Electric Grooming Tables
Electric Grooming Tables
Electric grooming tables are typically reserved for professional use only. I have yet to find (though they may exist) a notable home use electric lift grooming table. The majority of products in this line are designed and/or intended for use specifically in a professional grooming shop. These tables are typically (in simplest terms) identical to commercial grade hydraulically actuated grooming tables in quality of construction and robustness albeit they are lowered and raised via an electric motor as opposed to a hydraulic foot pump. What you are paying for is the ability to press a button with your foot to raise and lower the table as opposed to pumping a pedal. Whether or not this luxury is worth an extra $300-$1000 is up to the individual that will be using it.
From experience I know that a hydraulic table can typically be lifted from the floor to full extension in under 15 pumps and that the effort required to pump the table is minimal at best and can be slightly exacerbated based on the weight of the dog. Regardless I have had female groomers under 100lbs comfortably lift dogs in excess of 180 lbs on a hydraulic table without problems. I would imagine that the electric table would be of use to an infirmed or elderly groomer; although I am unsure why they would still be grooming at this point as pet grooming is a physically demanding job. In reality I would consider this style of table to be a luxury item, totally unnecessary but cool to say you have.
The main disadvantage that I see is that no matter how you slice it there is an electrical cord that must now be accounted for. An electrical cord that must go somewhere and that may present a tripping and/or shock hazard. In order to avoid either or both of these problems the business owner would at the very least have to install an outlet with GFI (Ground Fault Interrupt) in the floor. This would prevent the business owner from having to run the cord along the floor to the wall, it would also trip the circuit in the event water from the grooming tub or moisture from some other source shorted the outlet. Ground fault interrupters are designed to protect from electrical shock by interrupting a household circuit when there is a difference in the currents in the "hot" and neutral wires. Such a difference indicates that an abnormal diversion of current from the "hot" wire is occurring. That current diversion may be occurring because a person has come into contact with the "hot" wire and is being shocked. Considering this could mean busting into the slab and running conduit under the foundation the installation of a GFI outlet could be considerably more trouble than it is worth.
The other alternative would be to push the grooming table up against a wall, again eliminating the hazard of a cord running along the floor although totally eliminating the ability to walk a full 360 around that table. It is also not at all uncommon for dogs to knock tools such as scissors and clippers off of the grooming table; both of which could damage the cord if they were to fall on it. Unlikely, you say.. well as Murphy's law would have it both scissors and clippers that fall from the table tend to land blade or pointy side down so at the very least you will be forced to pay to resharpen and deburr them after a drop; happens all the time; both could compromise the insulation along the tables electrical cord. The other disadvantage that I would see would be the effect of humidity on electrical components and the simple fact that the more complex an item, the more likely it is to have a weak link and break.
A hydraulic table is simple, it is nothing more than a hydraulic car jack connected to a base and flat table surface. In all likelihood it will work first time, every time for a long time. I have hydraulic tables that have been in service in excess of 15 years that I have never had to maintenance, aside from replacing bent swing arms here and there after a large dog tried to swan dive off the table and bent them. It is my opinion based on years of experience using electric clippers, electric shampoo machines, electric fans, electric dryers etc. all of which have broken at some point in their duty cycle that it would be difficult for an electric table to attain the same type of longevity and reliability that a hydraulic one would have.
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