Parts by Request
Tanning Bed Starters
On a tanning bed with magnetic ballasts, each lamp has a starter: a small cylinder, usually white or gray, that plugs into a socket near the lamp end. Its job is to preheat the lamp and give it the kick that strikes the arc. Starters are consumable. They wear out on a schedule close to the lamps, and a failed starter mimics a failed lamp or a failed ballast well enough to cost people money. Sun Systems & Service sources starters by request, matched to your lamp class, and we tell you when a starter is not the problem.
What fails and how you can tell
- A lamp that flickers at the ends but never fully lights. The classic starter symptom. The starter keeps trying and failing.
- A lamp that takes a long time to strike, then runs fine. The starter is weak.
- A lamp that glows at one end only. Could be the starter, could be a bad lamp holder. Swap the starter first.
- A lamp that strikes, drops out, and strikes again through the session. Starter, or a lamp near the end of its life.
- A new lamp that will not light in a position where the old lamp also would not. The lamp was never the problem.
If swapping the starter changes nothing, move to the ballast. Our lamp, ballast or starter guide puts the sequence in order.
How to identify the part
Starters are rated by the lamp wattage they serve. A starter sized for a 100 watt class lamp is not the same part as one sized for a 160 watt class lamp, and some beds with mixed lamp types use two different starters. Pull one from the bed with the power off and read the printing on it. If it is worn off, send us the bed's model plate and the lamp code and we will match it. Beds with electronic ballasts have no starters at all, so if you cannot find one on your bed, that is probably why.
Replace them as a set
Starters age with the lamps. When you relamp, replace the starters too. The cost is small next to the lamps and it avoids a bed where every third lamp flickers a month after the relamp. We include starters in every full relamp quote unless you tell us not to. See the lamps page for how we handle a relamp.
Installing starters
Power off. Push in, quarter turn, pull out. The new one goes in the same way. No tools and no wiring. This is one of the few tanning bed repairs we are happy to talk a home owner through on the phone, and for national customers we ship a set with the lamps. If the socket itself is loose or scorched, that is a lamp holder job and we will say so.
More parts by request
- Tanning bed lamps and bulbs
- Ballasts
- Starters
- Acrylics
- Gas springs and canopy shocks
- Timers and controllers
- Fans and cooling
- Electrical parts
Parts by brand
Wolff, ESB, Sunquest, SunFire, ProSun, Sunmaster, Ergoline and KBL, plus every other make we have seen in 35 years.
Request this part
Send the make, model and what the bed is doing. Stan confirms the part and quotes it, usually the same day.
Not sure which part it is
Call and describe the symptom. Stan has heard it before and will tell you what to look at first.
Call (248) 545-5577Frequently asked questions
What does a tanning bed starter do?
On a bed with magnetic ballasts, the starter preheats the lamp's electrodes and triggers the arc that lights the lamp. Once the lamp is running the starter drops out of the circuit. Beds with electronic ballasts do not use them.
How do I know if the starter is bad?
A lamp that flickers at the ends, strikes slowly or never fully lights while its neighbors run is the usual sign. Swap a starter from a working position into the dead one. If the dead lamp lights, the starter was the fault. If not, test the lamp next, then the ballast.
Should I replace starters when I replace lamps?
Yes. They wear on the same schedule and they are inexpensive. Replacing lamps on old starters often brings flickering lamps back within weeks. We include starters in every full relamp unless asked not to.