Watermaker recommendations

I understand the convenience of fully automatic operation but I would never have one again. If the screen or ECU or a sensor goes out you re dead in the water. At the most, you want a semi auto model where the electronics control operation but you still adjust the pressure manually. If the fancy computer goes out, you still rig it to run the pumps and diversion valve manually and adjust the pressure.

auto FWF is a must but most have it.

I have heard good things about Watermakers Inc in FTL. They re the same folks that own Staniel Cay YC

Watermakers inc are good but too old school for what the op wants. Sea recovery are good. I had one on a sunseeker that we used a lot and it never missed a beat.

I never got over the $5000 “upgrade” bill because of sea recovery crappy touch screen design...

I want simple. I want the old school manual pressure valve. Once it s set, you don’t really have to touch it and you can start it remotely at the current setting

the only automated function I want is the FWF which is just a timer.

“Use a lot”? Our 1400 GPD has been running an average of 10 hours a day for most of the last 3 weeks... at least I know that if the electronics crap out I can rig the pumps to run and adjust the pressure as needed with the manual valve. Otherwise... trip is over.

Putting in a second and matching Horizon unit on our lil boat.
The only thing automatic with the Horizon is when the water is clear, it diverts to the potable tank.
I can manually enable this if needed.

Just removed my 30 something year old Rich system. All pure manual system. Just starting to look pretty ugly and time for a new membrane.
I would let the Rich unit run for 30 minutes and go back below to enable the diverter to the potable tank, never had a automatic function.

Keep it simple and able to work or trips come to an end very quickly.

Pascal has been pretty pissed over that SR jip for a while now.
Hope he keeps reminding all how that panned out.
When a mfg/vendor bends over customers like that, it should never be forgotten and on a purchasers mind when selecting new products.

Ask your self before signing that dotted line;
Will I have to bend over to fix my fancy machine when it fails?

I’m very happy with my Blue Water Legend 750 thus far. I say thus far as I just installed it a year ago so it doesn’t have tons of run time yet. But knock wood, so far, so good. It meets all the requirements the OP is looking for.

These old salts have a lot of wisdom and should probably be listened to. But for a fully automatic unit I recommend Spectra. It does just about everything except change it’s own filters.

+1 on the Spectra watermakers. Trouble free operation, spare parts and filters arrive by mail or UPS within max 48 hours all over Europe. We have them on all of our boats in the family.

What ever you buy make sure the filters and membranes are not specific to that water maker. You need to be able to buy off the shelf generic units

I am a fan of the Spectra products also. That Clark pump can run from your ships batteries and is fairly quiet.
It is reliable but; down side, when it breaks at sea, it's down.

I did have a customer with dual Spectra ROs. With both running, would make some good GPD.
If one failed (that never happened that I know of), still not an emergency.

I ve been considering adding a smaller unit as a back up as we spend a lot of time anchored in the Exumas.

I got a close call on this trip when arriving in Nassau the feed pump failed. Burned motor. I had kept the old one as a spare (we replaced it as a precaution at 8 year) but after sitting a couple of years it was bad too. I was able to get the newer one rebuilt in 24 hours by the local sea recovery dealer in Nassau.

plan C would have been to use one of the spare air con pumps i have on board but being larger and with larger hose it would have been less than ideal...

Many moons ago, a friends feed pump failed.
He really did not know it, the high pressure pump was mounted below the water line also and ran fine.
Something to consider with a modular system, components locations.

I'm actually finding this thread as I'm about to tear out the old and replace it with a more reliable system. I've ben milking the old for some time, which is essentially modular components of a Sea recovery system, but no matter what I try I cannot keep the ppm down below 7 or 800. Not terrific for a metal boat with metal tanks, even if I can better purify the water on the delivery side.

Watermakers Inc has my attention. WMS 1000. What say you?

watermakers inc makes good systems and are less electronic than the others if that’s what you’re looking for. Also the control box is relatively small if mounting space is an issue.

Space is always an issue on a boat, but not really a bind here. I'm all about mechanical, reliable, repairable, serviceable, bulletproof. I don't need extra gadgets. No can bus system required.

As mentioned the only automation I want is the fresh water flush.

about modular vs compact, I prefer modular in most cases. This allow easier access to components. For instance on the compact sea recovery models the HP pump is mounted inside the using frame with all the sensors, hoses etc. replacing the pump takes a lot longer than if it is mounted separately. Yes I know the HP pump isn’t a frequently replaced component but still... the easier it is to reach the better

Agreed, modular. Murphy's Law demands that failures occur in the back corner of any configuration. I'm happy to place the components in a manner that makes sense to access and monitor. I do believe I will take you up on your trick to mount the pumps below water level. We just lost the feed pump last weekend, had a spare, but it all seems so avoidable.

Went this route along with the auto flush option, WMS1000. Thank you for the input.

Old thread but has anyone had experience with Seawater Pro Systems water maker.