geem
Well-known member
Watermakers are a serious investment for anybody setting off to live aboard full time in the Tropics, sailing an ocean, etc
Many have chosen 12v watermakers as they have a low power demand. They are also complicated pieces of equipment with many moving parts and very expensive. They make comparatively small quantities of water when compared to 230v watermakers with their power hungry large kW motors. Once they get several hundred hours on them they do fail. Parts can be eye wateringly expensive.
With the increase in use of lithium domestic batteries things have changed. The major benefit of lithium is the ability to cook electrically, use the immersion heater, boil the electric kettle and run the 230v watermaker off the inverter.
If you have made the decision to install lithium then the option of a 230v watermaker is now realistic without a generator.
The cost of a 230v watermaker is considerably less than a 12v watermaker, generating the same litres per hour.
A 60 litre/hr 12v Spectra is circa £11,000. A serious amount of cash. If you go 230v you can make at least twice the amount of water per hour for half the cost. If you build your own 230v watermaker, you can save a lot of money on the off the shelf cost. They are simple to build.
You can fit a second inverter as a back up and still be left with plenty of change. 230v watermakers are inherently simpler.
The beauty of the lithium is you have far more efficiency out of your solar. You no longer look to keep the lead batteries topped up. You can use a lot more of the capacity of the lithium bank with no downside. The lithium doesn't need to reach 100% charge state every day to maximise its life. Lithium is happiest at about 50% for maximum life.
The large output of 230v watermakers means run time on the watermaker is low. As a consequence, wear on components is low. We run our 200 litre/ hour watermaker for 15 to 20 minutes per day with two of us onboard. We have no shortage of water.
Our solar panels are 720w. When we had lead batteries our daily production was circa 2kw. It now averages 3.5kw. Same panels, just much more energy efficient. The panels never go off bulk since we don't fully charge the lithium everyday.
The use of a low frequency inverter capable of running large inductive loads is essential. There are cheap and capable low frequency inverters on the market that do the job efficiently. You don't need to go to the big name players with their big name price tags. In the back and beyond, warranty claims are nigh on impossible. Think self sufficiency. Sending a 25kg inverter in the post to Victron from a far flung place to meet the terms of the warranty isn't going to work. Safer to carry a spare or import one at the time.
Your lithium battery needs careful selection. Drop in replacements are improving. There are good guys such as Fogstar in the UK building nice spec batteries but there are many cheap chinese batteries that simply won't work if you want to run inverter loads.
The whole energy equation of battery size, BMS rating, inverter rating all needs working out and selecting as a whole to suit the envisaged loads. That's a whole new post
Many have chosen 12v watermakers as they have a low power demand. They are also complicated pieces of equipment with many moving parts and very expensive. They make comparatively small quantities of water when compared to 230v watermakers with their power hungry large kW motors. Once they get several hundred hours on them they do fail. Parts can be eye wateringly expensive.
With the increase in use of lithium domestic batteries things have changed. The major benefit of lithium is the ability to cook electrically, use the immersion heater, boil the electric kettle and run the 230v watermaker off the inverter.
If you have made the decision to install lithium then the option of a 230v watermaker is now realistic without a generator.
The cost of a 230v watermaker is considerably less than a 12v watermaker, generating the same litres per hour.
A 60 litre/hr 12v Spectra is circa £11,000. A serious amount of cash. If you go 230v you can make at least twice the amount of water per hour for half the cost. If you build your own 230v watermaker, you can save a lot of money on the off the shelf cost. They are simple to build.
You can fit a second inverter as a back up and still be left with plenty of change. 230v watermakers are inherently simpler.
The beauty of the lithium is you have far more efficiency out of your solar. You no longer look to keep the lead batteries topped up. You can use a lot more of the capacity of the lithium bank with no downside. The lithium doesn't need to reach 100% charge state every day to maximise its life. Lithium is happiest at about 50% for maximum life.
The large output of 230v watermakers means run time on the watermaker is low. As a consequence, wear on components is low. We run our 200 litre/ hour watermaker for 15 to 20 minutes per day with two of us onboard. We have no shortage of water.
Our solar panels are 720w. When we had lead batteries our daily production was circa 2kw. It now averages 3.5kw. Same panels, just much more energy efficient. The panels never go off bulk since we don't fully charge the lithium everyday.
The use of a low frequency inverter capable of running large inductive loads is essential. There are cheap and capable low frequency inverters on the market that do the job efficiently. You don't need to go to the big name players with their big name price tags. In the back and beyond, warranty claims are nigh on impossible. Think self sufficiency. Sending a 25kg inverter in the post to Victron from a far flung place to meet the terms of the warranty isn't going to work. Safer to carry a spare or import one at the time.
Your lithium battery needs careful selection. Drop in replacements are improving. There are good guys such as Fogstar in the UK building nice spec batteries but there are many cheap chinese batteries that simply won't work if you want to run inverter loads.
The whole energy equation of battery size, BMS rating, inverter rating all needs working out and selecting as a whole to suit the envisaged loads. That's a whole new post