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I'm a G

That's G for Genius!! 


     When one of my commercial tanning beds quit on me last week I was shook! With only three tanning units in my salon, it is critical that all three beds are in running order.  But I just started this business, so, I surely don't have extra cash to be throwing at high-priced (or even low-priced) electricians. 

     I hit google to see what information I could find.  I know that when the problem first began, all of the lights in the bed would flicker while the timer was running.  This was strange to me and as I tried to make sense of it, I turned the timer off and back on a few times.  After about the third try, the bed wouldn't even attempt to light.

     I read and read... and then read some more.  I wanted to understand how a tanning bed worked, so that I could somehow troubleshoot the problem.  I went to tanning bed parts destributor websites to see what all parts were available. There were only a few categories of tanning bed parts.  There are bulbs, acrylics, timers, buck-boosters, ballasts, and fans, which I can quickly rule out.  All of these parts work with the bed but don't actually have anying to do with the bed firing up.  There are lamp-starters, but I figure even a handful of burnt-up lamp starters would only put a couple bulbs out... not the entire bed. So, the only piece of equipment left is a contactor relay.

     So, now I search for contactor relay problems with my particular bed, which is a SonnenBraune Klassic 726/1 .  Turns out that this is a German bed.  Both the manufacturers and the distributors of this bed are out of business, so, there is virtually no support out there! 

     Luckily, I stumble across this website called TanningBeds.org where a person was having a similar problem with a different kind of tanning bed.  The tech suggests that it is a bad relay! Read the full article Here  He says that if the bed doesn't light when the relay is fully activated then the contact is bad, if the bed does light the coil is bad...  Either way, the contact and the coil are both found inside the contactor relay. So i order the part, which is a whole other story in itself.  We won't get into that now. I will just say that it is nine days before I have the part.

Legal disclaimer You should never try to repair a broken tanning bed. This is not meant to be instructions of any kind. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. Tanning beds are very dangerous and contain capacitators that can hold voltage even when the bed is unplugged. Consult a licensed electrician.

Before I touch the bed, I sit down and draw a diagram of this relay.  I want to document the color of each wire, and where it is connected to this relay.  As you can see to the left, each hole is marked. On one side they are labled T1, T2 and so on. The holes on the oposite side are labeled L1, L2 and so on, and, there are also posts half-way up the device (on both sides) labeled A1 and A2. I am still a little uncompfortable disconnecting this part. Just to be double-sure that I put it back exactly the way it comes out, I take tiny price tag stickers, label them appropriatly and wrap them around each wire. 



     I disconnect all the wires and think to myself, "there is no turning back now".  There's a small lever at the base of the relay holding it in place.  I stuck a screw driver down a moved the lever over and the relay came right out. I put the new relay it it's place and began putting the wires back in.  As I get to the A1 and A2 labeled wires, I realize that there are not A1 and A2 posts on both sides of this relay but rather found only on one side.  I think to myself that it probably doesn't matter since the ports are labeled the same, they probably go to the same place...  Then I notice that it says this relay is a 220v relay and I destinctly remember needing a 240v relay.  When I contact the seller, he assures me that this part will work.  I bought longer wire from the hardwear store to reach over to the other side of the relay and it all hooked in nicely. 

    I ran into one other issue that cost me another day.  When I was was trying to figure out the problem I disconnected the timer.  It was all blacked taped in, so I was never sure how to put the wires back in. Evidently I did something wrong because the bed would fire up!  But I couldn't get it to shut off!  I couldn't get the timer to control the bed at all. 

     I took two days off.... because I deserve them!!  Today, I went in determined I would figure this thing out.  I am a bit more intimidated because I see these four wires hooked to this plug and I know at least one of them are hot.  I have everything unplugged and the breaker off, but I am no electrician so I'm still intimidated.   I have the 4 wires coming in from the left and I have only two wires (from the timer) to connect.   I take the plug apart so that I can see how this thing is wired inside.I see two metal prongs that just make my day!  Hooked my two wires through the plug to those little prongs and Boom!!!  Everything works again! 

I am a G!

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