Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bob Weeks on April 11, 2011 at 5:11am

Here's my rig. It's equipped with a NS Aurelia 2GRP, Hario Pour Over Bar, hot water tower, Mahlkonig K30 twin, and a Compak R100. It runs on a 7500w Generac RV Generator. You'll need a RV generator that is approved for National Parks. This is rated by the generators output of noise decibels. Noisy generators will not be tolerated in public places so it's very important to do your research. 

 

Attachments:

• TRAILER FM.jpg, 441 KB

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by MDU on April 14, 2011 at 3:33am

Bob your coffee trailer looks the part ,thank very much for that information.

Lovely day.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Shadow on April 14, 2011 at 11:37am

The generator chosen really depends on where you will be operating. Also good to have the ability to operate on electricity if available where you park.

 

There are a few problems with RV generators IMO. One thing is they're really expensive for the rating compared to a good standy generator. Also, you're very limited as to how much power you can get out of just one. One alternative is to get 2 RV generators and couple them together. But then you have alot of money invested to get a decent amount of power.

 

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Bob Weeks on April 14, 2011 at 12:45pm

When I first set this up I had a 13000w generator mounted on the front. Everywhere I went I got chased off because of the noise. The reason the RV generators are so expensive is because they are so quiet. Having electrical power at the sight is great, but not everyone has 220v. My espresso machine is 4500w and the hot water tower is 1800w, so that right there is eating up most of the generator power. However, they are hardly ever operating at max wattage and I'm very careful to make sure all the equipment isn't operating at the same time. My biggest problem has been the hot water tower not being able to keep up with the pour over station when it is super busy.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Laura Campbell on April 14, 2011 at 2:23pm

Post earthquake, my coffee shop was running a mobile set-up since our shops are inaccessible being next to crumbling buildings. We didn't do it from a van, we packed it all into an (unmodified) van and unpacked it into a gazebo-style tent. We ran off a generator (sorry, don't have the specs) and all we had to run was the machine (two group La San Marco), the grinder (Mazzer Robur) and the pump. Having the generator away from the set-up was great, we had quite a long power cord. That stopped the noise from being anything other than ambient, and we could also park the van between the gen set and the tent to block some of the noise out.

Most people these days seem to have vans, but we slapped together a mobile coffee shop ASAP to get out on the road, since we weren't otherwise working. We got really good at setting up and packing down- it took us about 10-15mins, and of course we had to wait for machine to heat (18mins), bringing the total set up time to about 20mins. We are used to working in small spaces (our shops are coffee bars as opposed to cafes) and we adapted really well. It was awesome, as we could set up anywhere we wanted to. Our first run, when this pic was taken, was at a local park, and we were entirely self sufficient with water in 25l containers for the machine- the water here wasn't safe to drink after the quake. But it seems prudent to take your own water anyway, the more self-sufficient, the better!

My first ever time in a mobile set up, lots of fun!

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by MDU on April 18, 2011 at 12:58am

Shadow 2 RV`s .How many cuppas do make at your busiest periods.

Shadow said:

The generator chosen really depends on where you will be operating. Also good to have the ability to operate on electricity if available where you park.

 

There are a few problems with RV generators IMO. One thing is they're really expensive for the rating compared to a good standy generator. Also, you're very limited as to how much power you can get out of just one. One alternative is to get 2 RV generators and couple them together. But then you have alot of money invested to get a decent amount of power.

 

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Shadow on April 18, 2011 at 5:50am

I agree noise can be an issue. We have a 13KW Generac Guardian "standby" on the back of the van and have had few complaints. The problem I see most people make is using portable generators strapped to their setups and they are the noisiest of the bunch.

 

RV generators are also expensive because of the compact size.

Bob Weeks said:

When I first set this up I had a 13000w generator mounted on the front. Everywhere I went I got chased off because of the noise. The reason the RV generators are so expensive is because they are so quiet. Having electrical power at the sight is great, but not everyone has 220v. My espresso machine is 4500w and the hot water tower is 1800w, so that right there is eating up most of the generator power. However, they are hardly ever operating at max wattage and I'm very careful to make sure all the equipment isn't operating at the same time. My biggest problem has been the hot water tower not being able to keep up with the pour over station when it is super busy.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Shadow on April 18, 2011 at 5:57am

MDU, we never really count cups as we prefer to go by dollar amount. Good day/event we are averaging $100-135 per hr. and that keeps us busy, especially if most of those drinks are blended.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by jonathan bonchak on April 18, 2011 at 9:11am

I don't have any experience with generators, but have worked on a coffee bike / cart setup that used marine batteries / converters, compak K8 grinder, 2gr Astoria Divina AL2 Levever machine with gas power assembly plumbed to two 15 gallon water tanks. Works beautifully looks amazing. Totally portable though it's owned / operated by a local professional bicycle rickshaw fleet - I add that to say that they've put a lot of research behind this and were experienced with weight distribution and bike tech. They developed cad drawings and the cart of custom designed by local stainless steel fabricators here in NC. All that aside, it's a really great system. The Astoria is an older modeled, now discontinued that we got for a great price just up the road in Greensboro.

 

• ▶ Reply

▶ Reply to Discussion