This Technical Bulletin covers using a conversion box and remote timer with the Alpha Shadow 24 with built in digital timer. This configuration is possible, but not supported, and as such we wanted to outline the potential issues and work arounds in this bulletin.

First, understand that the Conversion Box is a device that interupts the power to a tanning bed. When installed with any tanning bed, the bed will plug into the box, then the box will plug into the wall. It is designed so that the tanning bed has NO POWER unless the remote timer is engaged. This creates a problem for beds with digital controls or beds with mechanical timers (not electrically powered.) Here are the usage notes for each type of bed timer configuration.

Conversion box with powered analog timer (Alpha Sun 24, etc.) The tanning bed timer is set to 20 minutes in between each session. It will not count down until the remote timer is activated, as the bed does not have any power coming to it. When the remote timer begins the session, the coversion box switches to power the bed, and the timer on the tanning bed will count down as normal.

Conversion box with mechanical timer (NOT powered by electricity) The timers on these beds will count down even if there is no electricity to the bed as the timer is just a mechanical device, and does not have a motor on it. When using a conversion box with a bed with this type of timer, you must set the remote timer with no delay, and tell the customer to turn the knob to the full session limit of the timer to start tanning.

Conversion box with digital timer (Alpha Shadow 24 and others) This is an unsupported configuration. You can operate the bed in one of two ways, but it isn't convenient in the easiest method.

1. Because the bed has no power to the digital timer, the customer will not be able to turn the bed on until after the remote timer is activated, thus, it is best to have a 0 minute delay on the remote timer, and not activate it until the customer is already ready. Once the remote timer is activated, the customer can then use the onboard digital timer to add minutes to the session and start the tanning bed. This is cumbersome, but works.

2. The only alternative is to bypass the internal digital timer. This is accomplished by combining the two "trigger" wires that activate the bed at the digital timer. If the remote timer system used does not have an ON/OFF switch, then you would have to also install one on the bed, using these two trigger wires (connected is on, disconnected is off). After the modification, the only timer is outside the room, and the bed is turned ON/OFF with either the remote switch inside the room, or the salon owner switch installed on the bed. By law, some type of ON/OFF switch is required in the tanning room. This requires an hour or two of modification, and is undocumented and unsupported with no future support anticipated.

Version 1.0 created 10/26/2006 by dlb