Water maker comps

[john61ct]

I never said anything about AC power.

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by travellerw

However... There is more to this equation..

We have been on tons of boats with Spectras and they are LOUD and annoying. Way too loud for me. I have no interest in stitting there drinking my coffee listening to the "hiss, bang, hiss, bang" for 3-4 hours everyday. Not to mention the INSANE prices of the pre-filter elements that Spectra requires.

Sure our AC watermaker is even louder (Rainman).. However at 120L/hour we only run it about an hour and half every 3 days (we have 5 people aboard). Its fantastic as I don't need to babysit the watermaker and can be off enjoying the beaches/islands without worrying about our water.

We use our Honda 2000 for those 1 1/2 hours and burn about 3L of petrol (I think its less, but haven't measured). Even here in Martinique that is only about $5 euro to make 180L of water.

I had full intentions of buying a Spectra before we left. We have 900W of solar aboard and I thought it made sense. However, on more consideration, I realized it was not the right choice for us. Our "extra" afternoon solar now goes to powering electronics our kids use for homeschooling. The "extra, extra" power goes to heating water we use to wash dishes, clothes or shower.

I sure love our high speed AC watermaker this past 2 weeks as we have 2 guests aboard.

I have the same water maker, it makes 140l/hr and burns alot less petrol than 3/hr.

I came from a smaller dc unit on my previous boat, katadyn 80e,it can't compare to the spectra I realise this. I'd never go back to a smaller watermaker,i just like having lots of water. I hosed the boat completely down at anchor the other day, everyone hoses off every time they come out of the water, thus just don't have salt everywhere.

I run it once every 5-6 days for approx 4 hrs. It's just cool.

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by Paul L

It comes across as a little disingenuous to use noise as a reason to not run a watermaker while disturbing the entire anchorage with a Honda portable genset. I love seeing the convolutions users go through to hide from their quiet Honda. Sometimes on the bow - I've even seen them in the dinghy behind the boat.

Paul that's a little exaggerated don't you think? . I have a Honda and they are a very quiet generator. I was on a friends boat the other day, anchored quite close, we could not hear my Honda running. I asked him if he ever heard it, his answer was no.

The Rainman is 1200w. The Honda is operating at just over half its capacity.

Music and various other noises filter through the anchorage more than the noise of my Honda.

Mine sits on the sugar scoop.

Granted some generators are very noisy.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by daletournier

Paul that's a little exaggerated don't you think? . I have a Honda and they are a very quiet generator. I was on a friends boat the other day, anchored quite close, we could not hear my Honda running. I asked him if he ever heard it, his answer was no.

The Rainman is 1200w. The Honda is operating at just over half its capacity.

Music and various other noises filter through the anchorage more than the noise of my Honda.

Mine sits on the sugar scoop.

Granted some generators are very noisy.

If they are running at the econo level it is not too bad. They are a racket when they go to full bore -- like when you run the watermaker and full charging or start them up. It does seem that most of the users of these portable gensets have special places to put them to minimize any disturbance on the boat, just sometimes not considering the disturbance to their anchor mates. That said, I've been in anchorages where some wind gen was making more noise than the howling wind.
. I'd be happy to modify my statement to be less inflammatory to simply "It comes across as a little disingenuous to use noise as a reason to not run a watermaker while disturbing the entire anchorage with using a Honda portable genset"

[daletournier]

Paul, in regards to disturbing the entire anchorage? Once again I think you are exaggerating a tad if we are talking about the Honda or a yamaha generator.

I've literally anchored 1000's of nights and can only think of two occasions when portable generators were disruptive to peace. One was a guy running a two stroke generator off the back of his boat, you could hear it from 100's of meters away. The other is actually here presently. A friend has a cheaper generator that he runs fully loaded and it is quite loud. He runs it during the day maybe once per week , I would prefer not to hear it but it's really no problem.

My point is I've never had a good quality Honda or equivalent generator present a problem in an anchorage for me, just don't hear them! Music and rude people absolutely.

Even if you were only two boat lengths from me you would be lucky to hear my Honda. I have checked this (a number of times) , respect is a big thing for me and I'm very careful in this area. If these Hondas were as disruptive as you say, I would ditch it.

