Water-makers - 3 questons -Noise, Run times & Idle periods

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Dave100456

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I've never had a RO system on-board and planning to fit one of about 60-100 litres per hour powered from 230v.

1 Can you tell me how noisy these things are when running please; I know it will vary from model to model and its difficult to describe decibel levels BUT.... if I fitted the unit under a saloon bench or in the bilge on vibration mounts, would it be uncomfortably noisy?

2 I followed the thread about sizing of water-makers but thinking about running times... what's the usual time people will run theirs for? I'm thinking that a 2hr run every 2 days is a less hassle than an hour every day or is 3 hrs every 3 days best?

3 What's the maximum time you leave the membrane if the only treatment is a wash through with fresh water?

Thanks
 
Dave100456 said:
I've never had a RO system on-board and planning to fit one of about 60-100 litres per hour powered from 230v.

1 Can you tell me how noisy these things are when running please; I know it will vary from model to model and its difficult to describe decibel levels BUT.... if I fitted the unit under a saloon bench or in the bilge on vibration mounts, would it be uncomfortably noisy?

2 I followed the thread about sizing of water-makers but thinking about running times... what's the usual time people will run theirs for? I'm thinking that a 2hr run every 2 days is a less hassle than an hour every day or is 3 hrs every 3 days best?

3 What's the maximum time you leave the membrane if the only treatment is a wash through with fresh water?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Dave,

We have been using our water maker for some 5 years.

The noise is not obtrusive (ours is fitted behind one of the saloon seats).

As for running time that will depend on how much water you need to make and your storage capability. If you waste water then you will need to make more. If you are frugal with your water usage then not so much is needed. Over time you will work out your own optimum usage and running times / periods.

Depending on your membrane and the weather conditions you may well need to pickle the membrane after 3 days of non use.

Albert
 
Thanks Albert
re noise: what make is yours is it a Cat pump?

re running intervals: I know I need 100 litres/day but wonder if its best to make that every day with run times of an hour or so. Or presume its less hassle to run for 3 hrs and make 3 days as this requires only one start and stop sequence (albeit with 3 hrs continuous noise).
Dave
 
Dave,
First you need to decide how much water you need, 100 ltrs per day is quite high usage but that may be what you use? We live on board in the Med and for 2 people we use around 40 ltrs per day and that is very comfortable with showers after swimming, clothes wash, cooking etc. We would struggle to actually use 100 ltrs per day.

We have a self built 240V, 120 ltrs per hr unit using a Cat Pump and we run it for about 40 to 60 mins every third day on average, maybe a bit more often if we are motoring and have surplus power available. Ours is under the floor in the fwd cabin and I always run it with the floor boards raised to improve air circulation so it can be a bit noisy if close by, but it can only just be heard in the cockpit area. I certainly do not find it too much of a problem for the time it is running.

When we are using it in the summer I hardly ever flush it with fresh water, I just leave it with sea water in the system and this has been absolutely fine and I am happy to do this for up to 5 days between runs but obviously 3 day gaps is much better. Freshwater flushing is a good idea but you need to run the unit for an extra 10 or 20 mins (depending on output) just to make the fresh water for flushing, however with fresh water flush you could leave the unit for 7 or 8 days, any longer and you would need to pickle the unit. I have not noticed any significant reduction in output or water quality as a result of not regularly flushing with fresh water and that is after 3 yrs regular useage.

Not sure how you are planning to power the unit, I assume you will have a generator, if so I would go for running every 2 or 3 days and only flushing with fresh about once per month or if you need to leave the unit for a bit longer. Also best to go for a 120 ltrs per hr unit if you really do need 100 ltrs per day.
 
Every watermaker/boat is different so here is my response.

Dave100456 said:
...1 Can you tell me how noisy these things are when running please...
Click to expand...
If your watermaker is 240 volts and that comes from a generator or from your engine via an inverter then the watermaker noise is not an issue. You'll never be running from shorepower - will you????? Maybe better to consider a DC watermaker. Our HRO is 70 lt/hour at 33 amps.


