Tanning lamps are the part of a tanning bed, booth or other tanning device which produces ultraviolet light responsible for tanning. While there are factually hundreds of dissimilar kinds of tanning lamps, they can typically be classified in two basic groups: low pressure and high pressure. Within the industry, it is common to call high pressure units "bulbs" and low pressure units "lamps", though there are many exceptions and not everyone follows this example. This is probable due to the size of the unit, rather than the type. Both types necessitate an oxygen free environment inside the lamp.
Fluorescent tanning lamps necessitate an electrical ballast to offer power. While the resistance of an incandescent lamp filament intrinsically limits the current inside the lamp, tanning lamps do not and instead have negative resistance. They are plasma devices, like a neon sign, and will pass as much current as the external circuit will provide, even to the point of self destruction.[1] Thus ballast is needed to regulate the amount of electricity that flows through them.
The primary reason of the tanning lamp is to create a suntan by means other than exposure to the sun. This is talented in a tanning bed, tanning booth, tanning canopy or free standing single bulb tanning unit. The excellence of the tan (or how similar it is to a tan from the natural sun) depends upon the spectrum of the light that is generate from the lamps. Most tanning lamps produce much more UV than the sun on a typical day. This gives the user a faster base tan, but one that fades faster and offers less protection from the sun than a natural tan.
High pressure bulbs
High pressure bulbs are 3 to 5 inches long and typically powered by ballast with 250 to 2000 watts. The most common is the 400 watt variety that is used as an added face tanner in the traditional tanning bed. High pressure lamps use quartz glass, and as such do not filter UVC. Because UVC can be lethal, a special dichroic filter glass (usually purple) is required that will filter out the UVC and UVB. The goal with high pressure tanning bulbs is to create a high amount of UVA only. Unfiltered light from a high pressure lamp is rich in UVC used in germicidal lamps, for water purification, but it damages human skin.
The inside of a high pressure lamp are inert gas (such as argon) and mercury.[2] There are no phosphors used, and the mercury is obviously observable if it is not in a gaseous state. During installation, even a small amount of oil from fingertips can cause the quartz envelope to fail in operation. Most commercial replacement bulbs come with a special pocket wipe, usually containing alcohol, to clean the bulb in case it is by chance touched during installation. Because the bulb contains mercury, great care should be used if a bulb is broken, to prevent accidental contact or vapor experience.
Low pressure lamps
While studying the helpful effects of ultraviolet light on athletes, German scientist Friedrich Wolff noticed an interesting side effect - tanned skin. Realizing the appeal of a beautiful tan, Wolff found the indoor tanning industry. His research led to development of indoor tanning equipment and lamp technology. Called "the father of indoor tanning," Wolff brought his European technology to the United States in 1978. He set the standard for the industry with specialized lamps and a reflector system that was ideally suited to indoor tanning. Today, the company operates in North America and Western Europe, and has patent licensees in Belgium, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.
Low pressure lamps resemble the common fluorescent lamp used in offices everywhere (see image at top of page). The lamps are sized by using common codes for fluorescent lamps such as F71T12BL50BP In this example; the F71 denotes the length, nominally 71 inches. The T12 section refers to the diameter of the lamp in 1/8th inch increments, making a T12 lamp 1.5 inches in diameter. The other numbers are optional, but commonly used, with the BL standing for a blue phosphor, the 50 indicating a 5% UVB (95% UVA) rating, and the BP indicating bi-pin ends, which all F71 lamps have. Lamps with the RDC code have Recessed Dual Connector (or Recessed Dual Contact) lamp ends are classically found in F73 and more rarely F72 and F74 sizes. The RDC connector is in fact a plastic piece that fits over the two bi-pins and allows the lamps to be installed in telescopic lamp ends. These are less ordinary as the lamp end parts are considerably more expensive for the tanning bed manufacturer to use.
Like all fluorescent lamps, low pressure tanning lamps have a ballast to start the lamps and limit the gush of current. The plasma of excited mercury atoms inside the lamp emits ultraviolet light directly. The lamps are coated on the inside with special phosphors. Unlike high pressure lamps, the glass that is used in low pressure lamps filters out all UVC. Once the plasma is fully formed, the plasma literally strips away the outer electrons from the mercury; when these electrons return to a lower energy level, visible and ultraviolet light is emitted. Some of the short-wave ultraviolet excites the phosphors, which then emits photons in the appropriate spectrum for tanning.