Our machine has less than 60 hours on it now and we're beginning to have problems left and right. The tech claimed the bed was not properly ventilated (potentially true) and assured us he resolved the issue when he setup the proper venting.

That same day, the bed would shut off 5 minutes through a 10 minute session. Some of the facial bulbs continue to not turn on. The effect is no better or worse after continued usage of the unit.

Customers are so far understanding but we're not happy! Any one else have this type of problem on a unit with so few problems? The tech is being called back out today, from what I understand, to replace the timer. This will be his 3rd or 4th time out in 10 days. (Not sure how that will help the facial bulbs?)

The unit tans great but my ETS (!) beds are less trouble. They start without fail and stay powered throughout the whole session.

I guess this is just a bad [blue] dream!

Chris

It is most likely not a timer issue.

Most big beds will have a thermal switch on the facials. If the bed gets to hot the facials will shut down.

Is your whole bed shutting off early?

John,

The whole bed has begun shutting of early - after 5 minutes, even if it is cold @ start --- i.e. beginning of day. The timer will still read five minutes.

The bulbs (facial) notoriously have been off for the entire session. Only 2 out of 4, however.

Thoughts? Appreciate your feedback.

Chris, I also have a Dr. Kern Blue Dream (nightmare) and it has been a continous problem. John is right about the thermal switches. They are mounted in the top portion of the facial lamp units. If the cooling fan doesn't push enough air through there to keep it cool, it will shut that facial lamp off. If all lamps are shutting down, you have a different overheating problem. It is NOT likely the timer, because it is a mechanical part that is not sensitive to heat. The problem I keep having, is fans failing. I've replaced 4 so far, all at different times. First they develop a low 'roar' and eventually get louder. If you look real close at a bad one, you can see that it is turning slower than a good one. I am NOT impressed with the quality of this bed, but my customers LOVE to tan in it!! They really like that high dome and surround design of the lamps. I can't fault this part of the bed design, but I think they cut a lot of corners when it came to the manufacturing of the bed. You need to check the fans in the controls box under the bed. If they are not moving air, your are probably getting thermal shutdown, to protect your ballasts and electronic components in there. I had one of these fans fail too. Hope this helps.

Hello! I have a used Blue Dream. My customers love the design, but unfortuantely I can't keep handles on the bed...I am about to resort to welding the handle on if possible. Roaring Fan; been there. Top acrylic popping out. I had a face plate over my facial bulb blow up into small pieces. I am still looking for someone in the North Carolina that can get it up and running properly. I have had people come out but after leaving it still isn't where it needs to be. Anyone know where I can reach someone to get this bed ready for busy season?

Have you talked to Cal Delano from Dr. Kern? He should know where a 'certified technician' is located to get you going. He has been helpful with parts I've needed from time to time. I try to do the work myself. What happened to cause the facial lense to come apart? That sound kinda dangerous. Hope noone was using it at the time. What kind of other problems are you having with the bed besides the handle coming loose. I've never had handle problems.
Have you re-lamped you bed? What lamps did you use when you put in the 2nd set?

Cliff, our certified technician, is actually working with us on this. He claims a lot of the problems were due to venting, which I don't know if I agree with. Replaced several facial bulbs and finally one still didn't work. Is coming back today to replace wiring above the bulb. He said our bed timer was permanently fried which was not an issue since it needed to be remotely linked (and is now). I asked about the bad fans and he said there was a shipment of fans that was entirely bad, that it is not a "common" problem anymore.

We have all Dr. Kern beds and the customers love them. I was disappointed to see that people are having these problems. Just something else for us to look out for! Appreciate the heads up. Now we will know whats going on if this occurs in our beds.

All of our beds are new and have less than 50 hours on them so for now I guess we will just keep our fingers crossed.

It sounds like the key is to insure that the beds are properly vented. Ours are not vented yet as our HVAC guy has not come back to finish the salon. But we have had no problems yet. Hopefully we did not get one of those bad fans.

YU CAN TAN TOO - It was right about 50 hours that I started having all my problems! PLEASE vent the bed properly - you don't want to be out like I was -- the AC guy Dr. Kerns' referred to me charged $95 and did a great job.

People have commented how much cooler the bed feels since then-- and the room afterwards if definitely much cooler. Don't risk it!

Well, I should have wished upon a star. One of my blue dream 42's just had a problem today. The bed will not turn off. We had a client in the bed and when he time expired the facials turned off but the other bulbs stayed on. I tried flipping the switches in the bed, reset the timer, and even unplugged the t-max manager. I had to turn the bed off by turning off its breaker in the fuse box. When I switch the breaker back on the bed instantly comes back on even though the t-max manager, the timer in the room, and my salon software all say the bed is off. Has anyone else had this problem?