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Hurrying Nowhere

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Jun 14, 2016
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What are brands to definitely avoid?
Brands that are good, and also common enough that parts are readily available?

Want something able to make about 10 gallons an hour or more is fine to.
The all in one units would be best and not modular.

Piggy backing onto this does anyone add anything to their water tanks to make sure its germ free?
 
Hurrying Nowhere said:
What are brands to definitely avoid?
Brands that are good, and also common enough that parts are readily available?

Want something able to make about 10 gallons an hour or more is fine to.
The all in one units would be best and not modular.

Piggy backing onto this does anyone add anything to their water tanks to make sure its germ free?
Click to expand...

you looking for DC or AC watermaker?

For me Sea Recovery are the best brand the Ultra Whisper model 400 (16,7 gallons) would be nice and compact unit for you.

Hugues
 
101TUG said:
you looking for DC or AC watermaker?

For me Sea Recovery are the best brand the Ultra Whisper model 400 (16,7 gallons) would be nice and compact unit for you.

Hugues
Click to expand...

Probably 110 voltAC.
The reason I want it to make so much an hour is not to make hundreds of gallons per day say 300 gallons or such.
But so it can hopefully only be used when the generator would already be running and still make enough to keep up.
Thanks for the Sea recovery recommendation ☺:thumb:
 
On the other hand, I have heard first hand a couple of tales of poor after the sale service by Sea Recovery for their recreational units. Worth doing a search on. When we were considering one, I settled on either Village Marine (now part of the Parker Group), Watermakers in Ft Lauderdale, or Quality Waterworks here in North Carolina, all of whom I know some happy customers. One of the attractions of the latter two in particular is they use non-proprietary components. VM has a wide service network and a lot of history, so that was the attraction there.

Probably best is to get some first hand recs from owners and reputable yards in the cruising grounds you will be in, one reason for my focusing on brands with an east coast presence.

In the end, I could never get it to pencil out, even factoring in water prices as high as 50 cents a gallon in the islands.
 
Larry M said:
We have had 2 ac water makers with the outputs ~24 gallons/hour. I think you'll find the upfront cost of a 10 gph vs a 24 gph watermaker are pretty much the same.


Cruise RO Water and Power seem to be the hot ac watermakers these days and the best bang for the buck.


Cruise RO Water & Power: Watermakers for Boats & Yachts
Click to expand...

I'll second the Cruise unit, we installed ours before we left Portland on this trip, now on day 81. Have made water every couple of days and no issues. They have the best customer support and the system is non proprietary.
We installed the component system so that units could fit in easy to reach areas making cleaning of filters and valve adjustment easy. At 40 gals an hour we run it while using the genny for other things.

Good luck on your search.
 
caltexflanc said:
On the other hand, I have heard first hand a couple of tales of poor after the sale service by Sea Recovery for their recreational units. Worth doing a search on. When we were considering one, I settled on either Village Marine (now part of the Parker Group), Watermakers in Ft Lauderdale, or Quality Waterworks here in North Carolina, all of whom I know some happy customers. One of the attractions of the latter two in particular is they use non-proprietary components. VM has a wide service network and a lot of history, so that was the attraction there.

Probably best is to get some first hand recs from owners and reputable yards in the cruising grounds you will be in, one reason for my focusing on brands with an east coast presence.

In the end, I could never get it to pencil out, even factoring in water prices as high as 50 cents a gallon in the islands.
Click to expand...

Parker bought Village Marine but Sea Recovery too so at the end same service :lol:
 
Hurrying Nowhere said:
Probably 110 voltAC.
The reason I want it to make so much an hour is not to make hundreds of gallons per day say 300 gallons or such.
But so it can hopefully only be used when the generator would already be running and still make enough to keep up.
Thanks for the Sea recovery recommendation ☺:thumb:
Click to expand...

witch generator do you have onboard?

Hugues
 
+1 for R.O. Rich answers the phone! We have over 160 hrs on ours, no issues. Also R.O rated the output in California(cold water). So our 30 gph actually is closer to 40gph down here in the islands.
 
FYI, alot of sailors we know(from Mexico to here) buy the 5 gallon jugs from distributors. Most have watermakers they have given up on for one reason or the other. Currently in Providencia, Colombia it is $2.50 usd for 5 gallons. But it is a lot of physical labor!
 
I've used water makers by pretty much all the major players as well as a few of the minor ones and the key to reliability is to stick to the very basic models with few bells and whistles and electronic controls.

As to keeping your water tanks germ free, dirty water tanks are not a big problem. But if you feel the need you want something that will have a residual effect and stay in the water as it moves out of you tank and throught the system. So you should look at chlorine or silver ion systems.

UV is only good for point of use. It has no lasting effects down stream.
 
Thanks everyone for the great answers and replies.
All options and opinions are welcome.
I want to put this on my 33 Kingfisher i currently have, which has just a small onan gen. I also take a 5500 watt yamaha and run it more than the onan actually.
My fabrication buddy built me a little aluminum table thing i can slip on the transom and i put it on that.

Sittting on the back and just barely above the water level its so quiet if it quits i don't notice for a while sometimes.
Add gas and away it goes again.
 
Hurrying Nowhere said:
Thanks everyone for the great answers and replies.
All options and opinions are welcome.
I want to put this on my 33 Kingfisher i currently have, which has just a small onan gen. I also take a 5500 watt yamaha and run it more than the onan actually.
My fabrication buddy built me a little aluminum table thing i can slip on the transom and i put it on that.

Sittting on the back and just barely above the water level its so quiet if it quits i don't notice for a while sometimes.
Add gas and away it goes again.
Click to expand...

I really wish people would post the full story in their first post.

I'm assuming your water tank is aluminum, if so I'd stay away from putting chlorine in it on a regular basis.

How small is your genset? In other words, what kW output is it?
 
Not sure how it wasn't the full story.
I have 2 generators but usually use the 5.5 kw and sometimes the 7.5 kw.
On the roof when at anchor is a 40 gallon rubber bladder the sun heats for my showering.
And there is two plastic 60 gallon main tanks i had done custom instead of the usual 80 gallon aluminum in the 3325 destination.
I live on it for about 4 months per winter.
Yes I will be keeping this boat even when I buy a trawler.
 
I have a Quality Waterworks watermaker and it performs well. As noted above, it is made with off-the shelf components. I have the 10 gph model, but agree with the recommendation that a unit of around 20 gph may be a better bang for your buck.

The power consumption of my w/m together with 110v lift pump is 1,100 watts according to my power meter.

If you get a water-maker, I strongly suggest a dedicated sea-cock and a good basket-strainer. Locate the lift pump and strainer below water level (if possible) so they are self-priming.
 
101TUG said:
Parker bought Village Marine but Sea Recovery too so at the end same service :lol:
Click to expand...

Thanks. The bad experiences were definitely pre-Parker, so hopefully (likely) things have improved as a result.

Since the OP is on the west coast (as were/are VM and SR) the Cruise RO units may be just the ticket, sounds like the equivalent of the two eastern guys I mentioned.
 
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