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Old 10-16-2014, 12:20 AM   #1 (permalink)
 
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Dim center in lamps

Has anyone seen lamps with dim centers or all around dim color?

If so who was the manufacturer? What did they do about it?
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Old 10-16-2014, 07:25 AM   #2 (permalink)
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Re: Dim center in lamps

Some manufactures use a little less neon gas. Sometimes the lamps will be less bright in the center but this has no effect on the output. Mostly seen in 2M lamps in vertical applications.
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Old 10-16-2014, 08:44 AM   #3 (permalink)
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Re: Dim center in lamps

We sell all brands & see it with almost all 2 meter lamps in certain applications. Usually it corrects itself with proper lamp burn in & proper operating temp.

One would think the brighter the lamp the better the output, that is not always true.
The brightness is visible light, which plays no part in UV output.

Here is part of technical bulletin from a lamp manufacturer on VHO lamps:

Quote:
Occasionally lamps of this type will exhibit what is seen as a slow warm up. This is typical when the bulbs have been off for an extended period of time, especially if left in a cool environment. This can also be caused by excess cooling on the lamp ends. These circumstances cause the mercury vapor to migrate to the lamp ends and condense. This is generally corrected by operating the lamps for a period of about 60 minutes to allow the mercury to be re-distributed in the lamps.

Tanning customers may also see what they perceive as visual color variations, especially in new lamps. This is caused during the lamps normal ‘break in’ period while the lamps are stabilizing the mercury vapor. This variation will generally go away after one or two hours of lamp operation. Customers should not relate visible brightness to
U.V. intensity. We recommend all tanning salons to have a U.V. meter to be able to monitor lamps for maintenance and proper operation.

In order to determine if a lamp is being cooled properly we recommend the following procedure. First, operate the lamps for several hours in the tanning unit in the usual operating manner in order to stabilize the mercury. Next, allow the lamps to cool completely and turn off the cooling fans to the system. Now turn on the lamps and monitor the highest reading the lamps reach during their warm up. This will usually occur within one to two minutes then the readings will drop off. The peak reading is the point where the lamp passes the optimum temperature. Allow the lamps to again fully cool and reconnect the cooling system. Turn the lamps back on with the cooling system running and again watch the warm up of the lamp. If the lamp takes more than one or two minutes to reach the peak reading previously recorded, then the lamps are probably being over cooled. If the lamps quickly reach the peak and then drop by more than about ten percent, then the lamps are not being adequately cooled. Ideally, the lamps should reach the peak in one to two minutes, drop slightly and become stable for the remainder of the session
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Old 10-18-2014, 10:49 AM   #4 (permalink)
 
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Re: Dim center in lamps

John

Ok VERY dim in the center and dont burn off or at least not right away. If a client walks out and says you have lamps out or sometimes they cant even tell the lamps are on
would be a big problem right?
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Old 10-20-2014, 11:11 AM   #5 (permalink)
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Re: Dim center in lamps

Yeah, that could be a problem. Have you tried them in any other units like maybe a laydown to see if it still happens?
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Old 10-21-2014, 07:14 AM   #6 (permalink)
 
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Re: Dim center in lamps

Quote:
Originally Posted by JOHN @ URI View Post
Yeah, that could be a problem. Have you tried them in any other units like maybe a laydown to see if it still happens?
That's funny john. Tony doesn't have lay downs :)
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Old 10-30-2014, 06:25 AM   #7 (permalink)
 
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Re: Dim center in lamps

John

I am not using the Heartland stand ups any longer so we can rule out defective booths
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Old 11-01-2014, 08:27 PM   #8 (permalink)
 
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Re: Dim center in lamps

It is important to make sure that you have the proper voltage coming from your power pole to the equipment. Beds will have different requirements based upon their ballasts and bulb configuration. I would check your voltage to the bed before blaming the bed or the bulbs. Use buck boosters to step up the voltage or down according to the manufacturers recommended voltage requirements.
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