https://derminator.com Page 1
INSTRUCTIONS
Derminator
®
2
Revision of September 18, 2026
https://derminator.com Page 2
Table of contents
PRIOR READING ................................................................................................................................................................. 4
How to use the buttons (1 ½ min watch and start needling!) ...................................................................................... 4
Important general dermaneedling guidelines .............................................................................................................. 4
Smartphone-optimized Quick-Start guide .................................................................................................................... 4
Derminator® 2 info page with videos ............................................................................................................................ 4
How to properly attach the rubber feet to the machine .............................................................................................. 4
The latest version of this user manual .......................................................................................................................... 4
Dermaneedling articles and our old forum with 3000 questions answered ................................................................ 4
The dermaneedling (and Derminator) part of our store ............................................................................................... 4
ADDITIONAL ITEMS IN THE BOX ........................................................................................................................................ 5
INTRODUCING THE DERMINATOR 2 .................................................................................................................................. 6
Cartridges, speed and depth ......................................................................................................................................... 6
Smart Timer ................................................................................................................................................................... 6
No pore tearing with the Derminator ........................................................................................................................... 7
No skin damage with the derminator ........................................................................................................................... 8
IMPORTANT PRECAUTIONS ............................................................................................................................................. 11
NEEDLING TECHNIQUES (GENERAL) ............................................................................................................................... 12
9 and 12-needle cartridge ........................................................................................................................................... 12
1-needle cartridge ....................................................................................................................................................... 13
NEEDLING TECHNIQUES FOR THE SCALP ........................................................................................................................ 13
CARTRIDGE MOUNTING .................................................................................................................................................. 14
MAGNET REMOVAL ......................................................................................................................................................... 14
CARTRIDGE LIFETIME ...................................................................................................................................................... 14
CARE & MAINTENANCE ................................................................................................................................................... 15
CARTRIDGE DISINFECTION .............................................................................................................................................. 16
THE DISPLAY EXPLAINED ................................................................................................................................................. 17
1. Operating mode ...................................................................................................................................................... 18
2. Power indicator ....................................................................................................................................................... 18
3. Depth setting ........................................................................................................................................................... 18
4. Shows the number of needles in the currently used needle cartridge ................................................................... 18
5. Countdown (remaining seconds) for the Smart Timer ........................................................................................... 19
6. Needling depth indicator ........................................................................................................................................ 20
SMART TIMER – HOW TO USE IN DETAIL ........................................................................................................................ 21
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MANUALLY CALCULATING TREATMENT TIME ................................................................................................................. 23
ERROR MESSAGES ........................................................................................................................................................... 24
Magnet stuck or missing or magnet bad/stuck or bad cartridge ................................................................................ 24
Magnet removed or attracted out .............................................................................................................................. 25
Magnet flew out! find it/buy new ............................................................................................................................... 26
Sensor failure .............................................................................................................................................................. 26
TROUBLESHOOTING ........................................................................................................................................................ 27
Buttons do not work ................................................................................................................................................... 27
Dead display ................................................................................................................................................................ 27
Machine does not needle at all but display works ...................................................................................................... 27
Needle cartridge and magnet fly off the hand unit .................................................................................................... 28
Needles do not come out at all, or insufficiently so, or scratch, or needle irregularly, or needling stops.................. 29
What to do in case of all needling & magnet problems if you need our support ....................................................... 32
WARRANTY POLICY ......................................................................................................................................................... 33
How to get support ..................................................................................................................................................... 33
CONFIGURATIONS SETTINGS ........................................................................................................................................... 34
Firmware version ......................................................................................................................................................... 34
Magnet monitor .......................................................................................................................................................... 34
Swap warning .............................................................................................................................................................. 34
Show Hall value ........................................................................................................................................................... 34
Recalibrate .................................................................................................................................................................. 34
Factory Reset ............................................................................................................................................................... 34
COMPLIANCE STATEMENTS ............................................................................................................................................. 35
FCC .............................................................................................................................................................................. 35
Canada ........................................................................................................................................................................ 35
EU ................................................................................................................................................................................ 35
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ............................................................................................................................................ 36
IMPORTANT WARNINGS AND DISCLAIMER .................................................................................................................... 38
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PRIOR READING
How to use the buttons (1 ½ min watch and start needling!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4SdrL6-XPY
Important general dermaneedling guidelines
https://owndoc.com/dermaneedling-guidelines.pdf
Smartphone-optimized Quick-Start guide
https://derminator.com/Derminator-quick-start-guide.html
Derminator® 2 info page with videos
https://derminator.com/
How to properly attach the rubber feet to the machine
https://derminator.com/Mounting-the-rubber-feet.pdf
The latest version of this user manual
https://derminator.com/Derminator2-instructions.pdf
Dermaneedling articles and our old forum with 3000 questions
answered
https://owndoc.com
The dermaneedling (and Derminator) part of our store
https://owndoc.shop/Dermaneedling
https://derminator.com Page 5
ADDITIONAL ITEMS IN THE BOX
Protective cap that prevents the reciprocating magnet from getting
attracted out of the hand unit by a metal object when you put it
somewhere after use. The motor of the machine can never break because
its sole moving part is a magnet that actuates the needle cartridge and
causes sensor feedback to the machine to tell it how deep the needles are
needling. It will fly high into the air when you run the machine without
cartridge! Just put it back in - it's being retained by a tiny magnet inside.
