sc in canada
Well-Known Member
With all the talk about gel lamps and bulbs I have a question. If you are purchasing new bulbs where on the bulb or packaging will you find the UV output???
Thanks
SC
Thanks
SC
UV Gel Bulbs
- Thread starter sc in canada
- Start date
Help Support SalonGeek:
The best advice I can give you is to know the various bulb # for each company. Iwill start you off with some of the more common and higher end bulbs:
1. SLi Lynx S 9/0
Color: BL350
Ref. 90546
Lamp Code 26088
2.Sylvania Dulux S9W
Product Code: 20299
CF9 DS/78 (It has to have the 78 or it will NOT cure uv gel)
3.Philips
PL-S 9W/10/2P Hg (The Hg means it contains mercury)
I hope this helps you sort things out
1. SLi Lynx S 9/0
Color: BL350
Ref. 90546
Lamp Code 26088
2.Sylvania Dulux S9W
Product Code: 20299
CF9 DS/78 (It has to have the 78 or it will NOT cure uv gel)
3.Philips
PL-S 9W/10/2P Hg (The Hg means it contains mercury)
I hope this helps you sort things out
sc in canada
Well-Known Member
Still just wondering where you would find out what the UV output is for different bulbs?? Anyone know this???
Sorry to be a pain I just am really curious about this.
Thanks
SC
Sorry to be a pain I just am really curious about this.
Thanks
SC
This article might help to better understand UV output .
A 9 watt lamp usually has one 9 watt light bulb. A 36 watt lamp usually has four 9 watt light bulbs.
Here is a quick lesson on UV lamps as it pertains to curing nail enhancements.
There are four basic bulbs:
4 watt, about 4 inches long
6 watt, about 6 inches long
8 watt, about 8 inches long
9 watt, looks like two bulbs that are fit into the same plastic housing at one end.
Here are some examples:
To get an 8 watt lamp you usually have two 4w bulbs or one 8w.
To get an 18 watt lamp you usually have two 9w or three 6w bulbs, etc.
Usually a 4w bulb does not emit enough UV energy to cure gel. No matter how many 4w bulbs you have. You see, a 4w bulb is putting out a little over .5w of UV energy. The further the nail from the bulb the less UV energy is reaching the gel. In other words the energy gets weaker the further away you get from the bulb. (It is a little more complicated than that, but that is the basic idea.)
A 6w bulb is emitting a little under 1 watt of UV energy. This amount is enough to cure most gel products (even if the manufacturer tells you it isn't). The problem with a 6 watt bulb is that the nails need to be placed precisely under the bulb to make the product cure properly. If you are even .25 inch off you won't get a proper cure. The power of the UV the bulb is emitting drops over time. So it stands to reason the less power you start out with, the shorter the time before the bulb cannot cure gel properly.
I have not seen a lamp with an 8 watt bulb that was designed properly. Either the bulb is too far away, the lamp is not properly reflected or a variety of other design issues hinder the effect of the UV energy. The bulbs are just a bit too long to be practical. This is not to say there is not an 8w lamp that will cure gel; I have just not seen one.
So now we come to 9 watt bulbs. The 9w bulb is emitting about 1.25w of UV. More than enough to cure gel. Put four 9w bulbs in a lamp, design the lamp correctly and there is pretty much nothing it won't cure.
So why buy a well designed 36w lamp instead of a single 9w or a single or multiple 6w? The answer is simple, ease of use. It makes it easer for the client, they don't have to worry that they are not under the bulb, because they are always under the bulb. And easier for the tech; cure all 5 fingers at the same time.
Are the evil manufacturers making you spend hundreds of dollars to buy their lamp because it is the only one that will work with their gel? Well not exactly. You see there are a lot of bad lamps out there. If we sell you a lamp, you can be sure it works with our gel. If you buy a lamp from some one else, it may or may not work. We don't know because we have not tested it with our gel...
Why is a lamp from a manufacturer more expensive that a lamp from a discount beauty supply? Because we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars designing, testing and optimizing our lamps for our gel products. After production every single lamp is dissembled, inspected, reassembled and tested. All of the design, mold making, prototyping and testing costs money, but it assures quality.
If you are using a lamp that I am not familiar with and call into tech support because the gel is not working for you, it could very well be your lamp.
A $50 UV lamp MIGHT work with our gel very well. Our UV lamp WILL work very well with our gel. I have a distributor that was buying discount bulbs and lamps and selling them with our kits. After a few months of them accusing me of changing the formula we finally narrowed it down to the lamp not curing the gel properly.
So you see there is much more that goes into it other than profit motives. The UV lamp is a tool of the professional nail tech. Your clients are assuming that you are providing the very best products and service to them that you can. In order to charge premium prices for your services you should be providing premium service. Your clients should know about the tools you are using. It is your job to inform them that you are using quality products and tools to perform your services.
If you went to the dentist and he had a drill he was about to use on you and you asked him about it, which answer would you feel more comfortable with?
“I was trained by the manufacturer on how to use this drill with my dental system. It has gone through several quality checks to make sure it is compatible with everything else I am using. It is manufactured using quality processes and has the full guarantee and backing of the manufacturer that provided me with my system and training.”