Dave100456 said:
2 I followed the thread about sizing of water-makers but thinking about running times...
Click to expand...
Running for longer means less fresh water flushing is needed. We ONLY run our watermaker when motoring because we have never found an anchorage where the water is clean enough. Any anchorage with other boats in it will be polluted by washing up/heads discharges.

Dave100456 said:
3 What's the maximum time you leave the membrane if the only treatment is a wash through with fresh water?
Click to expand...
If you rely on it a lot it is worth considering paying more for your watermaker and get one with automatic fresh water flushing. Ours flushes itself after every use, and then flushes again every 7 days. We have left ours for two months or more like this, but over our 6 months layup we pickle it.

Watermakers can be a pain in the butt, but the more you look after them then the longer the expensive membraine will last. Ours has now been going for 7 years.
 
Just having a watermaker fitted before we go across the pond to cruise the Caribbean for a few years, knocking on a bit now so got to go this year.

Enough of that, what is "pickling" in connection with water filters?
 
I have a 230V Echotec, 80l and hour.

1. The pump is quite noisy, more so than the generator, having said that it's a massive industrial looking piece of equipment which inspires confidence. You wouldn't want to be in the same cabin as it's running in.

2. We use 40-50l a day without being too careful. That fits in nicely with running the genny and watermaker about every 3 days and also topping up the batteries to full. As you now have a choice avoid an output too low; you don't want to run it every day.

3. I would leave the system up to 5 days without attention, if I don't make water I flush it through with fresh water, (through a carbon filter), for about 3-5 minutes every 3 or 4 days. When running I fill a bucket up with the first 5 or 10 minutes worth of product water which would otherwise be discarded; at the end I flush the membrane with this bucket full.

In addition I've found there's a lot of value in back-flushing the pre-filters back through the skin fitting with fresh water for about 30 seconds. My pre-filters seem to last for months.

With an generator run AC unit an unattended, automated system for flushing is probably not appropriate. Even on a DC system I wouldn't want to have an automated system anyway. You really need to 'be at one' with your equipment; you will then hear strange noises and notice unusual behaviour before the inevitable failure occurs.
 
Dave100456 said:
I've never had a RO system on-board and planning to fit one of about 60-100 litres per hour powered from 230v.

1 Can you tell me how noisy these things are when running please; I know it will vary from model to model and its difficult to describe decibel levels BUT.... if I fitted the unit under a saloon bench or in the bilge on vibration mounts, would it be uncomfortably noisy?

2 I followed the thread about sizing of water-makers but thinking about running times... what's the usual time people will run theirs for? I'm thinking that a 2hr run every 2 days is a less hassle than an hour every day or is 3 hrs every 3 days best?

3 What's the maximum time you leave the membrane if the only treatment is a wash through with fresh water?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I have 160lph Dessalator, makes a noise but not too noisy... ours is in an engine compartment. You can have normal conversation, and you can forget the thing is running, but under normal circumstances you'd know it's running. It would be ok really having it anywhere - do something elsewhere while it's running. Not having to run the thing every day is great. I spose ours is set up to be able to support 7 people living on board, so bit oversized for 2 people, but nice to be able t run for short (isn) amounts of time. I've left the membrane for a couple of months before now, no problems. On ours the backflush is an automatic part of the close-down cycle.
 
We've a Spectra 150 installed under our bunk forward of the mast. Not too noisy but I wouldn't want to try sleeping on top of it when its running; though you can't hear it next door in the saloon. We produce about 22-25l an hour depending on how warm the seawater is and that is more than adequate for two of us, we run it every 3 or 4 days for 3 or 4 hours at a time. We do not have an automatic flush, making a note in the log each time we flush it seems to work for us and we flush it every 4 -5 days when not using it eg when we are in a marina as we have been for the last couple of months.

