430 - Watermaker on a 430

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Watermaker on a 430

Printed From: myHanse.com
Category: Hints & Tips
Forum Name: 430
Forum Description: 430 Hints and Tips
URL: http://www.myhanse.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1938
Printed Date: 26 March 2023 at 10:25
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com

Topic: Watermaker on a 430

Posted By: Alain & Anne
Subject: Watermaker on a 430
Date Posted: 15 March 2008 at 11:04

Hi all

Has anybody already installed a water maker in a Hanse 430?
Any idea, suggestion, not to do's....
Thank's

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UHAMBO 430e#004
White hull-teck deck-Yanmar 55hp-long range cruising
OCC-RCYC

Our blog: www.uhambo.fr

Replies:

Posted By: Wild Honey
Date Posted: 16 March 2008 at 11:44

I installed a Katadyn 80e watermaker on my 430e after taking delivery at Greifswald in Late July 2007.

I bought the watermaker from West Marine in the US and had it delivered via Australia to Germany which still worked out much cheaper than buying it in Europe.

I fitted it under the aft port berth which seemed to be the best and most convenient location and the modular pieces of the unit are bolted to the underside of the berth base. The only problem I had initially was how to store the fresh water produced by the watermaker since the fresh water tank is located under the forepeak berth and it would therefore be too difficult to send the product up there.

I solved it by simply buying a Plastimo 100 litre plastic collapsible water tank which also fits neatly under the port aft berth and, of course, it is securely tied down to stop it moving.

Access to the various parts of the unit is achieved through the existing hatches in the berth base.

Excess brine is channeled to the aft bathroom sink waste.

I spent 4 months living on and sailing the boat down from the Baltic via Southern England then across a very unpleasant Bay of Biscay down to the Med, across to Croatia and down through the Ionian Greek islands, a total of just over 5,000 miles so I have given the system a fair test.

It has worked faultlessly and consistently produced the claimed fresh water output which gave us that bit extra water with my wife and 2 daughters and the occasional guest on board.

The only thing I would recommend for use in the Med was a fine pre, or silt filter which we in fact do have and which emitted a nasty stench whenever it was cleaned (not often) but it did a great job of cleaning the beautifully clear but polluted Med water.

I bought the Katadyn as it is one of the cheaper units on the market but has an excellent reliability record attested to by friends who have cruised extensively in the Pacific.

Good Luck

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Ian

Posted By: seileren1
Date Posted: 17 March 2008 at 13:02

Thank you for sharing this. Did you consider fitting the unit any other place so that you could pump the water into the main tank?

Cheers

Posted By: Wild Honey
Date Posted: 18 March 2008 at 00:00

Placement of the watermaker is a bit of a compromise.

Basicallly, you need 12v supply, somewhere from which to draw moderate volumes of seawater, an outlet to drain off the unused excess salt water and a fresh water storage facility for the product generated by the desalinator. You also need an accessable area to mount the various components of the unit. By installing the unit aft, you get all of these except the close proximity of the water tank.

I'm sure there are a number of other options for mounting the unit but, for my part, I rather like the idea of a separate tank for the desalinated water. If, in the hopefully unlikely event that the watermaker malfunctions and pumps contaminated water into the tank, you have only lost the water in the separate tank and not your whole water storage.

When the filters need cleaning, I find that the quality of the fresh water product diminishes and in that case, I can just pump the separate tank dry and start again with clean filters.

A down side of the collapsable tank is that you have to keep an eye on it to ensure you don't keep pumping fresh water into it when it is full for fear of damaging the watermaker or even the tank. I haven't had that problem yet myself.

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Ian

Posted By: Scorpio
Date Posted: 18 March 2008 at 12:49

I had flexible water tanks on my last boat. They were under the saloon berth and shaped to pretty much fill the locker space they were in. It was very easy to tell when they were full - they pushed the locker lid up and the cushion rose with it - very easy to see. Just don't sit on the cushions when they're "up" or when the tanks are filling.

Hope this helps.

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Ed Essery
Scorpio GBR 9824T
Hanse 342#465 - Solent Based

Posted By: seileren1
Date Posted: 18 March 2008 at 13:20

I see your point about compromises.

Another question I had is if you did (and how you did) connect the tank to the existing water system in the boat?

Cheers

Posted By: Wild Honey
Date Posted: 18 March 2008 at 23:28

The outlet of the watermaker flexible tank under the port aft berth is connected to the inlet side of the electric pressure waterpump under the seat in the aft shower with a Y connection Water is diverted from either tank supply to the other with a simple tap accessed via the teak removable shower seat. Either the main supply in the forepeak or the desalinated water from aft can then be utilised via the pressure water system just by turning a tap under the shower seat.

The only tricky bit is to get the two 1/2 inch waterpipes (one for fresh water to the pump and the other for waste brine to the sink waste) through to the aft bathroom as they haven't left a lot of room behind the furniture in the aft cabin and the fibreglass aft bathroom moulding. I did it by getting a mouse line through first ond then pulled the pipes through afterwards.

However, once you've gotten those pipes through with a bit of wriggling, the rest of the connections are quite straight forward.

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Ian

Posted By: Syncro
Date Posted: 24 March 2008 at 20:46

I installed a Spectra modular system. The pump unit was placed under the galley sink cabinet, drawing sea water from a new thruhull, the controls are in the sink cabinet, and the clark pump and pressure vessel and pre filters are mounted behind the settee to starboard. We needed to cut a large opening, but that is easily done, and gives you access to a huge , otherwise wasted space