Water Maker - Sea Recovery (12v)

demonboy

demonboy

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Hi

Does anybody have any views/opinions on 12v water makers, specifically Sea Recovery models? I don't want to be a slave to AC power so I'm investigating 12v water makers as a possible option.

Any views appreciated.

Thanks!
 
there are two considerations with 12v watermakers.

how much water do you want per day
how much surplus power do you generate without the engine.

The best watermaker for you will be very dependent on the first. The second will either reduce your aspirations , cause you to increase solar or wind power, or accept the need for engine to be run during watermaking. This will also drive the type of watermaker you get, as if you need to run the engine, you want a high output to reduce engine hours, whereas if you are running from free power, you will need to watch the amp rating rather more closely.
 
Adding to Talbot's good advice, 12v watermakers are generally thought to be less reliable than AC. Also production is less so you have to run them longer. However I know lots of people with them and if you go AC you are relying on a genset as well, so you greatly increase your chances of a failure anyway.

I have AC which is great as we can make vast quantities, so it's also a 'lifestyle' choice.

Daftest things you can do:
1. Try to run an AC via an inverter.
2. Go AC but with a small production like 6GPH.

If 12v I think it makes more sense to go for something that will draw less power but you can leave running longer, particuarly if you have good solar and wind. If you need to run an engine, than max the production to keep the runtime down.
 
I should add to my previous post that we have a Sea Recovery (though not AC) and are happy with it.

Any parts are provided very promptly, customer service is good, manuals are very thorough if difficult at first. UK agent (Uni-flo, Hull) is efficient.

Most of the problems we have had have been through poor installation (i.e. brass fittings bunged into plastic so the plastic cracks when the brass expands). 25,000 gallons later I'm quite happy.
 
I have a 12 volt watermaker, bought it cheap, the 80E, does about 12lph, OK, but I should have bought and AC one with much bigger output, as I run my genny for three hours evry two days, which would have made a lot of water as well. However these high output water makers are also very expensive. No complaints about the watermaker, just wish I had waited and bought a bigger one, might yet do that.
 
Sorry chaps, I should have been a bit more specific. With two of us on board I think we could be using anything from between 30 to 100 ltrs a day, but certainly no more.

The reason I posted this question was because my boat yard forwarded me an email from 2 live-aboards who said the following:

[ QUOTE ]
We have a 12 volt water maker, and it produces about 7 gallons per hour (28
liters?). It is supposed to draw 9 amps at 12 volts, but tends to run a bit
more if the water conditions are not perfect.

Ours is a Sea Recovery. http://www.searecovery.com/ and we like it a lot.
It is a low draw unit as it uses the concept of a "Clark Pump" to
hydraulically multiply the lower pressure pump to 600-800 psi to push
through the reverse osmosis membrane. Spectra is another popular brand name
of this kind of unit.

Sea Recovery also makes many 110 volt (or 220 volt), alternating current
units; the can produce several times more water per hour than we can. But,
these would have required me to run the generator, as the current draw is
too much for our inverter. I did not want to be a hostage to alternating
current generation, so I went with the lower draw unit, and we just run a
bit longer. If I had a twin engine power boat it might be different.

Underway, we two average about 36 liters per day of water use (including a
shower each per day), so on average we need to run the watermaker less than
1.5 hours per day.


[/ QUOTE ]

Now if I try to avoid buying a genset (the same boatyard quoted me EU11k for a 4kw Onan, including installation) then the above solution sounds pretty sensible to me. With a 405aH house battery bank and future installation of solar and purchase of pure sine wave inverter isn't this a cheaper option for us as live-aboards?

I know a petrol Honda portable is tempting but it's not an option if I'm having to run it every day to power a larger water maker, and of course there's the petrol storage issue (cost and safety).
 
There are quite a few types of watermaker:

Engine-driven pump: the high pressure pump is belted off the main or generator engine. They are capable of big volumes and you don't need to worry about batteries.

AC: needs a generator but again large volumes

DC high pressure: the DC motor drives a high-pressure pump producing 100+ atmospheres direct to the membrane. Simpler than the LP type but high current consumption

DC Low pressure: the pump operates at around 8 atmospheres which is boosted to operating pressure by a hydraulic amplifier. These are more complex but consume 1/10 to 1/5 of the power of the high-pressure versions. A typical version is the Spectra. The problem with at least some of these type is poor quality manufacturing at the low-pressure end of the system.
 
I used a PUR Survivor 35 for 5 years, with only one or two people aboard. Got adequate water from it, and even traded water with other people for their goods! Only used it when running engine, though, which was most days for a while.

The downside of my PUR was the noise it made in a small boat, but it certainly worked well in all sorts of conditions during the 5 years I used it. Their current model, which has superseded mine, takes up less space.

I'm now interested in the water maker which is towed. If you want info, then email the maker. Waterlogsales@aol.com is a good starting point. They also provide a small motor, for when the boat is at anchor.
 
There have been a number of posts here about the towed watermaker, a number of which I initiated. If it worked it would be a very useful system, especially on a small boat that lacked the space for an onboard system and lacked the power to be able to drive it. However, despite being "the most popular" it has not featured as a piece of equipment used by any of the usual posters on any of the forums I frequent.

Whenever this has been discussed on this forum, as soon as it gets a derogatory comment, the manufacturers lawyers are immediately on the phone to ybw threatening very expensive retaliation unless the thread is dropped.

The majority of posts that have praised it on other forums have been traced back to the manufacturer.

I offered to take one for a trial and to write it up for these forums and PBO, but the manufacturer wasnt interested. I got YM interested in a trial, and the last I heard was that one had been delivered to a gentleman voyaging down to Portugal for a trial on behalf of YM. I have not heard of any published results!

Make your own mind up, but it wont feature as one of my chosen pieces of equipment.

Make up your own mind.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Hi

Does anybody have any views/opinions on 12v water makers, specifically Sea Recovery models? I don't want to be a slave to AC power so I'm investigating 12v water makers as a possible option.

Any views appreciated.

Thanks!

[/ QUOTE ]

We asked a similar question nine months back and were directed to Katadyn 12v devices.

We sourced one ex USA for same amount of dollars as we were quoted in pounds. Westmarine.com still sell them on ebay. Cost 400 euros to get it shipped and tax paid.

This version is cased and set to produce 12 litres per hour - but that's adequate for our needs as we average 3 hours per day with the engine anyway.

Sadly can't yet advise on longer term effectiveness - only just plumbed it in......

Cheers
JOHN
 
This is the same unit I have, the katadyn 80E, seems good to me, not quite enough output for our boat and crew, but good anyway.
 
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