LED lamps - the differences in power

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nicole333

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I'm trying to gain more information on LED lamps, but seem to be hitting a brick wall. The longer they have been around, the more they seem to improve or so it appears.

If you take the Harmomy LED lamps they have increased in power from the 6g, the 9g and now the 18g. The new Gel II lamp is 40g.

A lot of systems say cure in a UV or LED lamp and for how long, but those who invested in an earlier LED, are they now useless? I'm finding the whole 'g' thing confusing. I have compared the NH 18g and Gel II 40g, am I right in thinking the rating is related to the wattage x how many bulbs = g rating?

The reason I ask is that I was in Salon Services looking at the new Gelish colours and chatting with the girl about LED curing and how I longed to go down that route but the 18g was so expensive. She then went and got one of the older (9g I think) Harmony LED lamps that was on sale, but I immediately thought that I didn't want it because it was old, but I have no idea what I based that on apart from fear that it wouldn't be up to the job.

Is there anyone that can explain the different ratings and if the old ones still cure the systems even though they are completely different in power output?

Thanks :)
 
I can't fully answer your question. However, I have had the Harmony 9g, then the 6g and now I have the 18g and the OPI LED lamp.

All of them cure both Gelish and OPI GelColor. With the 9g and 6g Harmony used to recommend a 10 second cure for the basecoat. With the 18g they recommend 5. All other coats were the same timings for all lamps.

The only other difference seems to be that the 6g & 9g are four finger and the 18g and OPI lamps are five finger thus making the process quicker.

Although on this site people always recommend using the lamp specific to your product, nearly all LED cured product manufacturers just state "cure in an LED lamp" with no mention of wattage.

Sorry, not much help I'm afraid.
 
You were actually a big help, so thanks!

The LED curing side of things is swaying me towards believing then that the product will still cure, but the power or 'g' will determine how long the product should be in the lamp for?

I'm not sure if I am looking for an issue where I have been using the CND lamp for Shellac. Maybe gel polishes and LED lamps are just more simplified than what I'm used to, as you rightly say the products state 'cure in UV or LED'. If I get the opportunity to ask Doug on Sunday, I will.
 
Ok ,


One of the key things you need to understand it that LED lamps are actually UV lights but they emit a narrower range of UV wavelength but at a higher concentration ( known as Nano meters )
Confused -lol.


I will try simply .

The UV range is approx between 100- 400 and a typical UV lamp may emit from say 200 to 400 where as an LED will only emit at maybe 375 to 400 (nm) but at a higher concentration - Hence them curing quicker ( not actual figures just giving an example )

If the LED gels that you have are not formulated to cure within the same UV range your LED lamp has then it will not cure - Simples

x
 
Thank you, yeah I'm fine with the general stuff like the things you have mentioned, I just need more information to answer my questions. :)
 
The Harmony 18g lamp is 32 watt but you need to take the wattage in conjunction with the NM Range .

You cannot tell if the lamp will cure your gels unless you know both the NM range of the lamp and the NM range at which the gel will cure at . The higher wattage just usually reduces the cure time and makes it more efficient

x
 
I understand what you are saying Perfect10kb. Harmony have produced so many lamps, all with different wattage all that will cure their product and others.
 
So the Harmony lamps, even though they are of different power (g), they will still cure Harmony products because they remain in the correct NM range for the gels. It's just the newer lamps with the higher 'g' means less time to get that correct cure. That makes complete sense (if I have understood it!)

So if we have to match the NM of the product to the NM of the LED lamp, how can we use a generic LED lamp to cure the product? This doesn't seem possible unless the NM's match by chance?

Putting that to a scenario I have at the moment. I'm thinking of investing in Gel II and they have a 40g lamp, but it won't necessarily give a full cure to my Gelish products unless in the same range. Have I got this right?
 
Well yes sort of .


Lets put it this way . The LED we sell cure within 385 to 420 nm range and our lamps are 405nm so our gels will cure in our lamps ( they are 18w by the way ) .

Someone tried our gels but their lamp was only 365nm so it did NOT cure our gels-

Most LED gels will have a range that they cure within and some ranges may be bigger than others and LED lamps are clearly made to suit a wide range of LED gels .


So the age old 'use the lamp for your system ' still applies to LED lamps just as is does for the UV

Thats not to say that for example you cant cure our gels ( or anyone elses gels ) in another LED lamp but you need to make sure is is the right lamp :)

x
 
Got ya! You have been a fantastic help in my quest for knowledge, thank you so much and to JL for taking the time. :biggrin:
 

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