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Old 05-27-2010, 07:41 PM   #1 (permalink)
 
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Suncapsule Lighting Issues

Hello.... I have a 48 lamp Suncapsule Euro Series bed. It has approx 6000 hours on it. The problem is that when the bed is started intermittent lights will not light up. It is always DIFFERENT lights. Sometimes only 1 could be as many as 6 (this also happens with new lamps). Sometimes all the lights work. This has been a problem for a couple of months. I have replaced all the lamps. All the lamp holders and starters have also all been replaced. I am not sure what else could be causing this issue. If anyone has any ideas or I missed a similar question on this forum that would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks.
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Old 05-27-2010, 07:48 PM   #2 (permalink)
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Re: Suncapsule Lighting Issues

What is your voltage?
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Old 05-27-2010, 08:04 PM   #3 (permalink)
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Re: Suncapsule Lighting Issues

Bad capacitors.
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Old 05-27-2010, 09:11 PM   #4 (permalink)
 
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Re: Suncapsule Lighting Issues

Thanks for the quick replies guys! Voltage is 220V. Is there any way I can check the capacitors or do I need to replace all of them? Is there something that would cause them to all start going at the same time?
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Old 05-28-2010, 04:43 AM   #5 (permalink)
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Re: Suncapsule Lighting Issues

Is that an actual reading? Should be 230-235V.
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Old 05-28-2010, 08:43 AM   #6 (permalink)
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Re: Suncapsule Lighting Issues

OK,

Suncapsule uses a lead/lag setup. If a capacitor is bad then the lamp that cap runs does not light. Every other lamp has a capacitor in series with the ballast output. Every other one does not. This creates a phase shift on the lamps that do in relation to the ones that do not thus reducing the amount of current that the unit draws at once, it allows the lamps to be on and off at different parts of the cycle. 90º out of phase from the other lamps that do not have capacitors.

The lamps do turn on and off during the polarity change during the waveform cycle 60 times a second, Hence® 60Hz. it is just too fast to see with the naked eye but that is the purpose of the cap, to shift half of the lamps to turn on and off at a different time then the ones that do not so they are not all drawing current at the same time. Cap 101 in a nutshell as applied to tanning beds. This is for lead/lag setups, parallel setups operate a little differently but the principle of phase shift does apply as it is an L/C circuit.

Now, let's get to the lamps you are using and the starters. Are you using standard S-12 starters or electronic starters? If you are using electronic starters then that may be a problem as they will only try to start the lamp once and some lamps do not operate correctly with them. You may need to switch to S-12 starters or change lamp brands.

You had posted that you changed out all of the lampholders too. Are you sure that you wired them correctly? You may have them wired incorrectly where it is using the filament of the neighboring lamp as a conductor for another lamp and if the one lamp lights then it will not signal the starter to draw current and complete the starting process for that lamp and it will be random on which ones start based on what one is warmer or which one strikes an arc first based on the position of the line current cycle as explained above.

Here is a generic diagram of a lead/lag setup. It is how the Suncapsule and others that use the lead/lag setup would be wired. Pay attention to how the starter and the capacitor are wired into the circuit. Make sure that your unit is the same as you have stated that you changed all of the lampholders.



As for a bad cap, pretty much if the cap is bad, that lamp in that circuit will never light. You can bypass them temporarily to test to see if those lamps light reliably but do not leave it like that as it will cause the unit to draw too much current and it will keep tripping the main breaker. If you find one or two bad it is OK to just bypass them and leave them as is. A couple bypassed will not make a difference.

If your voltage is at least 220v then that is fine. Higher voltage will make the unit perform better but 220 will reliably light all of the lamps.

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Old 05-28-2010, 09:13 AM   #7 (permalink)
 
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Re: Suncapsule Lighting Issues

The same thing happened to my Quantum 851 machine a while back. I used Phillips Cleo Electro starters on my Phillips Cleo bulbs and the bulbs randomly turned on. I changed to Cosmo Electro starters and after ten runs the machine worked fine.
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Old 05-28-2010, 09:27 AM   #8 (permalink)
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Re: Suncapsule Lighting Issues

The quantum is a lead/lag setup too.
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Old 05-28-2010, 09:59 AM   #9 (permalink)
 
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Re: Suncapsule Lighting Issues

Ok guys that is awesome. I am sure I wired the lamp holders correctly as I removed one at a time and just placed each wire in the exact same same spot on the new holders. I am using electronic starters (Wolff AG e-START), and I use Cosmolux VHR 9K90's. I am going to try changing to the Phillips S12 starters and see what happens, then I will try the capacitors. Thanks again,really appreciate it!
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Old 05-28-2010, 10:01 AM   #10 (permalink)
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Re: Suncapsule Lighting Issues

Starters are junk.
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