Lifting the Veil on Bed Maintenance

Tanning Bed Maintenance Q&A

 

Maintaining your equipment can seem cumbersome, but it doesn’t have to be. With slower months approaching we figured it would be a great time to give some helpful advice on items you can do to prolong your equipment.

We gathered Kenny, Dimitra, and Jeff from our Technical Team with a combined experience of over 70 years and picked their brains for helpful information to share. Here is what we found out.

Q: “So, if you are a new salon owner and you are working on your salon build-out. In your opinion what is the most important thing to consider?”

Kenny: “For the user, make sure there is enough space to be comfortable but not too big to feel like you’re on a stage. For the equipment (tanning beds) I’d say AIRFLOW. The room should provide the manufacturers recommended a/c as well as additional provisions for airflow in and out of the room during a session when the door is closed.”

 Jeff: “Keep in mind you have to work on the tanning bed you put in that room so make the room big enough so you can get in the back and on the sides of the bed.”

 Dimitra: “Tanning bed manufacturers give the recommended MINIMUM rooms size for the equipment, but there is nothing wrong with making the room bigger. It gives you better access for cleaning, maintenance, repair, and installing the equipment.”

 

Q: “Maintaining equipment can be overwhelming, what is the most salon owners overlook?”

Kenny: “Removing the acrylics and cleaning the bulbs and reflectors. This should be done regularly.”

Jeff: “Keep spare parts on hand, there is nothing worse than having a bed down and waiting for parts to arrive.”

Dimitra: “Clean behind and underneath the machines the best you can. Usually, these are where the cooling fans are located. Even if you sweep/mop the floor every night, if you don’t get behind the machine it collects and eventually gets clogged up in the fans. Also, it's disgusting when someone has to get back there for maintenance, repairs or moving the equipment (I say this from personal experience. I’ve seen dust bunnies bigger than me lol)

Try to keep your tools on hand at the salon. Phillips head, flathead screwdrivers, a voltmeter and any special key you may need for that particular model.”

 

Q: “If you could give one piece of advice to salons what would it be?”

Kenny: “Don’t forget to do annual and semiannual deep cleaning of their machines.”

Jeff: “Have a maintenance logbook on every bed. This will save you time and money!”

Dimitra: “Don’t be intimidated! Some machines are more difficult to work on than others and sometimes you need a partner. But for the most, parts and general maintenance can be done by the owner or staff. In the long run, it will save money on a technician (which is becoming harder to find).”

 

Q: “Acrylics are often overlooked for regular maintenance; how often would you recommend changing these?”

Kenny: “When an acrylic shows any sign of aging. Examples are visible crazing, discoloring, or when damage is present. These signs point to weakening and are unsafe to support a user but can also lower or completely block the UV output from the lamps.”

Jeff: “Most acrylics are rated at 10,000 hours for transmission of UV, but normally the acrylic will break before that.”

Dimitra: “Between 3-5 years. The bench acrylic takes more of a beating than the canopy. They can extend the life of it by using the Novus line.”

 

Q: “Great advice! Any last tips or hacks you can give?”

Kenny: “Always make sure the a/c supply in the room is not placed directly over the tanning equipment. It should be placed in front away from the machine. This allows the cool air to drop in the room and circulate thru the tanning bed to be exhausted out towards the ceiling. If this is placed above the tanning bed the heat exhausted will overcome the cool air entering, ending with a hot room. A hot room is not only uncomfortable for the user but over time can shorten lamp, acrylic, and equipment life.”

 

Dimitra: “Give yourself some time to go over the owner’s manual and get into the machine before it needs maintenance. Especially if you’ve recently purchased an existing salon.

I’ve had tons of people not even know how they could open the bottom cover of the machine until something was broken.  My favorite is when I show them how to open it and I hear “OMG it’s disgusting under here”

 

Also, if you have several machines from the same manufacturer, keep spare parts on hand as Jeff mentioned. It will save you from being down while you wait for a part to ship. You don’t have to keep one of everything, but the more common wear and tear items are lamp holders, starters, buttons, and timer chips.”

 

We hope this helps you with some questions you have. Is there something we didn’t touch on you would like to know more about? Let us know and we will put it in a follow-up post.