I said "No Way", HOWEVER !!!!!

The price of drinks & ice last summer was a killer and I have always said the Post Mix Bag in a Box systems don't work well in a trailer (at least that's what I've been told).  HOWEVER, we are outfitting a new trailer this winter and I think I'm going to give up and try it.   The old pre-mix is hard to find and I am tired of lugging around cases of cans or bottles plus handling 20 to 30 bags of ice every day.
 
I have found a reconditioned 6 head machine  for $150.00 that will be guaranteed so if I am going to do it, now is the time while the trailer is basically an empty shell.  From those I have talked to they say my biggest problem will be having enough fresh water storage.  Can those of you who use a B&B system in a trailer give me an idea as to how large a tank I should install.  I can either put it under the counter or outside on the tongue.  Some shows may have fresh water connections but most won't so I will need to operate up to 5 days with what water I can haul.
 
Anyone who is currently using a B&B in a trailer, please jump in and give me all the advice you can.  I am hoping to get my coke distributor to help with the hook up after I get it installed.  The 6 head comes with the carbonators, pumps, hoses and everything (he said) to hook it up.  Thanks a lot.
 
Mike S.

Mike,
I can't imagine how big a water tank you'd need for up to 5 days, of vending water consumption.

At those events that don't normally have water connections, don't they have a fire plug. You can buy adapters that will screw right on to a fire hydrant and run a hose from it to your trailer.

5 days of washing dishes, soft drink usage, cleaning, and washing hands, would in my mind be a lot of water. And what does water weigh (8.34) lbs per gallon? That's going to be a ton of weight and a big tank.

Jack

When I know we are going to be out 5 or so days I have a large 300gal tank I carry in the bed of my pickup for filling my inside tank I use for dish/hand washing but don't know if I could use that same tank for the fountain drinks or not.  Guess I better call the HD and find out.

Mike S.

You should be able to do that but it wuld be the local health department at the vending site that would make the call not your home county health department.

That's one of the few things that I'd do and not mention. That is as along as your very sure the water is good. If anyone ask you just play dumb. LOL

If you carrying that amount of water your ok for a five day gig. Then your inside tank need not be more than 20 or 30 gallons because you can fill it as needed. You just need to go from opening to some slow down point in midafternoon and refill your inside tank.

I looked at a system on Ebay after you first posted on this topic and the system I looked at had a pressure gauge/regulator built in to it, so your water pressure would always be the same. Your a craftsmen you'll do it right and it'll work fine.

Chilling cans can be a pain in the butt.  Will your ice usage go up or down now?

Rootsman


Chilling cans can be a pain in the butt.  Will your ice usage go up or down now?

I know the usage will go way down,  I figure about 1/4 of what we used last year.  Last year we sold 20oz bottles in these large barrel dispensers we got from coke.  During July and August we would go through 20 to 30 20lb bags a day.  Last season we spent over $2,000 on just ice.
 
I had thought about using a Wunderbar set up if it would take up less room but have never used one and don't know anything about them.  If someone has uses one, please jump in.  Thanks.
 
Mike S.

One thing you should take into consideration is filtering the water.  If it's not filtered for taste, the soda could have an odd flavor.  Almost all locations that serve fountain sodas filter their water.  Their are a couple of places near me that don't filter their water and the soda is almost undrinkable.  I'm sure it has something to do with the quality of the municipal water, but why take a chance?  Home depot has simple filters that would work and probably save you some customer complaints. 

mlooney56


One thing you should take into consideration is filtering the water.  If it's not filtered for taste, the soda could have an odd flavor.  Almost all locations that serve fountain sodas filter their water.  Their are a couple of places near me that don't filter their water and the soda is almost undrinkable.  I'm sure it has something to do with the quality of the municipal water, but why take a chance?  Home depot has simple filters that would work and probably save you some customer complaints. 

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA!!   Every place I tried to drink a fountain soda down was horrible!  It was a very odd chemical aftertaste.   I tried drinking colas, sierra mist, dr. pepper/root beer, nothing was drinkable.  
 
You know, Manhattan has some of the best tasting tap water anywhere, believe it or not!  I was dead thirsty and wasn't about to pay $5 for a bottle of water out of the mini-bar.
 

Is there a reason why you serve your canned drinks from an ice bin rather than from the fridge?  I have a True under counter double fridge in my trailer that I was planning on using to serve canned drinks from.  It can hold about 60 of them at about 30 degrees. Is this not a good idea?

Why would you need to carry 5 days of water, Are you selling in the desert. You should be able to get water daily to refill your holding tanks. I would look into 5 gal jugs that you can refill at the grocery story. This should be a good easy way to get a fresh water supply daily. There is also water companies that can deliver to your site daily. The mark up on pop is good at events you should be able to recoup the cost of the water. you could have a set up that lets you put a 5 gal jug on the outside and when its empty just throw on another. Why can't Coke pay for it???? if that was my trailer Pepsi would be installing it...............Billb

AZdog


Is there a reason why you serve your canned drinks from an ice bin rather than from the fridge?  I have a True under counter double fridge in my trailer that I was planning on using to serve canned drinks from.  It can hold about 60 of them at about 30 degrees. Is this not a good idea?

The reason we use ice is because we tried a fridge and it wouldn't recover fast enough.  On an average day we will sell about 300 to 350 bottles of pop.  We found with a fridge it takes quite a while to cool them down.  However, if you stick a bottle or can in an ice barrel it will cool in just a few minutes and we didn't have any problem keeping cold pop ready for sale.
 
Mike S.

BillyB


Why would you need to carry 5 days of water, Are you selling in the desert. You should be able to get water daily to refill your holding tanks. I would look into 5 gal jugs that you can refill at the grocery story. This should be a good easy way to get a fresh water supply daily. There is also water companies that can deliver to your site daily. The mark up on pop is good at events you should be able to recoup the cost of the water. you could have a set up that lets you put a 5 gal jug on the outside and when its empty just throw on another. Why can't Coke pay for it???? if that was my trailer Pepsi would be installing it...............Billb

The only time I use my big tank is when we are doing 4 or 5 days away from water.  We have several 5 gal plastic jugs we could use but since I have the big tank I use occasionally on my farm anyway(don't panic it is FDA approved), I just throw it in the back of my pickup, filll it half full and go.  If we are doing just 2 or 3 days away from water we use the 5 gallon jugs.
 
I've checked the cost and the B&B is $.02oz and by the bottle is $.03oz so I save 33% on product cost and cut my ice expense.  I want to use Coke because their bags are not gravity fed like Pepsi's are (Coke sucks out the product) and I can put Coke bags under the counter while the Pepsi bags would have to be put up higher.   Around here neither Coke or Pepsi will put a fountain system in anything that has wheels.  If I had a brick & Mortar, Coke said they would be glad to put one in and hook it up at no charge but not in anything mobile.  Also I can't stand Pepsi, it taste like I'm drinking downstream from a herd of cattle.  LOL
 
Mike S.

I've got the same True fridge in my trailer and it works great and should suffice for up to 400 sodas.  Each shelf will hold about 50 drinks (so that's 200) and each bottom should hold about 100 (so that's another 200) It will take a few hours to chill so plug in overnight.  Need more sodas, then serve from one side only, refill when 1/2 empty and it should be cold a few hours before the end of the day.   Be careful though as it will get cold enough to freeze and bust cans over a couple days, so turn it down when not in actice use.
 
Other techniques are to chill in fridge, but serve from a medium size cooler by the serving window for additional chilling and to reduce the number of times letting hot air into the fridge.