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Watermaker and E/R Monitoring Recommendations

Discussion in 'Watermakers' started by DOCKMASTER, Sep 16, 2019.

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  1. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    31 gph is a pain in the ass with more than 4 people on board, or needed water for rinsing the boat and fishing. You pretty much have to make sure to start it when the tank level gets to 60% and run it for 12 hours just to keep up with showers and such. On your size boat, around 50 GPH is the magic number for me. I like modular units, it means the parts you need to access and service are actually accessable!
  2. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    W W W WHAT???? over 750 GPD is not enough for 4 people????
    Your suggesting a 1200 GPD unit?
  3. DOCKMASTER

    DOCKMASTER Senior Member

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    I hold 240 gals and have done 3-4 day trips and managed not to run out. So 750 gpd is more than adequate. I'm only looking at a larger unit so the actual run time can be less. I doubt I would run either unit more than 2-3 hrs every other day. I don't need to rinse the boat off. I'm in a rain forest and mother nature does that for me all day long :):) We use seawater wash down for keeping the cockpit clean of the blood and guts.
  4. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    I have dual 200 GPD and have entertained 4 & 6 guest for several days in the Abacos.
    Ice-makers, Laundry, Swim-out shower, Equipment rinse off, Showers and Galley, never got low on water.
    I cant imagine 750 GPD.
  5. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Why bother rinsing the boat if you are using salt water???

    It all depends on who’s on board... female add 50% to the estimated water usage! Long hair? Add 25%. Male? Reduce by 25%. Couples with oversized shower stall? Add 30%. Gender neutral? Not sure :) On charter? Add 30%. Owners? Add 10% and tell them they need to upgrade the WM :) fishing buddies? They don’t need to shower...
  6. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    200 GPD???? Is that hand operated or something? That's like 9 gallons per hour. I figure about 35 GPD per person when you figure in the cooking/tender/keeping the outside clean......

    The 66' Sunseeker I'm on goes through that with just ice makers and stuff (almost). With 8 people on board, on anchor, we go through 250-300 gallons per day. One time, they went through the entire water tank (250 gallons) in 1.5 hours...….All came back from snorkeling, 6 people go to take showers......I start the Watermaker at 67%, and it makes 40 GPH.....some are up and start prepping food for dinner as I keep checking the water tank gauge...….it got down to 5%...….then everyone sat down for dinner...….they get done, it's at 23%, and they start rinsing dishes and run the dishwasher and back to ground zero...…...

    I like to be able to fill the tank in less than 4 hours. You know the quality of the water your in, can do it between marina's in the Exumas, etc...….
  7. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Capt J you forgot the washing machine(s) :)

    With a full house (10 guests 3 crews) we use 500 to 700 gal a day. 1400 gpd watermaker runs up to 10-12 hours a day.

    A few times I waited till the 400gal tank was down to 30% to start it and it couldn’t keep up... close call :)
  8. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    Yeah, that was running too!!!! But an all in one and I think on dry mode at the time...….the best is the vent is on the side deck, so if you leave it running and it's full when people are about to take a shower, you have a river running down the side deck and down the side of the aft deck teak......and stairs to swim platform...….

    Another trip on a 62' Princess, there were 11 people, 8 guests/3 crew. It had a 30 GPH watermaker and we were on a 3 day trip and anchoring every night...…..the watermaker stayed on as soon as the tank got to 60% and never shut off for the entire trip, and we only had it coming out of the vent 1 time for 40 minutes......LOLOLOL
  9. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Auggh
    Water pigs. Usually shot that evening.

    We don't charter. Friends and family only on our boat. All have an understanding of how things work.
    Seems they were kinder to the ship than I thought. We never had a water problem. Come close some times but the Horizon runs quiet thru the night to catch up.

    I do have a larger Sea Recovery in the shop to replace the old and noise Rich unit.
    Not been in a hurry since that old Rich unit does work so well and probably going to the scrap pile when it comes out (40 something years old).
    I'll probably keep its membrane and ad it to the 25 year old Horizon unit and help up its water output.

