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Home Tanning Beds
Tanning Bed Construction
Bench
The bench is the part of the tanning bed
which you lay down and consists of the tanning bed bulbs and a
tanning bed acrylic, the clear part you actually lie on. The bench
is mounted on legs, usually steel or aluminum, which are normally bolted
on and sometimes welded. A tanning bed bench also may house the
ballasts, timers and other interconnecting parts which you may have to
access for maintenance.
Canopy
The canopy is the part of the tanning bed
which is the “top” of the tanning bed and contains the same components
as the bottom, or bench, which you may need to access for maintenance.
Frame
The frame of a tanning bed is usually always
steel which is normally bolted together, however there is at least one
manufacturer who welds their frames together for extra strength and
longevity.
Skin
The material which makes up the skin of a
tanning bed can be made of plastic, aluminum, or steel. This part
of the tanning bed is the most varied with manufacturers producing many
varieties of tanning bed skins to choose from. All-steel tanning
beds offer life-time service where as plastic tanning beds offer smooth
lines and appearance but limited life.
Acrylics
The surfaces on which the tanner lies and
shield the user by physical separation from the lamps on the bench and
canopy are typically referred to as the "acrylics". Tanning bed acrylics
are manufactured from a base material of Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA),
type UVT (UV-transmitting), which has been formulated to have a spectral
transmittance in the wavelength region 290-400 nm. This should not be
confused with a standard acrylic, or "plexiglass", which would not
transmit within this spectral range effectively inhibiting the tanning
properties of the unit.
These acrylic materials should never be cleaned with any agent
containing alcohol (i.e. glass cleaner), as this will adversely affect
the material surface causing a phenomenon known a "crazing". This will
present itself as small fissures resembling spiderwebs forming where
stresses are most concentrated on the part and in the region which was
subjected to the chemical attack.
These shields break down over time as they are exposed to UV
and oxygen and must be reconditioned every few years. Failure to do so
will reduce the transparency of the acrylic to UV rays, although to the
eye it will still appear perfectly clear. The reconditioning is most
commonly done with a compound called Novus #2, which is a slightly
gritty cleaning compound that removes a microlayer of the acrylic,
restoring to near new condition and is used in many other industries.
This being said, a better practice is to replace the acrylic as the
oxidation described above affects the physical properties of the
material rendering it less impact resistant.
Frosted Tanning Bed
Acrylics
There are now tanning beds available with frosted acrylics.
The frosting does reduce the UVB rays which pass thru by 20% and
manufacturers try to compensate by placing 120 watt lamps versus 100
watt lamps in the tanning beds with frosting acrylics.
Shocks, Struts, & Lifts
The part of a tanning bed which separates the
canopy from the bench and allows the canopy to open with little effort
and close to any position are called “shocks” or struts or lifts.
In most tanning beds these shocks are similar to the ones used in
hatch-backs for mini-vans, etc and are very specific to each bed in
which they are used. Some of the more expensive tanning units use
automatic lifts or garage door type springs for easy use of very heavy
canopies.
Bulbs & Lamps
Regular tanning beds use several fluorescent lamps that have
phosphor blends designed to emit UV in a spectrum that is somewhat
similar to the sun. Smaller home tanning beds usually have 12 to 28 100
watt lamps while systems found in salons can run from 24 to 60 lamps
each consuming 100 to 200 watts.
Ballasts
Most tanning beds use choke ballasts, a
technology that has been around for about 100 years, consisting of a
simple inductor which limits amount of current passing through, and
requires a lamp starter to preheat the ends of the lamp briefly at
start. Newer ballast systems include magnetic ballasts, electronic
ballasts and more recently high frequency ballasts that induce tanning
and other fluorescent lamps to work using less wattage, by using higher
frequencies. In general, newer ballast designs produce less heat and are
more energy efficient. All choke ballasts require 230V only because no
one has found a need for 120V choke ballasts in tanning manufacturing.