Also I just thought about the fuel usage abit more. I can get over 4 hrs from a tank. 4 hours makes 560l of water, I've measured it. That's less that a liter of fuel to produce 140l of water... not bad at all.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by daletournier

Paul, in regards to disturbing the entire anchorage? Once again I think you are exaggerating a tad if we are talking about the Honda or a yamaha generator.

I've literally anchored 1000's of nights and can only think of two occasions when portable generators were disruptive to peace. One was a guy running a two stroke generator off the back of his boat, you could hear it from 100's of meters away. The other is actually here presently. A friend has a cheaper generator that he runs fully loaded and it is quite loud. He runs it during the day maybe once per week , I would prefer not to hear it but it's really no problem.

My point is I've never had a good quality Honda or equivalent generator present a problem in an anchorage for me, just don't hear them! Music and rude people absolutely.

Even if you were only two boat lengths from me you would be lucky to hear my Honda. I have checked this (a number of times) , respect is a big thing for me and I'm very careful in this area. If these Hondas were as disruptive as you say, I would ditch it.

Also I just thought about the fuel usage abit more. I can get over 4 hrs from a tank. 4 hours makes 560l of water, I've measured it. That's less that a liter of fuel to produce 140l of water... not bad at all.

I backed my statement off to "It comes across as a little disingenuous to use noise as a reason to not run a watermaker while disturbing the entire anchorage with using a Honda portable genset". That's not that controversial, is it?

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by Paul L

I backed my statement off to "It comes across as a little disingenuous to use noise as a reason to not run a watermaker while disturbing the entire anchorage with using a Honda portable genset". That's not that controversial, is it?

Fair enough, I do understand why people go the spectra way, particularly with solar being wasted in the afternoons.
Cheers.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by daletournier

Fair enough, I do understand why people go the spectra way, particularly with solar being wasted in the afternoons.
Cheers.

On those noisy Honda gensets, that's Honda as a generic portable petrol generator. Kinda like Kleenex. I never get close enough to see what the actual vendor is. I used to own a Yamaha 1000 on my last boat. It didn't get used much so I sold it.

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by Paul L

On those noisy Honda gensets, that's Honda as a generic portable petrol generator. Kinda like Kleenex. I never get close enough to see what the actual vendor is. I used to own a Yamaha 1000 on my last boat. It didn't get used much so I sold it.

I had a Kipor years back, looked like a Honda but blue. The sticker on the side said it's decibel level was the same as the Honda, it wasn't, it was louder, not bad but still louder.

Like I said earlier the guy on cat in front has a cheaper brand generator and it's a screamer, thus I see your point although as I said earlier it's only one of two times I've actually come across it (that I remember).

It will interesting to see what it's like when I get the carribean. It's been a decade since I was last there. The anchorages around the Bvi's were packed tight back then and watermakers weren't as prolific as they are now. Maybe a variety of generators combined with sardine type anchoring, maybe my views will change.. Lol.
I do remember the banshee wind generators that were common, there were lots of them and they screamed, thankfully they have massively improved.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by daletournier

I had a Kipor years back, looked like a Honda but blue. The sticker on the side said it's decibel level was the same as the Honda, it wasn't, it was louder, not bad but still louder.

Like I said earlier the guy on cat in front has a cheaper brand generator and it's a screamer, thus I see your point although as I said earlier it's only one of two times I've actually come across it (that I remember).

It will interesting to see what it's like when I get the carribean. It's been a decade since I was last there. The anchorages around the Bvi's were packed tight back then and watermakers weren't as prolific as they are now. Maybe a variety of generators combined with sardine type anchoring, maybe my views will change.. Lol.
I do remember the banshee wind generators that were common, there were lots of them and they screamed, thankfully they have massively improved.

In the BVIs it's just charter boats. They don't have Hondas and you'll find the 'anchorages' filled with moorings. The good old days may have been less crowded but staying on the topic of this thread it sure is a lot nicer cruising with a decent watermaker.

