Buck Booster Wiring Diagrams For Beds and T-Max

[Brian Oshman]

Buck boosters are required for all beds that incorporate choke ballasts and are operating on voltage below 220 or above 240. Most commercial North American electrical services are usually WYE 120/208 so the line to line voltage is too low for chokes that need 230 so you will need to boost the voltage. In certain instances you will find delta services which are 120/240 and in most cases are above 240 line to line. The voltage would need to be bucked on these services.

Buck boosters or autotransformers will do either function depending on how they are wired. The size and voltage change depends on the current that your bed draws and the incoming voltage to your building.

Buck boosters are available in 12/24 or 16/32 volt configurations. A 12/24 booster will raise or lower the voltage 12 or 24 volts from the incoming voltage as the 16/32 will do the same respectively.

The KVA size is determined by bed load. Here are the common booster sizes available and their max current ratings:

.5KVA good to 20 amps
.75KVA good to 30 amps
1.0KVA good to 40 amps
1.5KVA good to 60 amps
2.0KVA good to 80 amps
3.0KVA good to 120 amps

Select the KVA rating based on the beds current draw and the voltage rating based on how much you need to raise or lower the voltage to get as close to 230 volts.

Beds that use magnetic or electronic ballasts do not require boosters since magnetic ballasts are 120 volts and all North American electrical services provide this voltage directly and electronic ballasts are self adjusting to the line voltage so they are self regulating to the input voltage. Boosters raise or lower the voltage at a certain ratio, they do not regulate the voltage just change it and the output will fluctuate directly with the input.




All boosters wire the same. It is an industry standard. There are only 4 ways to wire them. +24/32, -24/32, +12/16, -12/16

And 8 total diagrams used for tanning beds.

















This one is for Dongan brand which is a two wire in and two wire out.



And let's not forget the 120 VAC in 12 VAC out to power T-Max timers from one transformer using a 12/24 buck booster.





Drawings courtesy of The Sun Doctor.