You can buy a spare magnet for $3.
Ear plugs for when you're needling the face. The machine is loud
because its motor is so strong that it can be used to needle over
hair and also so that it can move so swiftly in & back out of the
skin that it does not cause microtearing. And quick jabs hurt less
than slow ones!
Rubber feet to prevent the device from sliding. They fit perfectly
flush with the base but only when you rotate them into their
proper orientation! Push and rotate them into the bottom case
holes until they have no uneven gaps.
1-needle cartridge. All our cartridges arrive sterilized and do not
expire. This is the single needle cartridge. Used on wrinkles,
elongated scars, stretch marks and acne scars and other places
where you want fine control. The single needle also can, with a
"trick", reach 3.5 mm depth. See the full PDF user manual.
9-needle cartridge. 9 needles go 33% slower than 12 needles
but, at least in theory, also hurt 33% less. We recommend using
9 needles only for people who want to promote hair growth and
needle over hair. The risk of the hair getting entangled and
stalling or loosening the cartridge is 33% less than with 12
needles.
12-needle cartridge. The workhorse for general skin treatment.
We sell four times more of this cartridge than of the 9-needle
one.
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INTRODUCING THE DERMINATOR 2
Cartridges, speed and depth
Cartridges are available with 1, 9 or 12 needles. They have a silicone spring/sleeve to
prevent blood or skin treatment serums from entering the device.
The needling speed can be slow (3 Hz), medium (5 Hz) or fast (25 Hz). The slower speeds are
rarely used, mainly to emulate a dermastamp or single needle, when very precise
treatment of very small areas are required. How to estimate the treatment time for an area
of skin is explained further in this manual.
The needling depth is set with a push button and can be set to 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.25, 1.5,
1.75, 2, 2.25 or 2.5 mm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4SdrL6-XPY
shows how the buttons are used and not
get stuck in Timer mode). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4SdrL6-XPY
Smart Timer
The Derminator
®
2 is able to count down the time required to optimally treat a skin patch of
a certain area by calculating the treatment time required based on the needling frequency
used to automatically result in the optimal prick density. All you do is select inches or cm
and provide the skin area as length and width. Then you can start needling at any punching
speed and even vary that speed. The machine will stop automatically when the skin has
been treated optimally. All the user needs to do is move the machine smoothly at least
once over the entire area during the allotted, calculated total treatment time. The
remaining time is displayed as it counts down. Exactly how to use the timer is explained
further in this manual.
Don’t use the timer for regular needling sessions – it’s intended for inexperienced users
and needs quite a lot of button pushes. If you find yourself often unintentionally “ending
up” with the timer function asking for input, watch the above video on how to avoid that.
https://derminator.com Page 7
No pore tearing with the Derminator
This is what “micro”-tearing looks like at its most extreme. Note that skin is very flexible
and paper is not. Therefore, when needling paper, things look much worse. We made this
photo by using one of the worst quality competing machines on the market at the time. It is
caused by a pen-type device having a sewing-machine-like motor which spends much time
with the needles down instead of pushing and pulling the needles in and out very rapidly
like the Derminator does. It looks totally fake but we most assuredly were utterly horrified.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij1dfdGPN5k&t=53s
shows us using a microscope and
needle paper with our device and another device. It’s filmed in a single take without any
editing. The demonstrated tearing is less severe as in the above photo but still very
substantial. Microtearing rips the edges of pores, which can cause permanent pore
(boundary) enlargement. Only a very powerful motor can move the needles in and out in a
few milliseconds. Engineers call this a “short duty-cycle”. That is why the Derminator
®
2 is
much louder than Chinese “pen” devices – which all are repurposed, feeble permanent
makeup pens. Because the Derminator has a much larger, more powerful motor, designed
specifically for the requirements of Dermaneedling. Our motor still weighs a mere 90 grams
(3 oz) and is very ergonomic to use.
https://derminator.com Page 8
No skin damage with the derminator
This is how all needle cartridges look like with more than 18 or so needles. Here is the 42-
“needle” Dr. Pen cartridge under magnification. Their 36-needle one looks the same.
(See red "1") Dr. Pen's fake "needles" do not have a sharp conical tip as we expect needles
to have. Instead, Dr. Pen's "needle" tips are ragged, roughly semi-circle-shaped "slicers". It's
should be clear that we don't want any of those slicing edges to move horizontally though
our skin, which always happens to a certain extent due to the horizontal movement of your
hand while the needles are inside the skin or in the process of piercing it.
(See red "2") The tip-end of Dr. Pen's "needles" are also shaped like slicing knives, being
much thinner than the round diameter of real needles, as well as having sharp edges. Dr.
Pen simply can't avoid that, with so many needles in a cartridge. Their 36-needle cartridges
also have fake needles. These final "needle" ends can therefore also act like knives,
traveling horizontally through the skin. When we use the needle orientation in the photo as
an example, this happens when the direction of movement is SE or NW. And the faster you
move the pen, the worse the slicing effect will be.
(See red "3") Normal needles aren't flat or quadratic but round. A round needle, when
pushed a little horizontally through the skin, either when inside the skin or in the process of
penetrating it, has the most possible achievable difficulty, slicing it. Whereas in this case a
quadratic shape presents a 90 degree angle, in this case the angle itself is not dramatically