Water Makers

[Andrew Custis]

Hello fellow Tuggers,

I am posting this topic for a customer of ours that is looking for some knowledge on water makers. He would like to have one installed on his R25 and is wondering if anyone else has thought about or done this to their R25?

This is out of my area of expertise as I have never installed one of these. Any suggestions as to what you guys think would work best would be great for him. Thanks for your help!

 

[JTREV]

Andrew,

Don't know much about them, but I'd be interested in possibly getting one myself. Please keep us posted when you get it figured out (someone at Nordic Tugs may be some help?). Don't know what kind of relationship you have with them.

Sorry, I'm not much help 🙁

John

 

[captd]

What little research I have done convinced me about $3900 buys one that produces about 30 gals a day. Sounds like plenty, but it takes a lot of time and power to get it done. I believe it would fit in the compartment opposite of the batteries. Solar power and a wind Bugger may be necessary.

I decided that amount of money will buy a lot od water even in the Bahamas. Paying slip rent will usually get you a full tank, plus wash down. So I put the idea on the back burner. Google watermakers you will get 1000's of hits.


captd

 

[wefings]

These are pretty small . 100 gallons a day . Maybe more suited for an R29 but would probably fit in an R25 .Note the filter size .Thats your basic size water filter like they have at Home Depot. So the unit is pretty low profile.
Marc

 

[CaptMac]

I searched at the Seattle Boat Show, and have been looking for a while. I didn't have much luck. Most of the watermakers I could find assume you have infinite power available... So, first step - to decide how much water you want, and next - how you are going to power it. From what I learned, water makers should be small enough so they are run a lot. Turning them off for long periods requires effort , time and cost.

We've decided we'd want something in the 5-7 gallons per day. The PowerSurvivior 40E Watermaker (West Marine) draws 4 amps and makes 1.5 gallons per hour. That means running it for ~4 hours a day - which is pretty close to the typical number of engine hours we run when cruising. And even if we don't motor that day, drawing 16 amphr is pretty small - about half the fridge and something that the solar panels can support.

A more luxurious 80E makes 3.0 gph. Draws 8amps. Same efficiency, but for us, that would mean only running 1-2 hours per day - or more likely - leaving it off for several days in a row. I thought it was better to run it more constantly, so I'm leaning towards the 40E (Plus the 40E is $1000 cheaper, and can be operated manually...)

It looks pretty small - I intend to mount it in the starboard side cockpit locker. I'm just waiting for for next extended trip before spending the $3395

Mac

 

[j&lgray]

I am with Mac on his choice of the 40E watermaker but I have found it at Landfall Navigation (landfallnav.com) for $2,995. I like the specs that it has and seems like a good match for the Ranger 25.

Without studying the complexities of the installation, I would tap into the sea strainer for the raw water (on our 2008 model, there are two thru-hulls, one for the engine and the other for the head-I would lean toward the latter because the hose diameter more closely matches the water maker's needs) and put the output water hose into the fresh water hose that feeds the fresh water pump (same reason for hose size) and then wire the Water Maker to a vacant switch on the Blue Sea Breaker Panel (I have a couple of unused slots).

I thought autopilot would be the next big purchase but we never had need of it on the inland river system. I am thinking the water maker may be next.

 

[NewMoon]

We've had a 40E for 11 years.

It does take a fair amount of TLC, and it's a bit persnickety about sitting for more than a few days unused.

It does pretty well keeping up with our water needs, providing enough for cooking, dishwashing, and one navy shower a day, more or less indefinitely. Out in the boonies of BC and SE Alaska, it's pretty nice not to be forced back into port just for water. I'd love to have the greater capacity of the 80E, but I don't know that I could find the space for it.

 

[Andrew Custis]

Thanks you guys. I will do some research on what it takes to install one.

 

[CaptMac]

I haven't looked at the installation instructions for the 40E, but all the others I've examined need multiple inlets and outlets attached. From what I read, you need to be able to switch among them. In: raw water (seawater), fresh water and cleaning solutions. Out: fresh water holding tank, waste discharge (overboard is probably fine, but you may want to sample it to know when it's time to start collecting it. I haven't decided if it is worth plumbing all these in "permanently", or just have the raw water in and fresh water out plumbed, with loose hoses for the other functions. New Moon - how do you have yours plumbed?

Mac

 

[Lobo]

I purchased 3 x 5-gallon water "Jerry Cans" and have them bungy corded in under the V-Berth forward. This was a $25 solution. I should be able to put them into the water tank from my dingy.

 

[NewMoon]

The system comes with a T valve for the water pickup, so that the input can be sourced from either the thru-hull or from a container in which you have mixed the bicide solution (the only cleaning you should have to do more than very occasionally). It comes with another T that lets you choose to send the product water either to the overboard drain (connected into the sink drain line) or to the FW tank. I put a third T valve in the product water output line, before it gets to the drain/FW tank choice valve, that allows me to pull off a few ounces of water to test it for quality before I start sending it toward the FW tank.

I give the watermaker 10 minutes to get fired up and pack enough salt into the membrance so that it can actually work, while product water heads for the drain. Then I turn the first T to get a sample, turn the T back, and test the sample. If it passes, I turn the second T to allow product water to go to the FW tank. The line delivering the sample to your test cup has to be pretty short, unless you want to wait a while to be sure what you're sampling is indeed freshly produced product water.

It's pretty easy to distinguish perfectly clean product water from unsatisfactory water. Two varieties of unsat water:
1) too salty - maybe the membrane needs cleaning or replacing (we've replaced ours once, about 5 years ago), and
2) smells of decomposing sea creatures, usually because the primary intake filter hasn't been cleaned recently enough (needs it once a week or soin the PNW) and is looking a bit green. #2 is much more common.

Cleaning the primary filter is simple - unscrew the large cylindrical filter's clear plastic case, and blast filter and case with clean seawater via a washdown pump. If you do this regularly the filter element will last all summer.

As long as you make sure never to take in dirty water (such as in a harbor - petroleum is very bad for the membrane), and keep everything clean by cleaning the primary filter regularly and biociding the system if you're going to let it sit unused for several days, it should stay working for a long time.

This is the smallest, but most manually-operated of powered watermakers. My friends who have a little more room installed an 8 gal/hour watermaker that did some back flushing automagically.

 

[Nita Ostlund]

Thanks for all your responses on the watermaker. My Wife and I bought a E80 from Landfall Outfitting. When we had a 40' boat a number of years ago, we carried about 250 gallons of water. This was normally enough but there were a few times when we ran out, especially at Desolation Sound where none was available. I will let all know how this works. The manufacturer told me that if it isn't used for an extended period (over three days) glycol, available from Landfall, will help to maintain the system.

The Nellie