Lipari 41: Plumbing & Water Heater

[rwallace]

My wife and I live aboard our Lipari - which now has over 10,000 nm under her keel - and offer the following thoughts.

We don't have a watermaker yet, but saw one on a Lavezzi that had some interesting install points. The unit was in starboard engine compartment with high pressure pump behind the saildrive - well out of the way. Other parts mounted to an added board in same engine compartment on outboard side - easy access. Watermaker output spliced into cold water input for hot water heater, which is in that engine compartment as well - saved lots of install headaches. Owner pleased with unit's functioning, and install looked straightforward.

We just have the stock fridge, but added a portable Dometic 12v freezer/fridge that stays either in the cockpit or owner's cabin under the "desk". Works great and can be used several ways. (Admiral won't let me put fish in "her" fridge.)

I upgraded stock batteries to Lifeline AGM, model GPL-30HT. They fit stock battery platform perfectly (same foot print as stock bats), and are only a few inches taller. No new cables were required. They are rated at 150 amps each. That gets you to at 450 amps very easily, a 50% increase over stock house bank.

I don't have a generator, but did install three 125 watt solar panels over dinghy. They provide more power than we've ever needed, but of course won't run air conditioning (we don't have that anyway). No inverter either - boat is strictly 12v with a portable gas Honda generator if needed.

Nice to chat with other Lipari owners!

RW

[Toys_with_time]

Originally Posted by rwallace

Watermaker output spliced into cold water input for hot water heater, which is in that engine compartment as well - saved lots of install headaches.

I don't have a generator, but did install three 125 watt solar panels over dinghy. They provide more power than we've ever needed, but of course won't run air conditioning (we don't have that anyway).
RW

Interesting idea feeding the watermaker output into the HW input - presumably means it will go backwards through the water pump and diaphragm pressure unit.

With your 3 x 125 solar panels, do they interfere with the use of the davits and are they mounted on the davits or have you added separate supports? Would love to see photo(s) of the install if possible.

You must be very frugal with your power use!

Any other suggestions for do's and dont do's? I receive my boat & start fitting out in March.

Cheers

TwT

[rwallace]

Yeah, I did a double take on the watermaker plumbing myself, but owner said it worked fine.

I do have photos of solar panel mount - will try and post them when I have a chance. Basically, a welder made a 1" stainless, rectangular tube frame - a single piece with rounded corners. The stern part has two tabs welded on that fit into existing pins at the end of davits. The forward part is supported by two legs that are attached to the hull near where the davits exit the hull. The panels came with stainless mounting tabs, which are welded to the frame - the panels bolt directly to these tabs. The welder didn't want to drill into the davits themselves - might weaken them, or eventually result in corrosion. The result is a very sturdy, light panel mount.

I think one reason the panels work so well for us is that we invested in a good charge controller. I think the controller is the heart of any solar system, and you shouldn't skimp when purchasing this.

As for energy consumption, all lights - navigation and interior - are LED. Everything else is 12v powered - computer, etc. So I guess we just don't use that much power.

[Takamoana]

Hi All
We have a Dessalator 12 Volt, 60 Litres p/hr watermaker fitted in the stbd engine room with the control panel mounted under the desk / bench in the owners cabin. On our set-up, the feed from the cold water connection on the water heater to the watermaker is for flushing the membrane.The watermaker output is fed direct to the stbd freshwater tank as any back pressure will severly reduce the watermaker output. We have added 2 extra batteries in the port engine room and have 3 x 130 watt solar panels fitted ontop of the davits. So far, solar output has been more than enough to keep the fridge and other essentials powered up.

[jos444cars]

correct the fibreglass holding step of the liferaft is a design fault, as one cannot hv a decent size dinghy. so i did cut it away and mounted the liferaft on the stern reling. considered as well under the helm seat, but for optical reasons decided against it.
my dinghy is a 3.1m with a 9.9hp which really together with the 3 solarpanels 120W each r a heavy load for this flimsy davits. actually they r vibrating and a bit swinging in some larger wave action.

the watermaker is installed in the compartment forward of the maestro toilet/shower cabin. very convenient to check/change filters etc whilst standing upright in the shower [water turned off,haha].

[Toys_with_time]

Has anyone separated their water tanks on a Lipari?

Have read the threads on the Mahe site and seems that they have easy access to port tank whereas on Lipari seems tank is sealed in. Would like to have the ability to fill tanks individually through separate deck fillers then add stop cocks on hose from tanks to pressure pump so that I can close off one or other tank when I'm not sure about water quality.

Toy_with _Time

[Takamoana]

Access to the port freshwater tank is no problem - undo the screws around the inside of the shelf and the whole thing comes out. I plan to convert the tanks on my Lipari this winter to enable each tank to filled or drained independently. I have had a good look the job is very similar to that described in the Mahe thread.
Gary

[Toys_with_time]

Originally Posted by Melis

Access to the port freshwater tank is no problem - undo the screws around the inside of the shelf and the whole thing comes out. I plan to convert the tanks on my Lipari this winter to enable each tank to filled or drained independently. I have had a good look the job is very similar to that described in the Mahe thread.
Gary

Gary

Is this the bookshelf in port forrard cabin? I undid the small rear end panel in that but didnt seem to get me anywhere.

TwT

[Takamoana]

Yes, the large shelf comes out in one piece and there is plenty of room to get at the tank. The small access hatch above the escape hatch allows access to the tank isolation valve but it is very difficult to get to. I plan to install another valve at the pump end so I can change tanks easily.
Gary

[Toys_with_time]

Originally Posted by Melis

Yes, the large shelf comes out in one piece and there is plenty of room to get at the tank. The small access hatch above the escape hatch allows access to the tank isolation valve but it is very difficult to get to. I plan to install another valve at the pump end so I can change tanks easily.
Gary

Thanks for the info - that shelf must be the only part of the boat I haven't pulled apart when running cables!
From memory (I'm not on the boat at the moment) there is a small removable panel down by yr right foot when sitting at the nav station and that gives better access to the water tank valve. I also cut an oval access hole in the left hand end of the F/G backing of the saloon seat which mirrors the one that FP put in at the right hand end. Makes life easier.

[Dod42]

I have an interesting issue when filling the freshwater tanks. First time around it never fills more than 3/4 full. I am using a small hose through a filter to the deck fill point, so not massive amounts of water going in, however the tanks (according to the gauge) will fill to about 3/4 then water comes out the deck filler as if it was full, so I stop filling. The gauge still only shows 3/4 full. If I wait 10 minutes I can then start filling again and it doesn't overflow. It seems to go for about 15 minutes and it fills the tank up to almost full (according to the gauge) before it overflows again. So it must have been only 3/4 full when it overflowed not just a slow gauge. I can repeat again after about 10 minutes and still get a little more in.

My take on it is that it seems like it takes a long time to equalise between the 2 tanks. Strange as the connecting pipe seems very big so I would think it should handle the flow.

I haven't checked the overflow/breather on the port tank yet and maybe it is blocked. Any other ideas?

[DtM]

I think your analysis is correct. It is the time to equalise. We have the same "issue".

We use the 10 minutes to clean the boat !!!!!

[Toys_with_time]

Originally Posted by Takamoana

Access to the port freshwater tank is no problem - undo the screws around the inside of the shelf and the whole thing comes out. I plan to convert the tanks on my Lipari this winter to enable each tank to filled or drained independently. I have had a good look the job is very similar to that described in the Mahe thread.
Gary

Have successfully separated my tanks but now have no reading on amount of water in stbd tank as gauge is on port tank. Given limited access to stbd tank has anyone got any ideas on how to add gauge?

TwT