420/44 DB Owners Club

[Alex F]

You can but one or the other can only be run, not both. I tied mine into the Bridge AC raw water supply and have a valve that switches to one or the other. Here is how I did it - big pump is watermaker and small pump is bridge AC. That Apollo valve is a three way and shown in the AC mode.
View attachment 136598

Tom,
I understand that this might be a good solution for boats in colder areas. So, I wonder how practical is this approach for boaters in a tropical climate. What I mean is that most of the long trips are done during hot summer months, when we need to run ACs 24/7. Is it really practical to shut your ACs and allow the water maker run for at least an hour to make say 20 gallons of water? I assume you're making water a bit at the time instead of waiting for the tank to go to empty.

 

[Alex F]

Here it is. 2-gallon instead of one. Really smoothed everything out....

View attachment 136637

Bennett

Hey Bennet,
I've noticed an access port right by the accumulator tank. Any reason you need this port? Does it collect water or was there another reason?

 

[AEO]

Yes, it was screwed down. It is a general purpose accumulator. It is in a clean and stable environment and never an issue. Talked to the owner of the boat last week and it is still functioning well after 5 years. Amazon purchase.

I have the small Jabsco on our current 420DA and it does well, but the pump kicks on immediately when a faucet is opened.
View attachment 136671

Bennett

Thanks for your input every one. I ended up going for the Jabsco 1 liter accumulator. Was a bitch to fit but I need the space in front of the washer.

Below is a picture. Btw the white tube going into the “T” fitting on the lhs is the watermaker inlet. It back flow’s through the low pressure water supply side into the tank.

The pump operates the whole time the faucet is open but the pulsing has stopped so thank you !

I’ve never really had any serious issues with the noise.

 

[bbwhitejr]

Hey Bennet,
I've noticed an access port right by the accumulator tank. Any reason you need this port? Does it collect water or was there another reason?

Yes, I had water in there. Finally, after many months of searching, believe it was a dripping female hose connection at the master shower mixing valve. If memory serves me.

Bennett

 

[Irie308]

Thanks for your input every one. I ended up going for the Jabsco 1 liter accumulator. Was a bitch to fit but I need the space in front of the washer.

Below is a picture. Btw the white tube going into the “T” fitting on the lhs is the watermaker inlet. It back flow’s through the low pressure water supply side into the tank.

The pump operates the whole time the faucet is open but the pulsing has stopped so thank you !

I’ve never really had any serious issues with the noise.

View attachment 136730
View attachment 136732

Slightly off topic but would be interested in seeing how you are feeding your water maker to your freshwater tank.

 

[AEO]

Slightly off topic but would be interested in seeing how you are feeding your water maker to your freshwater tank.

Off topic works ;-) In my previous post the top picture left side that white hose feeds into a T piece which then back feeds into the pump inlet side. The watermaker essentially uses the pump inlet to fill the tank.

 

[ttmott]

Tom,
I understand that this might be a good solution for boats in colder areas. So, I wonder how practical is this approach for boaters in a tropical climate. What I mean is that most of the long trips are done during hot summer months, when we need to run ACs 24/7. Is it really practical to shut your ACs and allow the water maker run for at least an hour to make say 20 gallons of water? I assume you're making water a bit at the time instead of waiting for the tank to go to empty.

What I found on sharing a seacock is the watermaker will draw the prime out of the HVAC raw water pump and it shuts down on that Hi Ps error. Consequently, the three-way valve. Actually, about the only the bridge AC is operated is when weather is bad or air flow on the bridge with the windows simply isn't enough to make it comfortable. We run the watermaker when we are anchored and cooking dinner or just hanging out. It seems that every other day we ran it in the Bahamas and the water tank was around half full so that's about 60 gallons. My watermaker makes 750 gallons in 24 hours so that a couple of hours of run time every two days.

 

[Alex F]

What I found on sharing a seacock is the watermaker will draw the prime out of the HVAC raw water pump and it shuts down on that Hi Ps error. Consequently, the three-way valve. Actually, about the only the bridge AC is operated is when weather is bad or air flow on the bridge with the windows simply isn't enough to make it comfortable. We run the watermaker when we are anchored and cooking dinner or just hanging out. It seems that every other day we ran it in the Bahamas and the water tank was around half full so that's about 60 gallons. My watermaker makes 750 gallons in 24 hours so that a couple of hours of run time every two days.

