Is this the best watermaker for us? - Sailing Helios S02E07

[@micheldawes1]

Hello guys, freshly subscribed and loving your content! I’m a commercial master mariner and sailing is my utmost passion. I have raced most of my life, however, I find your channel extremely informative and very well presented, to the point where I am enjoying learning something new in most of your episodes. @2:30 in this episode you are looking at installing an appliance in the void space, thinking that you will have room. Unfortunately you may find that behind the bulkhead will be the chain plates and therefore nowhere near as much interior volume as you had hoped. I sincerely hope i’m mistaken in this and that your plans aren’t thwarted. Once again, I’m loving your content and your episodes make for very entertaining viewing! Cheers, from Mike Sydney, Australia

[@sailinghelios2023]

Hi Mike, we are very glad that you are enjoying our episodes and high praise indeed coming from a person with your experience. We have managed to open that void and have found that it is free. The chainplates are a bit aft of this space. Regards Jude and Richard

[@stewartwilkinsonsnr]

S02E07 Completed: Very interesting episode xx❤️💙⛵️

[@johnsieverssr8288]

Good luck you two...❤

[@doubl0h7]

You could shave off another amp or two plus a bit quieter if you go with a Mabru aircon style raw water pump. Multiple boats in our owners group have used them for their solar/lifep04 aircon setups. They are overpriced through Mabru but you can find them wholesale for 1/4 the price or less. We would struggle personally with that super low water output since we have a big dog we rinse twice a day after shore leave.

[@sailinghelios2023]

Thank you I will have a look at that pump. Yes, this works for us as our consumption is not really high. If you wanted, you could double the system from the filters onwards with a low water pump that would provide enough volume.

[@marktaylor484]

Fascinating.

[@sailinghelios2023]

Yes. Now I just need to get hold of the parts!

[@lips5913]

Fascinating to see someone put a logical approach into practice. I've often wondered why boats don't use smaller output watermakers constantly topping up the system in place of large ones which work infrequently and therefore require the pickling process. I thought it might be because the small high pressure pumps weren't available, but clearly that's not the case. Is there any chance of a system schematic? Also details on the membrane?

[@sailinghelios2023]

Exactly. I have always thought that the high pressure pumps have to be noisy so if this was the case I might as well make the most water in the shortest possible time. However, there is no need to do this when the pump is quiet. It takes water making from an event to a background process. The membrane he has recommended is a VONTRON SW11-2540 Sea Water membrane but I believe and membrane designed for SW is ok. He recommends 2540 size as the are the most commonly available. I don't have a schematic but you can find very good schematics on the DIY Water Makers Facebook page. There is really nothing different with this setup other that the type of pumps used.

[@SVJoana]

Please add a link to that mineralizer that your guest specialist spoke of. The video showed an image of it, but I can't see the brand and particular product. Thanks.

[@sailinghelios2023]

Hi Wade, I haven't got the details of that particular filter but it would be something like this: celticwatersolutions.ie/products/inline-remineralisation-water-filter

[@SVJoana]

@@sailinghelios2023 Thanks Richard and Jude. I've got it figured out now.

[@antonioferro1981]

could you tell me where you got the sea water I have a 419 the old version of your boat and I would like to mount the desalination plant

[@sailinghelios2023]

I have completed my install yet but the plan is to share the seacock for the toilet with the water maker. I am just thinking through the pro's and con's with this. If I am not happy then I will need to put in another seacock for the water maker

[@danielhicks7141]

What membrane does he use on the system? For the cost, and if you are making sufficient power, you could probably just build two systems, then you'd be doubling your water making capacity very easily.

[@sailinghelios2023]

He uses a SW-2540 membrane. I am not sure of the manufacturer but I think there are only a few. If you wanted to make more water then you could double the system from the high pressure pump onwards and have a higher volume low pressure pump. Currently we use 15 litres of water per day, but of course we do minimise usage and we would probably use more once we have a water maker. So for us I think this size unit will be fine. We also have 530 litres of storage so we can go a while before we are out so that allows us to target days with good sun. Regards Richard

[@majebrennan5668]

Our watermaker was initially hooked up to the same throughhull as the toilet. That's not a good idea because of the chance of contamination. Make a new throughhull. Congratulations on the washing machine and inverter!

