| General Technical Tips (by Brad Clampitt) |
Being Prepared
Having the right equipment and tools is a necessity when you are going to go out on a service call or service your own beds. It is also a good idea to have some spare parts handy so that you do not take a bed out of service for an extended period of time and have the issue of loss profits because of that bed being out of service.
List of common spare parts:
- S-12 or Sunfit E-Power Electronic Starters
- GE Contactor or equivalent
- Timer Brain (can be a used one, but one that works so you can trouble shoot a suspected
bad brain or complete timer)
General Guidelines to follow:
a. General Operation of Beds
- L1 – Contactors, black wires, ballasts & brown wires to lamps.
- L2 – Blue wires – straight current to all components.
- Proper ventilation of bed heat is critical.
- Fans and temperature sensors.
- Timer parameters & Distance Control (remote control systems).
- High power lamp beds (11-15min); Low power lamp beds (20min).
b. Igniters and Starters
- Igniters will continue to fire until the bulb lights.
- If the lamp is bad, the igniter will overheat trying to fire a bad lamp.
c. Timer Operation
- Parameter Settings.
- P2 --> 00 to determine if distance control or bed timer is bad.
- What color wires going to the timer control what?
d. Troubleshooting
- Grey clip wires – good place to start troubleshooting.
- Use redundant parts to find a bad component.
- If another identical bed is near use bad part in good bed to test.
- Use voltmeter to check if correct voltage is reaching the components.
- Is timer showing “00”, or Blank (blank = temp. limit switch, breaker or panic button).
- Temporarily by-pass 20k flip switch, temp. limit switch, fan control and/or panic button.
- Push the contactors down by hand or with a screwdriver to check for bed operation.
- Switch the wires to determine if problem is in the ballast try or not.
e. Power to the bed
- Step up transformers raise amp draw at the panel. (220v – 225v Recommended).
- Might have to size breakers and wire size higher if more than 220v is used.
- Power output is the same for single and 3-phase, but 3-phase helps balance out the panel.
- Connections at the input power block must be tight or high amps and heat could occur.
- High amp draw could mean blown capacitors (3 to 4 Amps per capacitor).
- Make sure breaker panel is accessible, Not LOCKED UP!
f. Bed Set-Up
- Tighten hinge set screws where applicable.
- Remove canopy covers if necessary.
- Remove ballast trays to lighten the weight during the install.
- Qualified electrician must hardwire bed, O.K. to test the bed, and then disconnect.
- Direct the exhaust heat out the hoses and out of the room.
Necessary Tools and Equipment
Volt Meter:
The volt meter is the most important tool you have for effective service troubleshooting. It takes two “hot legs” of power to make lamps light, fans run, timers run, contactors pull, etc. To determine if a component needs replaced or if the component is good – but it is not getting the voltage to run can be verified by checking the voltage “at the suspect component”. We recommend if you do not have a volt meter that you purchase one with an amp clamp so that you can measure amperage and voltage. An example product would be using a Fluke Meter.
If there is not voltage at the component
Trace back the correct path until you find voltage to discover: 1) Loose Connection
2) No Connection
3) Wire insulation pinched
4) Shorted/damaged wire
If there is voltage at the component:
Most likely, the component needs replaced, check using a redundant component to verify.
Owners Manual:
There is useful information in the owner’s manual.
1) How to program the parameters in the timer.
2) Wiring diagrams.
3) Amp rating of each bed.
Useful tools to have:
Some basic tools that are recommended to carry with you on service trips or to keep in the salon are listed below:
- UV Protective Glasses or related protective glasses that do not impair your vision while servicing.
- Phillips and Flat Head Screw driver set (assorted package should cover all types you may need).
- Socket and Wrench set (metric is recommended 7mm+)
Common Sense:
Once you understand that everything takes two hot legs (L1 & L2) to run, and what path this voltage takes to get to each component, it is easy to figure out where the voltage is most likely being interrupted.
If there is another Ultrasun tanning bed near by, you can swap parts if you need to verify a component as a test.
Some components can be “temporarily eliminated” to check a suspect bad component. Distance controls can be by-passed to see if “the problem goes away”. Contactors can be pushed in by hand to “see the lamps start” to narrow down a problem on the older contactors and by using a Phillips screwdriver on the newer contactors. Wires can be “jiggled” to see if “something happens”. Simple checks like making sure the “panic button” is not pushed in, the circuit breaker is “on”, the gray clip panels are pushed all the way in, lamps are twisted into the locked position. Trading two lamps with each other to see if it is “the lamp” or “something in the bed” that is causing the problem.
Remember, there is a logical reason why something works or doesn’t work. Sometimes it is easy to find, other times it takes more time. If you use a logical approach, along with a little common sense you will have minimal downtime, better performing equipment and will reduce your operating costs. |
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