Oh, I forgot that 500/520s have dedicated pump for the bridge. That's a deal maker. Our model has a single pump for the house (salon and state rooms). When I installed bridge AC, I've upgraded the pump, so it's a monster, but still a single pump. This is the reason I don't think it's practical in our application to tee-off the AC seacock. When it's 90s outside, turning off the house ACs for 2hrs (in best case scenario) would be a stretch.

I'm seriously considering on installing a water maker, but having dedicated seacock sounds like the most logical approach.

BTW, 30GPH is pretty powerful system. Refilling 60 gallons just in two hours must be an awesome feeling.

 

[AEO]

Oh, I forgot that 500/520s have dedicated pump for the bridge. That's a deal maker. Our model has a single pump for the house (salon and state rooms). When I installed bridge AC, I've upgraded the pump, so it's a monster, but still a single pump. This is the reason I don't think it's practical in our application to tee-off the AC seacock. When it's 90s outside, turning off the house ACs for 2hrs (in best case scenario) would be a stretch.

I'm seriously considering on installing a water maker, but having dedicated seacock sounds like the most logical approach.

BTW, 30GPH is pretty powerful system. Refilling 60 gallons just in two hours must be an awesome feeling.

I’ve just run my 35gph rainman watermaker with salon AC (max cool) at the same time and no issues with stealing water from the AC pump.. So far 1/4 tank filled.

They share the same through hull..

I’m still running it.

 

[Alex F]

I’ve just run my 35gph rainman watermaker with salon AC (max cool) at the same time and no issues with stealing water from the AC pump.. So far 1/4 tank filled.

They share the same through hull..

I’m still running it.

That's good to know. Thanks!

At this it shouldn't matter how many ACs are on. Once the pump is running, it's circulating the water through all the AC units. As long as you see no loss of flow in each of the overboard discharge ports, all ACs should work just fine. If not, then there's definitely a loss of pressure.

What would help in my case, during my bridge AC project, I installed a selector valve which can shut off the water supply to each of the 3 AC units. So, I can shut off the flow say to the bridge unit and have more supply going to the salon & SRs.

I would definitely do some testing and see how it works before making any commitments and drilling holes.

 

[saopm]

I was at the boat today breaking it again. My boat has/had a dual mount mast for radar and sat tv. I don’t use the sat tv and I’d like to reduce my height for bridge clearance and for inside storage. Therefore, I’d like to mount the radar (Raymarine Magnum 48” open array) directly to the arch. I’m trying to figure out the mast light. Do I need a radar mounting plate to accommodate a mast light or is there a mast light that will mount to the arch and clear the radar? Does anyone have a pic of the factory mounting?

 

[Irie308]

I was at the boat today breaking it again. My boat has/had a dual mount mast for radar and sat tv. I don’t use the sat tv and I’d like to reduce my height for bridge clearance and for inside storage. Therefore, I’d like to mount the radar (Raymarine Magnum 48” open array) directly to the arch. I’m trying to figure out the mast light. Do I need a radar mounting plate to accommodate a mast light or is there a mast light that will mount to the arch and clear the radar? Does anyone have a pic of the factory mounting?

View attachment 137074

This was my factory light mast when I removed it. Not sure if you can find new or used.

 

[NorCalRobert]

You could mount a light on the arch to the side of the radar

 

[saopm]

Thanks, it looks like my boat had one a long time ago. I checked the Parts Manual, and searched using the SR part number. Seems it was a custom Perko part for SR. One guy posted a video and was not happy with the quality. I’m surprised Perko or Attwood does have an open array mast light solution. The only options I see require a tower which is what I’m trying to get away from.

 

[ttmott]

I’ve just run my 35gph rainman watermaker with salon AC (max cool) at the same time and no issues with stealing water from the AC pump.. So far 1/4 tank filled.

They share the same through hull..

I’m still running it.

The problem manifests when the watermaker is running and AC is not or AC shuts off. That's when the watermaker raw water pump took the prime away from the AC system raw water pump in my case.

 

[AEO]

The problem manifests when the watermaker is running and AC is not or AC shuts off. That's when the watermaker raw water pump took the prime away from the AC system raw water pump in my case.

