Sea Star Whisper 30 integral watermaker

[Zai]

Bought a watermaker at the Duseldorf boat show.

Had set my sights on a Spectra, but after looking at different watermakers and talking to a few folks at the boat show decided on this one. It was quite a bit cheaper than the Spectra as well.

It does draw more amps (16) than the spectra, but doesn't use a high pressure pump, so it should be a little quieter. I am planning to have 400 watt solar and also I bought a Silent Wind generator, so the extra power the watermaker will use should go unnoticed.

What do you all think?

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by Zai

Bought a watermaker at the Duseldorf boat show.

Had set my sights on a Spectra, but after looking at different watermakers and talking to a few folks at the boat show decided on this one. It was quite a bit cheaper than the Spectra as well.

It does draw more amps (16) than the spectra, but doesn't use a high pressure pump, so it should be a little quieter. I am planning to have 400 watt solar and also I bought a Silent Wind generator, so the extra power the watermaker will use should go unnoticed.

What do you all think?

What do I think? As unbiased as a Spectra distributor can be, I have seen a lot of the Mutant Turtle ETD devices come and go on the market. I won't say anything bad about any watermaker company whose intentions are good. Very good companies have tried to make the stainless steel ETD version of the Clark pump, most have abandoned the attempts. I think I've pretty much worked on them all. Simple put, Stainless steel is a poor choice in materials. Watermakers have a tendency to sit unused for long periods of time. SS does not like an oxygen deprived environment. I've seen the best of quality SS have crevice corrosion in closed systems. A ETD pump design is ripe for this type of environment. Internal corrosion of these pumps is their death, usually sooner than later. Repairing them is usually just a temporary fix and can be complicated dealing with polishing parts and measuring them to the tolerances needed to fix them. A Clark pump has no internal SS and is easy to fix at sea with very few simple hand tools normally found on any boat and a simple repair kit. I certainly wish you all the luck and if I can ever be of any assitance don't hesitate to ask. Remember, though the definition of cruising is boat work in exotic places, most of us cruisers have the goal to cruise. There is a reason there is a price difference in watermakers. You lay your money down and you take your chances. Sometimes you simply get what you pay for.

PS Spell check just gave me a very good version of that above saying.

The definition of "Cursing" is just boat work in exotic places.