120watt Beds

[bronzecafe]

I'm sure this has been asked before but I can't seem t find it in the search. Is a 120watt lamp really 20% better than a 100watt or is it just maketing. And can a 32X120watt bed be ran at 15min an give good results?

[Din]

just marketing. The ballasts are 100W, and that's what will push the power.

[bronzecafe]

They (salesmen) have told me that my sundash's have 120watt ballasts and the ergo 250's hae 120watt ballasts. I think I'm going to go open up a sundash.

[John]

Correct the Ergo Ambition 250 has a 120W Choke ballast. Yes you can use any 100W lamp in that unit. It comes with a standard 2.6 reflector HO lamp. With the proper lamps it will do 15 minutes no problem.

Ballast are what they are, usually lamps is what is marketing BS.
a standard 100W lamp will work in any 100-120W application
a standard 160W VHO lamp will work in any 140-200W application.

The ballast determines the output of the lamp, not vice-versa.
If you run a 120W lamp on a 100W ballast you will only get 100W of output.
If you run a 200W lamp on a 160W ballast you will only get 160W of output.
If you run a 100W lamp on a 120W ballast you will get 120W of output.
If you run a 160W lamp on a 200W ballast you will get 200W of output.

The more you overdrive a lamp the shorter the life. (The Reason why Sungates, Suncapsule 200W+ units only get 250-300 good hours of life)

[bronzecafe]

Say I have TA Santa Barbara 20min as level 1, what would you suggest for the ambition 250 as a level 2 15min?

[tam_marie]

I wish I had known this before buying my beds.

I was dealing with 2 companies, trying to decide which one to buy my beds from. The beds we were choosing from were Sunvision and Ergo.

The Sunvision salesman told us that the Ergo beds were not 120 watts, that they all were 100 watts because of the ballast.

I repeated this to the ergoline salesman, and he got very upset, he stated he didn't know why the guy would tell us that, and it wasn't true.

The ergo salesman calls me the next day, he tells me that he confronted the sunvision guy about this, and the sunvision guy told him that he didn't tell us that.

We really wanted the ergo beds to begin with, but the sunvision beds were at a better price. But, because of the ballast discussion, we choose the ergoline salesman.

I really love my beds and am really glad we choose ergoline, I just don't like being mislead.


How is it possible they can say it is a 120 watt when it isn't?

[tam_marie]

Originally Posted by bronzecafe

They (salesmen) have told me that my sundash's have 120watt ballasts and the ergo 250's hae 120watt ballasts. I think I'm going to go open up a sundash.

I love my Sundash beds.

[John]

How is it possible they can say it is a 120 watt when it isn't?

If the ballast are 120W, then that is what you are getting, 120 watts.
I know the Ergoline Ambition 250 does have a 120W Choke ballast.

[John]

Bronze Cafe,
What is your current lamp in the 20 minute TA SB bed?

[tam_marie]

I have Ergoline 332 Sundash, 120 watts.
Is it 120 watts?

[bronzecafe]

The TA (Voltarc) Premier 73HOR

[John]

I have Ergoline 332 Sundash, 120 watts.
Is it 120 watts?

Not quite sure on that one, they are using a new Electronic Ballast, great for lamp life & they put out decent also. I wouldn't worry about your purchase.

Bronze Cafe,
You are currently using a nice bronzing lamp in your SB's, they are about a 2.8% 100W reflector.

You will definitely have to step it up a bit in the Ergo 250 since those lamps are the same UVB, but powered by 120W ballast. You may need to use a higher end lamp like the Magic Sun 16/100R, Magic Sun 20/100R, LSI Signature Series HP HOR, Philips Swift 100W R, or the SLI Pure Bronze 100W 3.5 Reflector lamp.

These lamps will give quite a bit more total UV output than the OEM lamp in the Ergo 250. The Magic Sun 16/100R has the same UVB, but more UVA. The Sig Series HP also has the same UVB with about 30% more UVA than the OEM lamps. The other lamps listed will give a nice kick of UVB to give more immediate results in the 15 min session.

[bronzecafe]

I hate to ask this John, but should I lamp the TA beds with lower performing lamp to create more seperation

[John]

Many 20 minute base beds will usually only offer a standard 100W non reflector 4.2-6.5% UVB lamps. Typically many of the TA 20 min beds will come with the TA VIP GOLD HO SE lamps. They are non reflector 5.0. Great for 20 minutes.

The lamp you are offering will cost you a bit more & will give some nice bronze results.

All depends on how good you want to make them, I agree that you would need to change lamps to get more seperation. What is the next level after the Ambition 250's?

[bronzecafe]

I have a Prosun Lumina 40sli and probably a TA Delray (havn't sealed deal on that one yet) going in as level 3.

[John]

Yeah, shouldn't have a problem there. Both your level 3 will be 40-42 lamps 160W Reflector & 3 400W facials. I think if you switch the TA SB's to a lamp similar to the VIP Gold HO SE @ 20 minutes, for the bottom feeders to tan on, then you should have plenty of seperation between levels to give better & much more noticable results on the way up.

[bronzecafe]

Alright I'm back on this one. So my Ergo Ambition 250's are going to be level 2 in the new salon. They currently have genesis vhp 15's in them. They are metering at 27 - 28 on a 5.0. Do you think they will suffice at 15minutes when my TA Santa Barbaras have the VIP Premier at 20min. No, like a dummy I didn't get any readings off the TA beds before I put them in storage.

[RobertK]

You need to bump up the 250's a little and make sure you only run 5.0's in the Santa Barbaras.