Thanks for the info, I actually never thought of that. My AC is nearly always on but I’ll certainly make a point of ensuring it is when making the water.

 

[Bruce SEA 993]

don't forget to post pictures of the redo on plumbing!
Thanks

ttmott...here are pictures the plumbing for the pickling process. I am not too happy with the Rube Goldberg aspect of the suction side. Mike at SWP says to just dunk the primer pump in the bucket. I think I am going back to the simple elbow out of the strainer to the primer pump. I was trying to avoid taking the hose off to be able to drop the primer pump in the bucket.

It seems to run very slow as the blue tube is smaller than the clear feed tube. I think the pump is a little starved.

Here is the split for the water output. This keeps the sodium metabisulfite out of the water tank.

The lower hose can go into a bucket. Having said that, very little water came out of it.

This process and the water maker is all new to me so there is some learning curve.

Cheers!

 

[ttmott]

ttmott...here are pictures the plumbing for the pickling process. I am not too happy with the Rube Goldberg aspect of the suction side. Mike at SWP says to just dunk the primer pump in the bucket. I think I am going back to the simple elbow out of the strainer to the primer pump. I was trying to avoid taking the hose off to be able to drop the primer pump in the bucket.

It seems to run very slow as the blue tube is smaller than the clear feed tube. I think the pump is a little starved.


View attachment 137155

Here is the split for the water output. This keeps the sodium metabisulfite out of the water tank.

View attachment 137156

The lower hose can go into a bucket. Having said that, very little water came out of it.

This process and the water maker is all new to me so there is some learning curve.

Cheers!

On my system the pickling is only done on the brine water side of the RO membrane and the pickling solution is never passed through the membrane or ever on the fresh water side of the membrane. Also, I recirculate the solution to and from a 5-gallon bucket.
The suction side from the pickling solution bucket is at the inlet of the raw water pump suction. The raw water pump is what does the recirculation. I can also use the High Pressure pump to do the recirculation which is easier as I don't have to back flush the raw water pump to get any seawater out of the system. Either way works.
Operationally, the discharge of the brine side of the membrane is dumped overboard through the pressure regulator. When the pressure regulator is fully backed off, it passes water through it and doesn't allow the high-pressure pump to create enough pressure to force the raw water through the membrane. Also, if the high-pressure pump is not running water will simply pass through it so it doesn't need to run during the pickling operation. For recirculating the pickling solution the pressure regulator is fully backed off / reduced.
So, the pickling solution is pulled from the bucket by the raw water pump, runs through the raw water filter housing (I remove the element), through the high pressure pump, into the raw water side of the membrane, across the surface of the membrane and out the brine side of the membrane, through the pressure regulator valve, and back to the bucket. I recirculate for ten minutes then connect the discharge back to the overboard brine dump and pump the bucket through the system overboard. Done.
As a note be very careful not to put dock water through the membrane unless it is filtered first through the carbon filter. The chlorine in the water system will ruin the RO membrane. I fill the solution bucket through the carbon filter so I know there is no chlorine involved.

 

[Bruce SEA 993]

My system works basically the same way. The regulator is backed off and the excess is dumped overboard through the regular discharge. SWP said is was OK to use tap water...in our case it is the same source for our houses and docks. They also said to run one bucket with 4 gallons of pickling water through the system.

It makes sense that the water does not go through the membrane as it is not under much pressure. Also, that is why no water comes out of the product hose.

I did not remove the pre filters either.

I will keep you posted on how the system works when we fire it up in the spring.

Thanks!!

 

[bajturner]

Thanks for your input every one. I ended up going for the Jabsco 1 liter accumulator. Was a bitch to fit but I need the space in front of the washer.

Below is a picture. Btw the white tube going into the “T” fitting on the lhs is the watermaker inlet. It back flow’s through the low pressure water supply side into the tank.

The pump operates the whole time the faucet is open but the pulsing has stopped so thank you !

I’ve never really had any serious issues with the noise.

View attachment 136730
View attachment 136732

I have had this same accumulator for a few years. It has worked well. I found fine-tuning the air pressure on the bladder side was useful to optimize the pump operation.

On low flow operation the pump comes on for about 3 seconds every 15 seconds or so. When a tap is fully open, it takes a couple seconds before the pump starts then it stays on until a few seconds after the tap is turned off.