Or
“I got the best deal on this drill; it was half as much as the one the manufacturer was trying to push on me. In my training they were using a different one, but what the heck I am sure this one is probably just as good. I mean they look almost the same, and the guy I bought it from said that he thought it might work ok, but if I had any problems I could take it back. Now, open wide...”
Again, don't get me wrong. I am not saying that any lamp won't work. What I am saying is; If you get a lamp from the same manufacturer that is making your gel, the lamp will work.
To figure out UV output yourself, hmm, I wouldn't bother,let scientists do their work lol.
A 9 watt lamp usually has one 9 watt light bulb. A 36 watt lamp usually has four 9 watt light bulbs.
Here is a quick lesson on UV lamps as it pertains to curing nail enhancements.
There are four basic bulbs:
4 watt, about 4 inches long
6 watt, about 6 inches long
8 watt, about 8 inches long
9 watt, looks like two bulbs that are fit into the same plastic housing at one end.
Here are some examples:
To get an 8 watt lamp you usually have two 4w bulbs or one 8w.
To get an 18 watt lamp you usually have two 9w or three 6w bulbs, etc.
Usually a 4w bulb does not emit enough UV energy to cure gel. No matter how many 4w bulbs you have. You see, a 4w bulb is putting out a little over .5w of UV energy. The further the nail from the bulb the less UV energy is reaching the gel. In other words the energy gets weaker the further away you get from the bulb. (It is a little more complicated than that, but that is the basic idea.)
A 6w bulb is emitting a little under 1 watt of UV energy. This amount is enough to cure most gel products (even if the manufacturer tells you it isn't). The problem with a 6 watt bulb is that the nails need to be placed precisely under the bulb to make the product cure properly. If you are even .25 inch off you won't get a proper cure. The power of the UV the bulb is emitting drops over time. So it stands to reason the less power you start out with, the shorter the time before the bulb cannot cure gel properly.
I have not seen a lamp with an 8 watt bulb that was designed properly. Either the bulb is too far away, the lamp is not properly reflected or a variety of other design issues hinder the effect of the UV energy. The bulbs are just a bit too long to be practical. This is not to say there is not an 8w lamp that will cure gel; I have just not seen one.
So now we come to 9 watt bulbs. The 9w bulb is emitting about 1.25w of UV. More than enough to cure gel. Put four 9w bulbs in a lamp, design the lamp correctly and there is pretty much nothing it won't cure.
So why buy a well designed 36w lamp instead of a single 9w or a single or multiple 6w? The answer is simple, ease of use. It makes it easer for the client, they don't have to worry that they are not under the bulb, because they are always under the bulb. And easier for the tech; cure all 5 fingers at the same time.
Are the evil manufacturers making you spend hundreds of dollars to buy their lamp because it is the only one that will work with their gel? Well not exactly. You see there are a lot of bad lamps out there. If we sell you a lamp, you can be sure it works with our gel. If you buy a lamp from some one else, it may or may not work. We don't know because we have not tested it with our gel...
Why is a lamp from a manufacturer more expensive that a lamp from a discount beauty supply? Because we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars designing, testing and optimizing our lamps for our gel products. After production every single lamp is dissembled, inspected, reassembled and tested. All of the design, mold making, prototyping and testing costs money, but it assures quality.
If you are using a lamp that I am not familiar with and call into tech support because the gel is not working for you, it could very well be your lamp.
A $50 UV lamp MIGHT work with our gel very well. Our UV lamp WILL work very well with our gel. I have a distributor that was buying discount bulbs and lamps and selling them with our kits. After a few months of them accusing me of changing the formula we finally narrowed it down to the lamp not curing the gel properly.
So you see there is much more that goes into it other than profit motives. The UV lamp is a tool of the professional nail tech. Your clients are assuming that you are providing the very best products and service to them that you can. In order to charge premium prices for your services you should be providing premium service. Your clients should know about the tools you are using. It is your job to inform them that you are using quality products and tools to perform your services.
If you went to the dentist and he had a drill he was about to use on you and you asked him about it, which answer would you feel more comfortable with?
“I was trained by the manufacturer on how to use this drill with my dental system. It has gone through several quality checks to make sure it is compatible with everything else I am using. It is manufactured using quality processes and has the full guarantee and backing of the manufacturer that provided me with my system and training.”
Or
“I got the best deal on this drill; it was half as much as the one the manufacturer was trying to push on me. In my training they were using a different one, but what the heck I am sure this one is probably just as good. I mean they look almost the same, and the guy I bought it from said that he thought it might work ok, but if I had any problems I could take it back. Now, open wide...”
Again, don't get me wrong. I am not saying that any lamp won't work. What I am saying is; If you get a lamp from the same manufacturer that is making your gel, the lamp will work.
To figure out UV output yourself, hmm, I wouldn't bother,let scientists do their work lol.
sc in canada
Well-Known Member
Thanks for trying to help I have read that article on beautytech. I was just really hoping that someone could tell me where to find the information for UV output. I'm start to think this information is not available.
thanks for trying to help
SC
thanks for trying to help
SC
