), and the start is often “harder,” and[gap height=”15″]
◆ Session times with higher-wattage lamps are almost always shorter. In 100 hours of use, the higher-wattage lamp will start twice as many times as the 100W lamp in a unit with a longer maximum session time.[gap height=”15″][gap height=”15″]
Electronic starters: Just as with sunlamps, not all electronic starters are created equal – purchase them from a reliable supplier. Properly designed and employed, an electronic starter:[gap height=”15″]
◆ Will reduce end-darkening,[gap height=”15″]
◆ Will last ten years or longer… possibly the last starter you’ll ever need to buy.[gap height=”15″][gap height=”15″]
When a lamp is ignited with an electronic starter, the power builds up and then the lamp lights without flickering. Electronic starters are “gentler” on the sunlamp and can reduce some of the end-darkening. Electronic starters may cost a little more than the glow-bottle type, but the useful life and benefits far outweigh the expense. [gap height=”15″]
Remember, a bad starter can quickly destroy a good lamp. You’ve spent a lot of money on your lamps, so why risk trying to save a few bucks by not changing the starters?[gap height=”15″]
If you have questions about this topic or others, please email sales@wolffsys.com.
