AquaBase ESW vs Sun Pure Water makers

[Ikigai]

Hi
I want to order a water maker for my Catamaran and need about 110 L/h. Both AquaBase and Sun Pure produce and sell units to achieve this in 12V and 230V. The AquaBase from France is 3 x the price of Sun Pure from USA (yes they will provide a 230V unit), the only difference is Sun Pure does not use the complicated electronics. Both companies have a good name and reviews. Does any one have personal experience, good or bad which they can share
Thanks

[Privilege]

I ordered a water maker for my catamaran yesterday. I did extensive research on water makers before I ordered it because my annoying personality wouldn't allow it to be any other way. From what I've learnt, there are basically three types of water maker (and I will bow to the opinion of more experienced cruisers). The first is the cheapest. It's made of propriety parts and has the same pump as a power-washer (Like a Karcher) to create the high pressure. It works but the pump is unlikely to last very long when used regularly or for extended periods. Having said that, the pump is cheap to replace. The second is the permanent magnet motor + pump. They share the same kind of high-pressure pump and use either a 12v motor or a 110v/230v motor to drive the pump. They are effective and reliable but need a big pump to drive them and are not particularly power-efficient. This doesn't really matter if you are using AC to power it as you have plenty of power to spare but if using DC you are likely to need a big solar array to produce anything over 15gph. They will use in the region of 40 amps to produce that. See Cruise RO, Ecotec, Aquatec etc...
The last kind is the energy recovery systems like Spectra. The pump produces a much more efficient product where you can get 15 gallons for 19 amps or so but these types are usually much more expensive. They are mostly DC as they are so amp-economical. The providers of the last two systems both give decent warranties on their motor and pumps. What you end up choosing is based on your price range, water requirements and power source. I can't offer any insight to your choices but if you are comparing the energy recovery pump to the permanent magnet motor pump there will always be a price difference. (Again, please take this as the result of my online research. I have no hands-on experience). Good luck.

[Ikigai]

Hi Privilege
Many thanks, which did you end up purchasing?

[Privilege]

I’ve got a generator on board so I did go back and forth in my decision making for quite some while between the high GPH 110 V water maker or the lower GPH DC water maker. I ended up ordering the Spectra Cape Horn Extreme. 15gph at 19 amps. It was just under $1k more expensive than the equivalent gph version from Aquatec and Ecotec. I decided that with my solar panels I will always be able to make 19 amps even on an overcast cloudy day.

[Ikigai]

Many thanks for the heads up