    Yep, good old simple units.

    You-all need to whip your water pigs or put them back on the Cay and leave them alone. :rolleyes::rolleyes::cool::cool:
  10. DOCKMASTER

    DOCKMASTER Senior Member

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    Lew - are your membranes outboard of the stbd fish box then? Doesn't seem like the Spectra membranes with the pump being integral to the membranes will fit down there. Do you have any pictures?
  11. Donzi 54

    Donzi 54 Member

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    Adam, the membranes are between the deck supports and the exhaust on the ledge. The pump and all filters are installed in the cockpit tackle center locker. I believe you converted that area into another set of tackle draws. The high pressure pump can be mounted any where, its plumbed to the membranes with h/p hose.
  12. DOCKMASTER

    DOCKMASTER Senior Member

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    OK that makes sense now. Thank you!
  13. Donzi 54

    Donzi 54 Member

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    The control panel is mounted in the salon.
  14. DOCKMASTER

    DOCKMASTER Senior Member

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    Yes, I would need to do the same. Would hope to only have to get to the components for occasional maintenance.
  15. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    You're going to have to easily access the pressure adjustment knob. Also keep in mind the high pressure pump is noisy. I like a modular system and being able to access easily the unit itself so I can see the pressure, flow and other vital information.

    I am on one boat where this is mounted on the stringers 8" behind the starboard main and facing the engine. You need a **** mirror or cell phone to see what the pressure and flow is, AND to even find the start button. What a pain in the ass. It does have a remote start/stop panel in the galley. But I always have to get it going, adjust pressure, and wait 5 minute for pressure to stabilize, LOL.
  16. DOCKMASTER

    DOCKMASTER Senior Member

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    I'm getting quotes on fully automatic units that do the pressure adjustment automatically. Turn on, turn off. That's it other than servicing filters and other maintenance when needed.
  17. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    That's the nice thing with the Spectra units, No knob to adjust. No big high pressure pump.
    There is a remote pump but delivers 50 psi water and not 300-500 psi.
    I remember one lil valve on the unit to manually purge the unit at commissioning or after storage.
    Remote filters and controller box also.
  18. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    They're nice, but also a lot of crap to go wrong. My preference is totally manual, then you just need to carry a spare salinity detector solenoid. Over the years I've had all sorts of things go wrong with watermakers because most of them rarely get used. Automatic fresh water flush solenoid sticking open, which dumped the entire water tank. Electronic circuit boards going bad and wouldn't allow the watermaker to make water. Salinity sender going bad, so wouldn't open the solenoid to allow the good water to go to the tank (thought water had high salinity) etc. etc. etc. To me, the simpler the better.
  19. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    I ageee. Simple is better when it comes to watermakers. I ve used the fully automatic touch screen versions, they re great until the electronics decide to quit. I prefer the manual pressure adjustment. Once set you don’t have to adjust it everytime unless salinity and temp changes.

    Auto flush is nice though.
  20. DOCKMASTER

    DOCKMASTER Senior Member

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    I’m leaning heavily toward the Blue Water Legend 750. It’s really a toss up between this and a Spectre. The BW has a few more features but main reason is the components fit better where we have space for them. I can also expand in future if I need more production rate (doubtful). I plan to make final decision early next week and place the order. Lots of great feedback from everyone on this and is greatly appreciated.

    I have also decided to go with the Sea Star DC2000 steering system. It’s a nice little 24v package HPU which includes a separate AP pump integral to the unit. 4 small 5/16 hoses from the helm to the pump then from pump to cylinder. That’s it! No more engine engine mounted pumps, coolers, servo valves, reservoir, and hoses going across the engine room. It only draws power when you turn the wheel with typical loads 10-15 amps. Lock load is 70 amps but can’t see that happening. The whole package of helm, HPU and cylinder is actually pretty reasonable.