Tanning Bed Timers and Controllers

The timer is the part that decides how long a session runs and whether the bed shuts off when it should. On salon beds it is also the part the state inspector looks at. Sun Systems & Service sources tanning bed timers and controllers by request: remote wall timers, T-Max style salon controllers, in-bed digital and mechanical timers, and the control boards that sit behind them. Matched to your bed's voltage and wiring, installed in Michigan, shipped nationwide after a video session.

What fails and how you can tell

• The bed will not start. Timer is set, nothing happens. Could be the timer, the relay it drives, or a safety switch upstream. Start with our checklist for a bed that will not turn on.
• Sessions run long or short. Mechanical timers drift as the clockwork wears. Digital timers rarely drift, but a failing board can.
• The timer sticks or the knob spins free. Mechanical timer, worn out.
• Display dead or scrambled on a digital timer or controller. Power supply or board.
• The bed starts on its own or will not stop. A welded relay contact or a shorted board. Stop-use.
• Remote timer says the bed is running, bed is dark. The signal is not reaching the bed. Wiring, the interface relay or the bed's own control.

Types of timers

Remote timers mount at the front desk or in the hall and start the bed in the room. T-Max style controllers are the common salon system: a desk unit talks to a small timer module in each room over low voltage wire, and the room module drives the bed. The room modules and the desk unit are separate parts and fail separately.

In-bed timers live in the bed itself. Residential beds and many older salon beds use a digital timer with a display and buttons, or a mechanical wind-up timer with a knob. Both are replaceable. The in-bed timer usually drives a contactor or relay that switches the lamp circuit, and the two parts are often confused with each other when the bed will not start.

Control boards on newer beds combine the timer, fan control, lamp bank switching and the display into one board. Boards are model-specific and the hardest timer part to source for a discontinued bed, but it is often possible. We will tell you up front.

How to identify the part

Photograph the timer face, the back of the timer or board with any label visible, and the model plate. For a remote system, photograph the desk unit and the room module. Note the bed's voltage from the plate and whether the timer is wired directly into the bed or through a separate relay box. If the timer has a part number, that is the shortcut. If not, the make, model and photos get us there.

Installing a timer

Replacing an in-bed timer or a remote room module means working inside wiring that carries line voltage on one side. In Michigan we install, set the maximum session time to match your bed's exposure schedule and test a full session. National customers get the matched timer and a video session for the install. For a desk controller swap we also walk you through programming the rooms.

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.

Name

Phone

Email

City and state

Bed make and model

Timer or controller needed

Model plate

Request this part

A clear photo of the model plate and of the part itself saves a round of questions. Reply to the confirmation email with both.