[@sailinghelios2023]

Hi, I had the same concern but my understanding is that the RO process removes all bacteria and viruses. Though, on our next haul out I might put one in.

[@dboboc]

Washing machine? Watermaker? I wonder how people like Eric and Susan Hiscock, John Guzzwell, Robin Lee Graham, Tania Aebi, Hal Roth, Francis Chichester, Robin Knox Johnston, Alan Eddy, Bill King, Miles and Beryl Smeeton ever got along without one.

[@majebrennan5668]

@@dboboc, maybe because they didn't have the ability to do it? Most of them didn't even refrigeration until long after they'd started sailing. Do you live with out electricity and running water just because people did it before you? More importantly, have you ever lived on a boat for more than a few weeks. We've lived on our boat for 4 years before crossing into the Med and sailing half the year instead of full-time. With solar, there's no reason to forego modern conveniences.

[@humanafterall2076]

Two and a half weeks for a gas bottle. How small is the bottle.

[@sailinghelios2023]

I know! They are 3kg gas bottles and we use gas for 100% of cooking and tea/coffee etc. sometimes we boil water to heat it for dishes too. It’s frustrating.

[@sailinghelios2023]

3kg! And some places charge as much as 38 euros to swap them. It would be great not to have to rely on them

[@humanafterall2076]

13 kg bottles x 2 Supplement with an induction hob You’ll easily go six months possibly more. Cheaper to fill a bottle that’s large and yours than swap. Over reliance on so called renewables is costly. But knowing how they bump up your electric demands is good. Technology is moving forward fast but even the big guns still run generators Finding a balance is tough but can be costly

[@sailinghelios2023]

We really don't have a place for such large bottles without hanging them off the sides of the boat. The good thing is that our cooking requirements are not high as we could technically be called vegan (just don't have the need to tell everyone, hence technically). On a boat out size it is always a compromise so we will probably start with the cooktop temporarly installed to try it out before we rip out all of the gas systems.

[@robertgranafei2781]

I am confused. The pump shown has a flow rate of less than 1/2 a gallon a minute . It is my understanding that for the membrane to work properly it needs a flow rate of at least 3 gallons a minute . In trying to fashion a system I always run into the dilemma of finding a pump with the proper flow rate versus cost. Yes, a CAT pump will do it but at a cost of $1,500 or more. Mister pumps like this one, while inexpensive, do not produce the flow rate required. Or have I been mis-informed?

[@sailinghelios2023]

The membrane specifications that I have seen don’t have minimum flow rates of sea water only maximum. They have minimum flow rates of product water but this is just talking to their efficiency. I trust what Keith has done. CAT pumps are expensive and loud. This pump might be used for misting but it was designed for the oil industry to work reliably 24/7

[@robertgranafei2781]

@@sailinghelios2023 Thanks

[@wonkothesane7000]

You have good reason to be confused. This system is a total dud. In a correctly designed system, only a fraction of the Sea water pumped is purified. The rest is there to flush away the salt buildup. For a 12v system, you need a Energy Recovery Pump like a Spectra. $$$$. And you need good pre filters. 20 and 5 microns.

[@sailinghelios2023]

That’s a big call considering it is a working system put in place by a specialist RO engineer.

[@deningman]

It's a strange thing to call a desalination kit. "Watermaker" ...if it makes water, the centre of Australia would use it.

[@sailinghelios2023]

Yeah, it is strange. It’s just what yachties generally call it. 🤷‍♀️

[@Mickmc_66]

Thair is an other one called saline intermission she is not half as qute as you but she is very daring in what she wears witch makes it well worth watching check it out waw

[@HopeOfJoe]

Sure hope you don't mount your watermaker controls buried like this guy. Terrible for access. There are better possibilities. Some watermakers have a s.s. plate with all the controls mounted inside (see Rainman watermaker install panel...not mentioned as a watermaker choice, just to see alternative install choices).

[@sailinghelios2023]

Those control panels are really nice and I will probably end up with something similar. I suppose that this one shows you don't need something fancy to have something that works. At worst I will create a control panel that sits below a easy access floor panel if I can't find a better place to mount it. Thanks for your comment, regards Richard