Commercial and Home Air Hockey Tables
The air hockey table
was invented in the early 1970s and they have seen many improvements since. The game has become very popular since its inception and now, you find air hockey tables in arcade game rooms, bars and other public places. As it has become a professional sport, people are choosing to purchase air hockey tables for their home too. There are many differences between a commercial air hockey table
and one built for home use. This guide will help you better understand what differences you may find between them.
Commercial air hockey tables
Commercial air hockey tables are built to fulfill financial purposes apart from allowing players to enjoy a good game. They need to be strong enough to sustain the heavy usage of multiple players throughout the day. Each player would be using a different amount of force, and beginners tend to be more forceful in their gameplay. The play surface is made by stainless steel, but it was earlier built from solid ply wood cabinets. Centrifugal fans are used to generate the air flow, while a system of servos or solenoids may be used to stop the puck in its place at the end of a game.
Home air hockey tables
The tables that are made for home use do not need to be as strong as the commercial ones. The heavy wood and steel is replaced with an MDF structure while the play surface is generally perforated plastic. Most home air hockey tables
use a large flat fan to generate the air flow, but some high-end tables may use a centrifugal fan.
Scoring
For commercial tables, the scoring and display systems are generally built into the steel frame and displays may show the score on the steel arch which is looped over the table. High-end home air hockey tables, on the other hand, might have an electronic scoring system complete with side mounted displays and goal sensors. One major difference would be that commercial air hockey tables may be coin-operated, allowing players to use the table only after a certain number of coins are inserted into a slot, while home tables have no need of such a function.
