Maintenance/ Upgrade projects:
Watermaker
Installation of the watermaker has been the largest project to date and to be fair I had great support from JT Halden of Halden Marine in Fort Lauderdale. JT advised me on the location of the watermaker and how to organise the components, he was also the supplier and did the commissioning checks in order to activate the warranty.
We purchased an expensive but high output watermaker with the thinking that with the high output we would not have to run the generator for long periods to provide for our water needs and we could live with the luxury on a boat, of virtually unlimited water. The model we got was a Spectra Newport 700 which has an output of 30 gallons per hour. Spectra have a reputation for being expensive but reliable and they incorporate a Clarke pump which is a hydraulic pump that provides the pressure to drive the water through the membranes. The bulk of watermakers on the market have electric pumps which are very noisy.
The location chosen was under the rear berth in the port hull which already housed a small hot water heater and a fuel tank, but there was still sufficient space for the watermaker and for a person to get in there to do maintenance etc. The watertanks on the Leopard 46 are in an external locker forward of the mast so the product water neede to be piped from one end of the boat to the other. JT also recommended we install a tap at the galley sink so that we could obtain the best quality water before it was pumped into the tanks.
Sea water is drawn in through a through hull fitting, passes through a strainer and then to a boost pump that feeds two pre filters and ultimately the main pump. This pump supplies raw water to the Clarke pump and pressure vessels that contain the membranes that filter the fresh water from the sea water. From there fresh water is pumped into the water tanks and sea water passed back into the ocean. The system puts through about 10 gallons of sea water for every gallon of fresh water extracted.
The Spectra system incorporates a sophisticated electronic monitoring system that monitors the salt level in the product water, the pressure in the pump and the condition of the prefilters. It also has an automated fresh water flush system that flushes the whole system with fresh water every 5 days if the system has not been used in that period, as long as there is fresh water and power available.
The installation of the system was relatively painless as we already had a spare through-hull of an appropriate size for water intake due to the conversion of the sea water flush toilets to fresh water flush. The most difficult issue as is commonly the case on boats, was running the water pipes and power supply through some convoluted pathways to their destination. This was aided hugely with the purchase from Home Depot of a fibreglass "fish". I wished I'd encountered this tool sooner as it would certainly have made some of my earlier projects easier. It is a three part fibreglass rod that is somewhat flexible to go round bends but stiff enough to go where you want it to go (rather like the poles you get for modern tents). This makes the time consuming task of getting lines and wires to their destination much easier.
I did have to fit a new through hull above the waterline for the waste water from the system. This involved drilling a hole with a hole saw slightly larger than that required for the through hull fitting. This is so the balsa core can be removed from between the laminates around the perimeter of the hole, then filling the hole with epoxy. The hole is then redrilled with a hole saw the correct size for the through hull removing any chance of water penetration into the balsa core should the caulking around the fitting fail.
The installation took 3 days and included building a raised platform out of Starboard to mount the main pump and electronics module on so that it would never been sitting in water in the event of any leaks. Electrical installation was not difficult. The system required both a 12 volt and 110 volt feed as it runs on 110 volts but the fresh water flush system only requires 12 volts. The distribution board is quite near the location and there was 2 spare circuit breakers available to provide the supply.
There are very clear instructions provided for connecting all the pipework in the system and is is modularised so that it can be owner installed.
Once the install was complete JT came on board to check my work and run up the system for the first time. This brought to light a couple of leaks at connections but these only took a couple of minutes to fix.
We have encountered a number of problems with the system.
The first problem developed after 6 hours of running time. This was the failure of a 5A fuse on the main circuit board relating to the circuit that contained the boost pump module. Unfortunately we did not have any spare fuses of the type required - mini automotive style fuses and none were provided with the system. The advice provided by JT was to replace the fuse and when this blew again to replace with a 10A fuse. This seemed a little surprising as normally there is a reason why a fuse blows usually a short circuit or an overload in a circuit. After a short time the 10A fuse blew again and we were advised to replace with a 15A fuse which worked for a while but ultimately caused the main board to burn out in the vicinity of the fuse. The fuses proved quite difficult to find in the Bahamas so this was quite a major issue with a family of 4 guests on the boat. Ultimately we were advised to run the watermaker in manual mode and taste the water before putting it into the tanks. In manual mode the system works fine indicating that the power issue in the circuit does not relate to the boost pump as it works fine in manual mode.
A replacement main board was sent to us by a very slow delivery from Spectra (took about 2 weeks to get from California to Florida and then 1 day to reach us in Staniel Cay in the Bahamas).We were not impressed by this service as the unit was very expensive and virtually brand new when the fault developed. I installed the replacement board and the same fuse blew immediately. Spectra did not seem to understand the cause of the problem but suggested they send a new boost pump module, new board and voltage regulator. Once again this took about 3 weeks to get to us in GeorgeTown Great Exuma. When the parts arrived we discovered they had sent incorrect parts that were for a different model. A called to the Spectra tech support team that had sent the parts was generally rather abusive and unhelpful and certainly not apologetic for the interruptions they were causing to our cruising plans.
At this point we decided to abandon trying to fix the problem as the unit appears to run fine in manual mode when all the electronic monitoring is bypassed. Spectra have agreed to send JT to meet us in Florida when we return to the USA in 3 months to find the source of the problems. We have asked they ship a complete new fully tested unit to replace the existing unit so we are not delayed further by their very slow support process.The system has now developed two leaks - one appears minor and is in a regulating valve in the fresh water flush circuit, the other is from the Clark pump but we have been advised it will not damage the system to continue using it with this leak.
While we accept that new systems sometimes take a while to bed in, and there can be issues, this particular problem seems to be beyond the scope of understanding by the Spectra team (at least from a distance) and not something you would expect in a system of this quality and price. we will keep you posted on progress with this one.