S
 
I have a 60l/h 230v model. Noise/vibration no problem . Tend to use daily whilst at sea in conjuction with battery charger .We have automatic fresh water flush but only use this when not running the wm for 3-4 days . We use 60-80 L / day .
The big problem has been the genset . We had a new Paguro 3000 compact fitted . This has proven very unreliable and expensive . The problem is with the water cooling system . The drive shaft for the waterpump passes through the windings .Protection from water ingress is one lip seal . Talking to other cruisers other makes are no better .
We would not be without our watermaker and are fitting a new genset in New Zealand
 
Spectra 150 Watermaker

sailorgirl said:
We've a Spectra 150 installed under our bunk forward of the mast. Not too noisy but I wouldn't want to try sleeping on top of it when its running; though you can't hear it next door in the saloon. We produce about 22-25l an hour depending on how warm the seawater is and that is more than adequate for two of us, we run it every 3 or 4 days for 3 or 4 hours at a time. We do not have an automatic flush, making a note in the log each time we flush it seems to work for us and we flush it every 4 -5 days when not using it eg when we are in a marina as we have been for the last couple of months.

S
Click to expand...

Hi SailorGirl,
I just saw your comment about the Spectra 150. We are considering one of these, and I have been trying to find out how noisy they really are. We have a lot of solar generated power, so would plan to typically operate the system without engines or gensets, maybe at anchor or when sailing. That's quite a different scenario as most folks will have engines running as well as watermaker. Many people have said that the watermaker is more noisy than the genset! However many of the systems are much bigger capacity.

What is your opinion of the noise generated by your small system. Could you operate it comfortably sitting in a quiet anchorage or on a quiet sail?

Many thanks
Dean
 
mariner62 said:
Hi SailorGirl,
I just saw your comment about the Spectra 150. We are considering one of these, and I have been trying to find out how noisy they really are. We have a lot of solar generated power, so would plan to typically operate the system without engines or gensets, maybe at anchor or when sailing. That's quite a different scenario as most folks will have engines running as well as watermaker. Many people have said that the watermaker is more noisy than the genset! However many of the systems are much bigger capacity.

What is your opinion of the noise generated by your small system. Could you operate it comfortably sitting in a quiet anchorage or on a quiet sail?

Many thanks
Dean
Click to expand...

We have a Baitek split 25, which is the equivalent of the Spectra 150. They look pretty similar, too. The bulk of the noise comes from the pump. On a basic system, the only "active" bit is the motor that pressurises the water to 150 - 200 bar. Ours is a low "rumble" as it pumps away. The watermaker unit itself is actually pretty quiet, only making a slight hissing noise each time the piston moves from side to side. Our watermaker unit is in our cabin, whilst the pump is in the galley. We can happily sleep in the cabin whilst it's running, though you can hear the pump running in the galley, but it's pretty easy to ignore.
 
mariner62 said:
Hi SailorGirl,
I just saw your comment about the Spectra 150. We are considering one of these, and I have been trying to find out how noisy they really are. We have a lot of solar generated power, so would plan to typically operate the system without engines or gensets, maybe at anchor or when sailing. That's quite a different scenario as most folks will have engines running as well as watermaker. Many people have said that the watermaker is more noisy than the genset! However many of the systems are much bigger capacity.

What is your opinion of the noise generated by your small system. Could you operate it comfortably sitting in a quiet anchorage or on a quiet sail?

Many thanks
Dean
Click to expand...
Hi

As Sailorgirl says ours is under the forward bunk. We regularly run it at anchor and when sailing. The 200w solar panels provide all the power needed. Sitting in the cockpit you can't hear anything. Down below in the saloon you can just hear it rumble away. In the forward cabin you can clearly hear it bit it is not noisy. The only issue is trying to sleep in the forward bunk as the pump is just under your head. I should have fitted the pump elsewhere but then again we just don't run it if sleeping there.
 
We have an Echotec 240v system powered by a Pajero 4000, now in its fourth year both units so far trouble free. Used mostly every 2 days, has been as long as 10 days between use but only after a flush with product water, if its not going to be used for more than 10 days (marina bound) its pickled. All we have done to the water maker is change the oil and washed the filters once a season, the Genset gets an oil change every 100 hrs, new impellor every 300. All our fuel is treated with fuelset, fuel filters are always clean when we cut them open so we stopped changing them.
 
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