Air Hockey Tables

"Air Hockey Tables, Buying the right Air Hockey Game"

Everyday I get calls from home owners looking to buy an air hockey table for their children. The first question I’m confronted with is "are these arcade quality air hockey tables or coin operated." The answer is yes they are arcade or commercial quality and they can be coin-operated but the ones priced here are non-coin-operated. What most of my customers are used to seeing are the air hockey tables that are available in Wal Mart, DICK's and other sporting outlets which are priced much lower and for good reason. Those air hockey tables are lower quality. That usually leads me into asking them "how long they intended to use the air hockey table?" The response is “I don’t know maybe a few years or so” or “I don’t know does that really matter? Well of course it does.

Buying the right air hockey table for your children can be very deceptive and tricky process if you don’t know what you’re looking for. This “How To” article is designed to answer those questions and more importantly ones you wouldn’t have thought of.

Who is the air hockey table for? Simple enough question but take a moment and think about it. Is it for young children under six, teenagers, or adults? No matter what the age is everyone loves to play air hockey! So if you thought it was just for your six year old think again. You will love to play it with your children and they will love to play against mom and dad. So you need to find a table that will now work for both you and your children. That decision alone changes the type of air hockey table you should consider. Adults love air hockey as much as kids but because adults are larger you will need a table that can handle both young children and adults.

What makes air hockey fun? Huh….that’s right what makes it fun? Or maybe I should say what doesn’t make it fun? Still don’t know? It’s the speed at which the puck floats across the air hockey table surface or NOT! No thing is worse than playing air hockey and the puck getting stuck in the middle of the table because there is not enough air flow or in air hockey lingo “CFM” (cubic feet per minute) keeping the puck afloat. Quality tables will make this admission up front. Top quality air hockey tables will have a CFM rating of 350-400 CFM this would be what you find in the arcades, moderate tables will be 100-200 lesser expensive models but not cheap and poor quality table will be 200 and less, your cheap tables from mass merchandisers and discount stores. They have a serve a purpose it’s up to you to decide. Nothing is worse than playing air hockey and in the heat of the battle the puck comes to a stop in the middle of theair hockey table just at of reach of either player.

What makes for a good air hockey table? Several very important aspects of the construction of an air hockey table are extremely important.Are the sides of the table made from wood, plastic or particle board, press board or also referred to as melamine. Top quality tables use ¾” plywood like Great American. Some of the most popular brands like Dynamo use particleboard. They rely and their long history of being in the arcades to resonate with buyers as quality and offer an inferior quality. Than it goes to flat out cheap plastic.

Next there is the type of motor that produces the all important air flow or CFM. The top quality tables use commercial/industrial grade blower motors producing 300-400 CFM. Not a fan or dual fans or turbo fans as some advertise. Just a large Blower placed in a well sealed baffle. The ones with fans – single, double or turbo all don’t have the reliability that a blower motor has. These are the tables where over time your puck will not float over the table top but instead will get stuck have way out. I crack up when I walk into DICKS or Sports Authority and see people buying these TURBO models that will eventually fail for $500-$700 dollars!

Does size matter? Yes it does! Why are you buying an air hockey table to begin with? To have the same kind of fun you experienced in the arcade in your home! Well playing air hockey with a 2 ¼ ” puck and paddles that leave your fingers dangling over the will all tarnish your enthusiasm for playing air hockey! Don’t make the mistake in thinking that “well he’s small now and it will do. He’ll grow out of it”. Think again. You still enjoy a good game when you’re at the arcades with him or even your wife or friend. Don’t forget kids grow-up! And if you have an air hockey table they can grow into than they will play it just as long. Trust me playing on an air hockey table that uses a small puck and small paddles is no fun for anyone but the smallest of kids – and I mean small! Don’t fool yourself into thinking “okay I’ll buy the cheap or moderate priced table and than buy the real arcade quality pucks and paddles and switch them out. It won’t work for several reasons. Mainly the “Dual Turbo Fan” that these cheaper tables use can’t float the arcade quality puck! Never mind that even if it could the puck can’t fit through the scoring hole.

Nice legs!

That’s right quality air hockey tables have well designed legs. Often they are injected molded and face in on an angle towards the center of the air hockey table. They also typically bolt on the bottom of the table and not the side of the table or even worse through a pre drilled hole in the table and the leg that uses a bolt. Why is this so important? When you are playing air hockey you have a tendency to lean into the table with your weight and also leaning over the table with your upper body and arm adding more weight and pressure to the table which is transferred to the legs. Over time the legs that get installed perpendicular to the table will loosen and the bolt holes will become larger than the original bolt and you have a irreparable situation. Outside the blower motor the quality and design of the legs are next in importance.

GOALLLLLLLL! Keeping score of your air hockey game is where the cheap tables have the edge. They are great at selling you on the “bells & whistles.” If keeping score electronically is important to you than you’ll have to pony-up some more bucks to get that feature on the top quality tables. If nothing what I just relayed to you is as important as having electronic scoring than reading this may have been a waste of your time.

Okay so after all this what table do I recommend? If you consider everything I went over and what makes a table great there’s only one – Great American 8’ manual scoring air hockey table. Many of you might have thought a Dynamo table. Dynamo makes a good table but Great American makes a better one for less money and that’s a huge plus. Lets look at why I choose the Great American 8’ manual scoring air hockey table. To start with it is made of ¾” plywood sides. It has a industrial blower motor rated at 875 CFM and has a 3 year warranty! The legs are injected molded and the table is a beast. It uses commercial style/quality pucks and paddles identical to the arcades and a nice safety feature where there are slightly oversized aluminum top rails that aide in keeping the puck from flying off the table hitting a lamp, picture or you! It also has an automatic blower shut off so if someone forgets to turn off the game or gets distracted and runs out without turning it off it will do so automatically after ten minutes. It also comes with a manual scoring system that will allow you to keep score but I have found that often no one really cares what the score is they just play till their arm is about to fall off! But for those competitors who need a score it does the job nicely and its one less thing to worry about breaking. But this table is available with electronic scoring for a slightly higher price offering the same top qualities.

You might think that this table is overkill and for some it might be but dollar for dollar it’s the better buy. The table is so strong you can put a switchtop on it and play ping pong. Or place a heavy plastic type table cover over it and use it as a buffet table – though I won’t use it to hold beverages! So when your out this holiday season looking at the discount/sport stores selection of air hockey table think about this. When else do they carry them except for the Holidays? They don’t so what are your chances of getting any sales help two months later when the fan motor fails?

Oh and one last thing. Many call and ask how to clean a air hockey table. The answer is simple – you don’t! Know you may want to keep it covered with a sheet or pool table cover but what does need to be cleaned are the paddles and pucks. Using a light sand paper or grit paper you gently sand the bottom of the paddles removing all the dirt it collected and the same to the puck. . Don’t try to clean the air hockey table surface with a paper towel or chemicals because that will only clog the tiny holes. Remember any dust that collects on the table will be blown up and out once you turn it on. If you try and wipe it off you will only pack it into the tiny holes.

As mentioned earlier a inexpensive plastic pool cover will help keep the dust to a minimum and prevent any accidental spillage or problems that will damage the table top. I you have further questions call me toll free 877.956.0223 - Lutz