The ballasts regulate the power that is sent
to the lamps, so that if you install a 160W lamp in a tanning bed that
has 100W ballasts, only 100W will be delivered to the lamp. The lamp
will still ignite and offers no benefits over a 100W lamp, and may
actually create less UV since it is designed for higher current. It will
not damage the system, although installing 160W lamps with a 100W
ballast will result in very short lamp life, as the 160W lamp
cathode/anode sets are typically designed to run at much higher
temperature.
Roll-out ballast trays for tanning beds are
provided by some manufacturers to make maintenance on parts likes
ballasts, relays, and capacitors much easier. All of the ballasts
and important electrical components are mounted on a tray with wheels in
which you can remove one cover and have instant access to all
serviceable components of a tanning bed or booth except the lamp socket
and starters, which you access from the front by removing the acrylic.
Starters
The lamp starter part of the bed (small tan
cylinder) is used only on beds with choke ballasts and is a simple
plasma starting switch. It has no bearing on how powerful the bed is.
Either it works (the lamp lights) or doesn't. They are installed one per
lamp on beds that use them, and are generally replaced every couple of
years in salons or every 6 to 10 years for infrequently used systems.
Timers
Tanning bed timers include the old mechanical
egg type which are still in use today in cheaper home tanning bed models
and the newer digital timers which can be connected with CAT5 style
communication wire or with new wireless adapters.
Cooling Fans
There are two types of cooling fans in a
tanning bed: the first are the fans which keep the internal components
like ballasts cool and the second type are the body cooling fans.
The more fans the better for component cooling because heat removal can
be a problem down the road if your room is not adequately ventilated.
A body cooling fan mounted at the end of a
tanning bed is the ideal body cooling system. Preferably the body
cooling fans should come on automatically with the bed and have separate
fan speed controls.
Buck-boosters
These are step-up (boost) or step-down (buck)
voltage transformers which take your building's input voltage, usually
208-248 volts, and regulates it to the recommended input voltage for
your tanning unit (220-232 volts).
Buck boosters are ONLY required if your
existing voltage, as determined by your particular location, is outside
of the 220-232V range as dictated by the tanning bed manufacturer.
Buck boosters usually cost between $150-$300 and are pre-wired for your
needs.
Buck-boosters are a small, heavy, grey box
which lay behind the bed. The buck-booster plugs into the wall (or
hard-wired as required) and the tanning bed is plugged or hard-wired
into the buck-boosters. For larger salons you may also elect to
install a single large transformer in your electrical utility room and
run all your electricity through this unit. You must perform a
cost analysis of these two options and you may want to go to three-phase
power distribution versus single-phase to further save money in
electrical cost. This is only a valid option for salons with 10 or
more tanning units.
Single versus Three Phase Power
Most manufacturers will pre-wire commercial
tanning beds in both single and three phase power operation. Many
of the largest tanning beds only come in this configuration because of
the large amount of current draw required. The most important fact
to know as a salon owner is that you always want 3 phase power operation
on as many tanning beds as possible to lower your electric bill.
In summary, you want to know if three-phase is available in your
location or how expensive it would be to have it brought in to your
power panel.
Paint Color & Graphics
Tanning beds come in a variety of colors and
graphics packages which include contemporary, tropical, and even space
age look. There are also tanning bed manufacturers who will put
your logo on the unit or paint with your color scheme. Many of the
fastest growing fitness franchise use custom tanning bed builders to
match their color schemes exactly. These include Anytime Fitness,
Planet Fitness, and Snap Fitness franchises.
My name is Rick Houston and I have been in the tanning salon business for years and specialize in Internet marketing of new tanning beds and used tanning salon equipment. I am also the author of a simple how-to eBook called How to Open a Tanning Salon from A to Z! which can give you invaluable insight into opening your own tanning salon with less than a $20,000 initial investment (and good credit or $50k without it)! You may call me toll-free 888-999-7577, email me here, or join our mailing list here to be immediately notified of new offers.