Air hockey is one of the most thrilling indoor games that definitely triggers an adrenaline rush when the puck is about to reach the goal. Two warriors on the opposite sides of a frictionless table compete only to pocket the puck in the opposing goal.
While owning an air hockey table can mean endless fun, there’s effort involved in keeping it functional. A dirty air hockey table can become useless due to the lack of smoothness. Other than that, if the table is not maintained properly, it can cost a lot in replacement of its parts.
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This article is particularly about the cleaning process of the holes on an air hockey table. We will be discussing the following points:
- Maintenance of an air hockey table
- Reasons to clean air hockey table holes
- Steps involved in cleaning air hockey table holes
- Frequency of cleaning air hockey table holes
1. Maintenance of an air hockey table
Cleaning and maintaining an air hockey table can take some effort, but it’s doable enough if you know all the steps. A full-sized air hockey table must be serviced often with regular upkeep to keep it performing well for extended periods of time.
This can make sure you get enough use of it to make it worth the price you paid for it. Therefore, it’s best to take out some time to learn about the proper cleaning procedure and important aspects of it. If you opt out of the cleaning part of the air hockey table, it will cost you money – not small, but huge amounts in replacements of the parts.
The general guideline is to clean the table’s surface with a damp cloth. If you haven’t dusted the table for long, before jumping to a damp cleaning, first dust off the table’s surface.
If you directly jump to clean it with a damp cloth in case of a dirty table, you may end up clogging the holes on the table. If you have got a vacuum cleaner, use it instead of a duster.
The surface cleaning part usually involves water, but some people may also use cleaning agents such as rubbing alcohol. Soap is definitely not a good option because it will clog the holes on the table’s surface. The puck and striker can be washed with soap, though.
If the holes are clogged, clean them using any pointed object such as a toothpick or a paper pin. Other than that, the most important part that needs cleaning is the fans.
A dirty fan will not create the air pressure required to continue the game, so make sure you dust off any dirt from the fans.
2. Reasons to clean air hockey table holes
Now that we are done with the basics of maintaining an air hockey table as a whole let’s move on to the holes.
Why should one clean air hockey table holes? If the holes are clogged with dust and debris, air from the fans will not be evenly distributed on the table, making the puck hard to slide in the areas where there are clogged holes.
Uneven distribution of air on the table will eventually result in a bad gaming experience. Who would like to get frustrated over an air hockey table that doesn’t let them play conveniently? To avoid this from happening, clean the holes with the methods we will discuss in the next section.
3. Steps involved in cleaning air hockey table holes
Air hockey table hole cleaning is a part of the overall process of maintaining the table. The steps for cleaning an air hockey table involve:
- Vacuuming the table surface
- Scrubbing/wiping the surface of the gaming field
- Unclogging the air hockey table holes
- Polishing the tabletop with wax
All these steps should be carried out while the fans of the table are turned on. This leads to no dirt clogging the surface of the table.
After the first two steps are complete, the cleaning of holes involves unclogging them using a toothpick, a cotton swab, or a drill bit. Make sure you don’t push the residual dust inside the holes.
Carefully take out the dirt and grime using anything such as a toothpick or a drill bit. Once the unclogging is complete, polish the table’s surface using wax. This will make the table’s surface smoother.
4. Frequency of cleaning air hockey table holes.
Cleaning the holes of an air hockey table is hard work. You must be wondering how often to do it when maintaining the table. If you use the table frequently, once a month is enough.
If you don’t use it much, cleaning it once in a couple of months will serve the purpose of having a smooth-functioning air hockey table.
