Machine Efficacy/Maintenance Question

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Hi all,

I’d love to hear from the experts on this one:

Do machines (i.e. Gentlelase) need periodic maintenance to be effective? Or, if the machine works is there nothing to worry about? Is this a question that needs to be asked during consults?

Basically I’m about to go to a more affordable place with Gentlelase and I want to make sure that their machine (Gentlelase) is up to snuff and effective. They seem to know the right things - i.e. double passing techniques, grids, aggressive settings, etc MY concern is that maybe none of that matters if the machine hasnt been maintained.

Thanks!

#2

I would just assume the machine is fine. I’m sure it gets maintenance when it needs it. These machines are really expensive (like sell-your-house-to-buy-one expensive) and a company would be really stupid to let such an expensive machine get ruined through improper maintenance. Usually (not always) if there is a problem, the machine will refuse to fire too.

You can’t exactly ask them for their maintenance records anyway, so of course they will verbally tell you it has been properly maintained.

To my knowledge, we only have one actual professional here who would know though (Chris from R&J). You could try PMing him, his sn is “Romeo” here. LAgirl might know too, cuz she pretty much knows everything.

#3

They do need maintenance, the heads only last so long. With GentleLASE it uses cryogen spray for cooling which is a consumable that has to be constantly replaced. Either way though like Kitty said I wouldn’t concern myself with it. You really can’t judge a place by this, since it’s like going for a hair cut and asking them if they buy new scissors often. Even if they say they’ve only had the machine a year, it could have been used and been used long before that. I really wouldn’t concern myself, but it chimes in with what we usually suggest: do a small area first like underarms to see how the results are before committing to anything large or any packages.

#4

The cryogen does get replaced though. and when the head is unable to spray it, the machine stops firing (I’ve had it happen in the middle of a treatment before). That’s not really “maintenance” so I assume the poster meant “does the machine need to be re-calibrated every so often and fuses checked” or something like that. The sort of thing that a specialist does (as opposed to the clinic just changing the head and replacing the cryogen bottle which is super simple).

I agree with edokid, the best way to judge is to test them out before buying any packages or any really expensive sessions.

#5

MagicalPrincess, you are right…you said it better than I did…I meant calibration, etc.

Ok, thanks for your input everyone. Much appreciated.

#6

I don’t think this is something you need to worry about. Even if they don’t get it serviced as often as they should, they’re not going to tell you that. :slight_smile:

What you should concentrate on is reading our FAQs (link below). Then you can print out the list of questions we recommend to ask (also below) and go in for consultations. It will be easier than you think to pick out the people who know what they’re doing and care about their customers. Once you are familiar with answers to the FAQs, you’ll know what to ask and you’ll be able to tell whether their answers are correct.

#7

Unless they answer all the questions correctly, and everything seems good except they don’t have their machines calibrated correctly and as a result you don’t get treated appropriately. There’s always that chance/risk with everything, I suppose. Sounds like it’s not something to be too concerned with. Thanks all!

#8

Unless they answer all the questions correctly, and everything seems good except they don’t have their machines calibrated correctly and as a result you don’t get treated appropriately. There’s always that chance/risk with everything, I suppose. Sounds like it’s not something to be too concerned with. Thanks all!

#9

unfortunately, it is not that simple. Most places buy their lasers from resellers. They are not properly calibrated and in most cases, you would not know that something went wrong, until it is too late. Lenses can be dirty, beam profiles can be scewed and you would not know that. I would ask the center whether they are getting their service from the actual manufacturer and then call the manufacturer to confirm. You would be surprised to see that most centers that use the manufacturer’s lasers don’t even have a service agreement.

#10

Thanks, Chris. Great insight as always.

#11

Calibration is important because power output gets weaker with the number of shots over time. A new machine doesn’t fire at its full power (it doesn’t need to) but the power output is tweaked up by re-calibration over the its useful life until no more tweaking is available then it should be replaced. (Many machines only need the handpiece replacing because that’s where the light source is.)

You can tell if a machine is not working when you can’t feel anything when a shot is fired. An effective shot should damage a lot of hair follicles causing them to swell and feel hot - it hurts!

Poorly calibrated machines may have low power output giving you a nice gentle treatment that is also not very effective.

#12

The service guy that comes to check our machines have a device that measures that actual energy that is being fired. As the hand piece get used, the energy decreases and after some time you should replace it. I assume that with the Soprano at least, many places would prefer to prolong the life of the hand piece simply because replacing it costs 15 grand.

#13

Yes we do use diode lasers but when we looked at purchasing other types of technology there always seemed to be a degradation of the light emitting part requiring replacement at some stage.

However automatic calibration would certainly take care of this on a treatment by treatment level until replacement became necessary. Our diodes require regular (usually annual) calibration.

#14

If beam profiles are scewed, your laser may still calibrate but eventually heat up the handpiece and pigment the person. Also, do not forget that some laser manufacturers have very high +/-
tolerance levels so you may not be able to catch a problem.

By the way, there are Alexandrite lasers that one can calibrate
once a day for all spot sizes and pulse durations and then not calibrate all day until the laser is shut off.