Buying Your Own Machine

I am often asked, "Where can I buy a Slurpee Machine?" Good question! Today I will try my best to answer it, or at least give you an idea.

There are a number of things you need to consider if you are contemplating purchasing your own machine. The first major hurdle is probably the price. How much are you willing to spend? You can get a toy machine for perhaps around $20, which may or may not work, and probably won't create anything like an authentic Slurpee. If you are willing to spend more, say $600 or so, you might be lucky and find a used machine to buy. Or, you can opt for a brand new machine, which can cost anywhere from $2,000, to as much as $14,000.

Knowing what you are willing to spend can direct you to where to look. If you wish to pursue a used machine, you may want to start by looking at EBay which often lists machines, both new and used. One thing to note about buying off of ebay is that the machine that you purchase may require additional parts and assembly; there is also the cost of shipping.

Another thing you need to know about is about the types and brands of machines available. There are a number of different brands available, including Taylor (used by most 7-Elevens in Canada), Cornelius (used in many 7-Elevens in the US) and Lancer (also used in the US), as well as Bunn. The websites of these companies provide information on the various machines and models that they have, and also have contact information. If you plan to buy a new machine, it would probably be best to look at their site and to contact them to find out more about price, machine requirements, and where the nearest distributor is.

One of the major hurdles in owning your own machine is finding syrup. A lot of flavours are difficult, if not impossible to get (some flavours cannot be purchased at all because they are created to be used solely by 7-Eleven). Please keep this in mind -- since you may not be able to create your favourite spongebob-under-the-sea or crush blue bubblegum flavours in your own machine. You may be able to find local distributors of syrup. Syrup can also be ordered online; for example: liquidiceusa.com.

On the My Slurpee Cup Messageboard, you can also find more information from those who have bought themselves a machine. If you have questions, I recommend taking a look at the board. There a number of members who often post and are more than happy to answer questions and give advice on the topic.

 

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A fellow Slurper emailed me some information about obtaining a Slurpee machine that I hope will be helpful as well:

Right now, on ebay there are quite a few that people
have. There are machines that are for Frozen Carbonated Beverages, and Uncarbonated Frozen Beverages. Cornelius, which is a manufacturer of all types of beverage equipment, recently took a bunch of machines out of service at 7-11 due to an upgrade. The ones that are available now are the FCB V3. They are going for around $700. However, to ship these items, they are the size of a fridge, so shipping is generally around $700 as well. The V3 machines are about 8 to 12 years old. Most are cleaned and tested. Just have to check around to see who is selling and what they offer. These machines do not have to run 24 hours a day as some might think. They can be shut down for any number of time.

Here is a list of basic facts about these machines and what it takes to hook one up:

What you need~

Cornelius (Frozen Carbonated Beverage) FCB V3 Machine or ewer.
-Runs on 220 Volt 50amp line
-Sold as 2 flavor or 4 flavor
-Roughly weighs 800 lbs
-Refrigerator size
-Instructions found on www.cornelius.com
-Hook up lines: CO2, Water (should be filtered), Syrup

Bag in a Box
-This is syrup concentrate that is sold in a bag in a box. They are
about
$60 per 5gallon box. Makes approximately 30 gallons of product.
-Each flavor box will need a syrup pump, or known as a BIB pump. The pump runs on compressed air or C02.

C02 Tank
-This will hook up directly to 2 pressure regulators, one regulator
will go to the machine, and the other line from the other regulator will go to the BIB pumps.

Filtered water supply line.
-This connects directly to the machine.

No matter what, always use stainless steel fittings! If copper or brass is used, it will poison you when it mixes with the syrup or carbonated water. Overall it costs around $2500 dollars all together

If you look up in the phone book under "Beverage" you will find company's who will sell you everything you need, for a heftily price, and they will install and maintain it for you if you give them that option. My suggestion is for people who are interested, is start doing some research and reading around. Go to the cornelius site and look up FCB in their search bar and read some of the manuals. That will give you a good idea of what is needed.

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I hope that this gave you an idea about how to buy your own Slurpee machine.

If you are a current owner of a machine and you would like me to add something to this page; Or, if you believe that I have an error on this page (or if something isn't clear), please email me.

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Last Updated: November 5, 2007