Little Wonder Watermaker??

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by amandasearle

I have heard a lot of bad feedback about Spectra. It may be a see of bad news spreads faster than good news but it has put me off them unfortunately

Yeah, unfortunate indeed. You can do a thousand good things and not even an atta boy. One thing goes wrong and the Devil has serious competition. But I have two LW200s in my shop slightly used that I pulled out and replaced with Spectras this year. The Devil keeps telling me to sell them.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Tellie

As always, it depends who you talk to. First time you have to replace the LW membrane you would break even with the cost of a Spectra 200T and the 9amps compared to the 17 amps doesn't make a whole lot of sense for the difference in price.

I'm in agreement with you on the amps. Spectra is just way more efficient. The prices of the Racor membranes really aren't that bad and they last a long time. So I don't think that is really a factor. I've had the original and a replacement membrane, and that's over 7 years use.

[amandasearle]

Hmm, interesting replies. Thanks everyone. I think I'm going to have to do more research on the Spectra one and maybe put another post up here and see what the consensus is. Half the amps is a huge bonus so definitely worth looking into. I see some of you have changed to the Spectra - you are happy the change I presume??

[Flyingriki]

Watching videos on watermakers this morning and one fellow that built his own, nice one too, says flushing with a bit of the fresh water keeps the membrane intact and can be left that way indefinitely. Sound right? I had thought the pickling process was required.

[mjamesw]

Originally Posted by amandasearle

We are thinking of putting a Little Wonder on our yacht and would like some feedback from others who already have one. We don't have a genset so it seems the way to go for just Solar and Wind powered yachts? I know one of the drawbacks is the different filter size but I think there are drawbacks on any system one way or another.

What did you buy in the end and how did it go?

[amandasearle]

Originally Posted by mjamesw

What did you buy in the end and how did it go?

We ended up going for H2Oonthego. It’s made in Perth by a not for profit organization. Very reasonably priced and easy to install, run and maintain.
We got the one that does 60l/hr and runs off our inverter
Very happy with it

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by amandasearle

We ended up going for H2Oonthego. It’s made in Perth by a not for profit organization. Very reasonably priced and easy to install, run and maintain.
We got the one that does 60l/hr and runs off our inverter
Very happy with it

I hate to be "That guy". I had to look at H2Oon the go website as this is another new one to me. (They pop up every year or so, certainly all the good luck to them) There is a ton of misinformation on their site. I have to wonder if their engineer has any practical marine based field knowledge at all. Where I certainly hope that amandasearle has nothing but great luck with his new purchase and it serves him well, I have to chime in here. First the claim that their 12V system is more efficient than anyone else is false. They claim their 12lph (3gph) at 15Amp/hr is energy efficient. Wow! a Spectra VT150 pulls 9/amp/hr and produces 24lph(6.5gph) The VT150 is three times as energy efficient. The 12lph H2Oonthego retails for $5,150 AUD (3627.66 USD) A VT150 is $5,350 USD (7595.12AUD) But since the VT150 is twice the production it would reason that you double the cost of the H2O system to match the Spectras production then this H2Oonthego system would cost $10,300AUD or $7,255 USD. Hardy a bargain watermaker per gallon made especially since the VT150 is more than three times as energy efficient per gallon made. The devil they say, is in the details.



PS, are those jumper cable clamps 316 as well?

[amandasearle]

We didn’t go for the 12v system in the end. After talking to people about how much water they produce per hour, it’s never what the specs say, always less especially in warm seas like where we are. We decided it would be better to run our engine for an hour or make water when we need to run the engine and get 60l per hour than drawing at least 3-4 hours of battery power for the same amount of water. We have used it a lot since we got it and are very happy with it.
Yes, the information on the website is not 100% correct and thankfully my husband is very hands on and knowledgeable so it worked well for us

[44'cruisingcat]

In warm water they should make more, not less. Maybe the salinity is higher?