Mainship 400 Watermaker options-

[jefndeb]

We are considering buying and installing a 20 gph watermaker to use while in the Bahamas.. looking for opinions from other owners as to what system they installed, which vendor, AC or DC, etc...

Went to the flibs and talked to a few suppliers...


Thanks.

 

[menzies]

Clay Hansen in St Augustine put one of these in Sonas last spring. I went with the LGD 475 with auto flush and with the remote on the PH helm. Very happy so far.

https://www.bluewaterdesalination.com/

 

[jefndeb]

Here are a couple of systems we saw at the show..some components can be removed and installed in other locations.

Both are AC driven pump type..

 

[ksanders]

I am a HUGE fan of modular, non proprietary systems.

Cruise RO water and power has my vote!

Good price, non propritary, sound engineering, and GREAT pre and post sales customer support.

Email the owner on a sunday night and money says he will respond.

That’s customer service

 

[Dougcole]

Where are you thinking of mounting a water maker?

 

[jefndeb]

Well the clark pump, depending on how long it is can be mounted below on the starboard side inboard of the starboard fuel tank, just aft of the AC pump and the rest being modular can be located nearby..
Based on my first eval...still in the planning phase..

 

[ksanders]

so when you see those pre-packeged watermakers and how easy they would be to install think...

How are you going to see the control panel???

Remember that you only install the watermaker once. You use it every day.

If you have to go through gymnastics to run the thing it will not be so much fun.

 

[Dougcole]

We have a rainman portable on our 400. I love most things about i but not everything.

PROS: I bought it barely used, for less than 2k, so it was inexpensive for a water maker. Ours is the AC model, the highest output they make, I've forgotten how much it puts out but it's a lot. It generally takes about 1 to 2 hours to fill us up. When not cruising I pickle it, clean it up, bring it home and store it in my garage. It's very easy to pickle and it takes less abuse stores in the garage than it would on the boat. It uses off the shelf parts. I didn't have to pay someone to install it, or fight with it myself. If it breaks down I can easily take it back to rainman for repair. I can move it to another boat or let a friend borrow it. It fits nicely in the laz on a 400.

CONS: It's not hard to set up, but its harder than flicking a switch. I leave the pump unit in the laz and set the membrane unit on the transom when making water. I leave the laz hatch cracked for the hoses and cord. Takes about 10 minutes to set up and the same to take down. It's pretty loud and is made louder by running the genset with the laz hatch open.

Just something else to consider.

How did your windlass turn out?

 

[IRENE]

We have had good luck for 2 seasons with a 12VDC Spectra Newport 400 MKII. The previous owners selected and fitted it. We do not pickle it, it gets used every time the boat is out. Though its not ideal, we purchased our retirement cruiser a few years early and have to keep the Spectra alive.

We like that it is DC. Normally we do not run a generator underway, so we can easily make water while running in theoretically cleaner water than an anchorage would have. Filters are lasting one year for us. I expect we will go through them monthly or quarterly during full-time cruising. We have had no failures or bad parts. There was a line connection leak, but that was in installation issue.

My wife called Spectra for clarification on a few things when we first took over care of this boat. The machine was picked and we were terrified of breaking it. Spectra was very patient and helpful. Their manual is well done.

Good Luck...

 

[Lepke]

I also suggest CruiseRO. Cruise RO Water & Power: Watermakers for Boats & Yachts
It's modular so you can install it in scattered locations if space is tight. Standard filters, membranes, pumps and parts.

 

[Fletcher500]

There are some good threads on here by fellow TFers about these that are worth reading.

I recently purchased a Blue Water, Express XT, 15 GPH, AC unit. It looks like it may be the same one you show in one of your photos. Arriving this week actually.

I was originally thinking a bulk system, but the modular components fit better in various places throughout the engine room.

The control panel will be mounted in the salon.

It’s a big investment, but we are off the grid a lot so we will get a lot of use out of it.

 

[jefndeb]

Thanks for all the input!!!!

 

[OldDan1943]

Regardless of which system you buy, I would recommend a 12vt system. Either the main engine or the generator can charge the battery.
Without the generator, you have to rely on the inverter, if you have one, if the water maker is AC.

 

[Fletcher500]

Regardless of which system you buy, I would recommend a 12vt system. Either the main engine or the generator can charge the battery.
Without the generator, you have to rely on the inverter, if you have one, if the water maker is AC.

Not necessarily; it depends. For us, and what we do, an AC system made more sense because:

Higher water output when we have up to 6 people on board, which includes a lot of showers on the swim step as we are all in and out of the water all day long. We are also rinsing gear and wet suits.

I will also be using the RO water to spray the boat down every few days when traveling, and use it at the dock for boat washing. Spot free they tell me.

The Gen needs to be run every day for at least 3 to 4 hours to charge the house bank. After it’s past the bulk and absorption phases, the AC demand decreases for the latter charging phase. I will therefore have the WM on during this time, and it will help to properly load the Gen.

Regarding Gen loading, I am going to have a lockout switch to transfer between the L1 and L2 Gen legs, depending on current draws. At sea, it’s mostly the Gyro. At anchor or a mooring, it’s house battery charging, and the hot water heater, but that is done after a few hours. IE, the current draw on the two Gen legs will vary, so the ability to shift the loads will help balance them.

 

[ksanders]

I’ve had both 12v and AC driven watermakers.

If you have a generator, and use it anyway, a 120V AC watermaker makes sense.

You can get a much larger capacity unit, which really opens up the idea of not rationing water.

Most 12V units are 6-8 GPH, which sounds nice if you’ve never had plentiful water, but....

We now use 40 Gallons of water per day or more. Often more if i’m doing laundry, or using the outside hose to clean up after a passage, or fish cleaning. That means every day I’d have to run (and listen to) a DC watermaker for 5-6 hours and probably more. That is a LONG time to listen to the watermaker run on your otherwise quiet boat.

With our 40GPH watermaker it gets run when the generator is on anyway so you do not even know it’s running. It runs for a little while each day and I never even have to consider not doing something because of not enough water.