Redneck Margarita Mixer

Intro: Redneck Margarita Mixer

There are some "inventions" by others, not Instructables members or followers, that shouldn't be lost to time........this is one of those inventions.  I saw it for sale on the local Craigslist, and post it here so that its creator's ingenuity isn't lost.

in the creator's own words (slightly edited for grammar and spelling), from the Craigslist post:

One of a kind Margarita Mixer. Everything custom. Had no plans to follow.

Custom made box with a 5 gallon Igloo cooler on top. BRAND NEW InSinkErator Evolution compact garbage disposal in the wooden box ($179 at Home Depot). Everything on this came from Home Depot.

What it does with a flip of a switch is chops up ice and liquor or non-liquor together to make a margarita or slushie. It mixes everything using the return pipe, running into the top. With a turn of handle the product comes out.

This would be GREAT for tailgate parties, wedding receptions, general parties and family reunions!

http://columbiamo.craigslist.org/for/2992528384.html

Comments

[DeGumbia]

Saw this video from a post on Digg that caused me to search for an Instructable, it proves it does in fact work, although in this video the return pipe is on the inside of the cooler helping in mixing and stirring the Margarita in the same direction as the Insinkerator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBm04npLu6I

[Badger1380]

I went to a party tonight where they were running one of these and it made one hell of a margarita!

[lime3D]

I'm not quite following. What is the purpose for the T in the discharge pipe? The InSinkErator does not have a pump, so how does the mix flow up the pipe?

[weblar]

The spinning motor/blades of the garbage disposal apparently work similarly to a centrifugal pump, and in fact are capable of pushing the ground ice/margarita mix through the pipes for a short distance.

The "tee" fitting in the line past the garbage disposal output allows mix not discharged through the valve to be returned back to the Igloo container on top through the vertical pipe that discharges near the top of the Igloo container.

[lime3D]

Thanks for the info.

And please don't take the rest of this as any kind of argument (I hate it when people debate an instructable).....

I would have loved to be able to see the thing in action. (The seller didn't show any photos of it working, did he?)

From what I know of the inner workings of a gargage disposal, the waste is flung out into an annulus, and carried through the discharge by gravity. I suppose if the chamber was completely full of liquid all the time (as it would be in this case) you might be able to get the fluid in the annulus to rotate.

It is too bad that the discharge pipe is normal (perpendicular) to the center line of the unit. If it were comming off tangent to the annulus (like a centrifugal pump) I would be more likely to think it would work.

Having said all that, I would also be afraid of cleanliness. Of course you could run soap and water, and even some bleach through it when you were done, but the components inside the unit were never meant to handle FOOD, only waste. After the first use, I'm sure it would start to rust. Yuk.

Anyone else have thoughts?

By the way, do you remember how much the seller was asking for it?