Understanding curing lamps

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emmad

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Can anyone 'shed some light' on this for me?

I'm starting to use gel now and the lamp offered to me by my trainer is ~£70 ish +vat and it seems to be only 6 watts. I'm guessing that this is the strength of UV required to cure their gel in the times I've been given Seems like alot of money though when you see one thats 36 watt for the same price. Can I get the better one and get faster results or do I have to stick with dim and slow?
:lol:
 
All gels contain photo-initiators which are the things that the UV lamp 'charges up' for want of a better word, and that start the polymerization of the product.

Different products contain different levels of photoinitiator, and some contain different types of photoinitiaors that react to higher or lower emmissions of UV light.

If you use a lamp with too much UV light on a product that requires only a small amout, then you will age the product, make it brittle, yellow and perhaps cause pain to your client with too much heat.

Another common misconception is that wattage has something to do with the amount of UV emmission from the bulb .... NO .... you can have 2 different types of 9 watt bulbs, for instance, that emmit different levels of UV. There are high emmission 9 watt bulbs and low emmision 9watt bulbs. One must take care to purchase the correct bulbs for the lamp you are using.

Although it may seem simple to some folks ... ie a light is a light is a light .... this is not the case and the chemistry of these products is far more complicated than you realize. Do what the manufacturer says and use the light that is recommended for your system.
 
geeg said:
All gels contain photo-initiators which are the things that the UV lamp 'charges up' for want of a better word, and that start the polymerization of the product.

Different products contain different levels of photoinitiator, and some contain different types of photoinitiaors that react to higher or lower emmissions of UV light.

If you use a lamp with too much UV light on a product that requires only a small amout, then you will age the product, make it brittle, yellow and perhaps cause pain to your client with too much heat.

Another common misconception is that wattage has something to do with the amount of UV emmission from the bulb .... NO .... you can have 2 different types of 9 watt bulbs, for instance, that emmit different levels of UV. There are high emmission 9 watt bulbs and low emmision 9watt bulbs. One must take care to purchase the correct bulbs for the lamp you are using.

Although it may seem simple to some folks ... ie a light is a light is a light .... this is not the case and the chemistry of these products is far more complicated than you realize. Do what the manufacturer says and use the light that is recommended for your system.

Thanks Gigi, I'll make sure I at least get the same wattage as recommended although I do think that the product manufacturers lamp is priced too high. Daylight do the same wattage for half the price.
 
Read my post again love, I was trying to explain that is not the wattage that is important, but the uv output (or intensity) of the bulb. Two different things.

The Brisa uvlamp for instance uses 9 watt bulbs, but they are Phillips HIGH OUTPUT bulbs not the ordinary 9 watt ones that Phillips also do. This is important so make sure you take the bulb into the shop and get the exact correct type.
 

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