[malbert73]

For me, and others, the choice may come to whether we are leveraging generator or solar. When we plan to shove off, I will go with an AC unit, likely cruise RO.
I want to install some solar as well, but my boat already has an installed diesel genset. So I will plan on solar as a supplement, but will plan on 1-2 hours of genset bulk charging and water making every 2-3 days. That will be about 3/4 gallon of diesel max. Won’t spend all the $$ on a full solar farm to keep up with a watermaker.
And my preference is make all the noise internally (you can’t hear my internal genset on other boats except for splash of exhaust) for short discrete intervals.
Different paths for different needs and equipment...

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by travellerw

.
....

We have been on tons of boats with Spectras and they are LOUD and annoying. Way too loud for me. I have no interest in stitting there drinking my coffee listening to the "hiss, bang, hiss, bang" for 3-4 hours everyday. Not to mention the INSANE prices of the pre-filter elements that Spectra requires.

...

Unfortunately terms like "LOUD" are very subjective. It would be interesting to quantify "LOUD"...for example how many db at 1 meter...hey Tellie, do you know?

The Clark pump does make sounds, but Ive never considered then loud. Mine is mounted in the port engine room and if I stand in the aft half of that hull I can hear it, but just barely. Mounting location plays a role in how "loud".

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by daletournier

Paul, in regards to disturbing the entire anchorage? Once again I think you are exaggerating a tad if we are talking about the Honda or a yamaha generator.

I've literally anchored 1000's of nights and can only think of two occasions when portable generators were disruptive to peace. One was a guy running a two stroke generator off the back of his boat, you could hear it from 100's of meters away. The other is actually here presently. A friend has a cheaper generator that he runs fully loaded and it is quite loud. He runs it during the day maybe once per week , I would prefer not to hear it but it's really no problem.

My point is I've never had a good quality Honda or equivalent generator present a problem in an anchorage for me, just don't hear them! Music and rude people absolutely.

Even if you were only two boat lengths from me you would be lucky to hear my Honda. I have checked this (a number of times) , respect is a big thing for me and I'm very careful in this area. If these Hondas were as disruptive as you say, I would ditch it.

Also I just thought about the fuel usage abit more. I can get over 4 hrs from a tank. 4 hours makes 560l of water, I've measured it. That's less that a liter of fuel to produce 140l of water... not bad at all.

My Rainman isn't making quite that much water per hour. I see a consistent 120L/hour as we move around the Caribbean.

4 hours on a tank when making water is roughly the same as us. However, if I'm in the back of an anchorage or far away from boats I will sometimes kick in my 20A charger while making water. Between the water maker and the charger, the Honda is pretty much fully loaded (contrary to popular belief, the Honda is only a 1600W generator, the 2000 number comes from the surge rating). At full load I only get about 2.5 - 3 hours on a tank of fuel.

I agree about the copious amounts of fresh water. Its amazing to not worry about water. With 3 kids aboard there is a lot of swimming done and not worrying about rinsing is fantastic.

Cruising isn't a science. We all cruise different and have different scenarios. The Spectra is a good (albeit expensive) option for some. High speed AC water makers are a good option for others.

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Unfortunately terms like "LOUD" are very subjective. It would be interesting to quantify "LOUD"...for example how many db at 1 meter...hey Tellie, do you know?

The Clark pump does make sounds, but Ive never considered then loud. Mine is mounted in the port engine room and if I stand in the aft half of that hull I can hear it, but just barely. Mounting location plays a role in how "loud".

Again.. Every boat and cruiser is different.

I have been on at least 8 boats with Spectra's and I never seen an install where sleeping near the clark pump would be possible. Don't get me wrong, some of them were not super loud, but the rythum of the sound would make it very hard to sleep while its running. Since we are a family of five, it means every cabin is full. That would mean someone would have to be sleeping near, or ontop of the clark pump. That just wasn't ideal for our cruising needs.

[rom]

@travellerw: in Martinique you should now get enough juice from your 900W solar panels to supply the WM without a genset ? I was there last year and my 1300W panels would ouput 100+A while my 100l WM (Dessalator brand, not particularly efficient) draws about 50A@12VDC. I am not saying you're wrong but I do not understand the choice for AC WM when you have so much solar (& batts I guess).