Water Maker

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by Tsuru

Hello and congratulations on your new boat. Our boat is smaller than your HF 50 but has similar systems. We set our boat is set up for our own needs. Everyone will have different needs and goals so good competent owners will set up differently. Note that our needs change with time.

As examples we have 1600 BTU AC but have never used it on anchor. I’m in the process of changing our 8 GPH Spectra Watermaker with a 16 GPH Spectra unit. If I have a diesel gen set I would have gone a 120 VAC watermaker. These can be less cost with more production. More is better….

AC and Watermaker are not the heavy power consumers. Refrigeration is the heavy hitter on board. You can simply not make water or turn on the AC if you don’t have power. If you can’t drive refrigeration you are going to suffer. I’ve made a detailed power survey on our boat. Once you know your power needs it’s easier to plan the systems needed to support it.

In general I try (and often fail) to keep systems simple, understanding that I’ll need to service them myself. For example our main refrigeration is Dometic because parts are easier sourced in the USA. There are many other options but consider parts and service availability in your final decisions.

It is always a good idea to do some cruising before making large purchases. At least for us, our goals and desires changed.

Good luck and enjoy

Just jumping in here a bit about changing Spectras. If you have the 200T is it manual or fully automated? The 200T uses the same 10% pump as does the NP400 you are looking at and the CapeHornExtreme330. If you are just looking for more production a second feed pump and a 40" membrane easily added to your 200T will produce 14gph at a whole lot less expense.

[Dirk01]

following

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by Dirk01

following

If you have any questions Dirk, feel free to jump in.

[Dirk01]

Originally Posted by Tellie

If you have any questions Dirk, feel free to jump in.

Hi Tellie,

my intention is to hear and to learn as much as I can to find out which WM might be the best thing for my boat (I'm going to order her next year).

So, no open questions at this point.

I also visited the "boot Düsseldorf" last month and met a lot of vendors. You may believe it or not - every system offered is the best on the market

Cheers
Dirk

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by Dirk01

Hi Tellie,

my intention is to hear and to learn as much as I can to find out which WM might be the best thing for my boat (I'm going to order her next year).

So, no open questions at this point.

I also visited the "boot Düsseldorf" last month and met a lot of vendors. You may believe it or not - every system offered is the best on the market

Cheers
Dirk

LOL, Imagine that! Well, at the least I will say this, "No watermaker is perfect, anyone who tells you their's is the best and you'll have no problems with it has never been on a boat or doesn't plan to stay in business long. I could make a lot more sales if I would just either bend a few things or ignore the obvious. Ilike sleeping at night. I also won't trash other manufacturers. The majority of them are good folks that want to take care of their customers.
All watermakers, like pretty much everything else on a boat need maintenance and servicing. The majority of the issues and complaints I see on the "better" systems are lack of maintenance. The "Maintenance novelty" tends to both wear off a bit and sees a bit of denial in of lack of doing it.
Either way you decide to go, if you need any help or have any questions about any watermaker just ask.

[Pizzazz]

Originally Posted by HudosonForce50

I’m also questioning power ideas for the following upgrades:
-New Generator 7.5kw Cummins
-Modular Water Maker 12v? 24? 48v? A/C? Both?
-1200 BTU + 1600 BTU air conditioning units-vessel DOES NOT HAVE or ever had air conditioning.
-New Electronic Plotting System
-New closed circuit Freezer
Victron Inverter/Charger(s) 12v 3000 Quattro & 24 or 48v? 5000 or 10,000 Quattro.
-Many LiFePro Batteries…

I was thinking of keeping the house at 12v for simplicity, and ramping up a bank for the heavy hitters like air conditioning and water maker. I also want to be able to use power tools such as sanders and routers for occasional projects.

The objective is yo limit/avoid spending money on diesel. Considering a wind generator on the Mizzenmast and a few more solar panels.

Right now I have (4) 150 watt semi flexible panels, 4 lead acid house batteries and 2 separate starter lead acid batteries for engine with Victron controller.

Any insight would be great!

Genset is one way to go... I personally prefer it. You have a beautiful, large and solid boat. A well installed genset will be quiet an unobtrusive. Then everything becomes easier and cheaper household sized fridges, AC water makers, hot water, electric galley, may be a washing machine at some point, charging as you need it. You still need to to keep the solar panels + batteries for some redundancy, a small inverter for the coffee maker, etc. May be add a small 12V fridge in case the AC system fails completely. You will not run the generator as much as you think, even with air conditioning, it will not be at full load most of the time.

More solar, wind + bigger and more modern batteries + inverters is the second way to go and more suitable for smaller boats. If you want to do epic cruising with a number of people on board, it is hard to generate enough power via renewables. Plus, everything is custom, marine, expensive, highly unlikely to recoup the capital cost in the first few years of cruising.

Regarding chart plotters, it is really not that expensive anymore, relative to the other items. Choose the size of display that is comfortable to put in the cockpit (say 12"), choose a decent autopilot and keep adding items as you see how you use the boat (radar, sonar, AIS, etc.). Try to keep everything from one brand if possible and, please stay away from tablets/PCs/OpenCPN until you have built a solid, weather proof system in the cockpit.

SV Pizzazz