Ever since fishing boats began heading offshore, they’ve had to deal with marine growth. Barnacles don’t just take up residence on the hull, they get into raw-water intakes and quickly clog up lines, wreaking havoc on the systems that rely on this water for cooling.
ClearLine by ElectroSea provides a permanent solution to this age-old problem. Before this patent-pending technology became available, boat owners and captains had to frequently remove barnacles and marine growth routinely to ensure their seawater-cooled air conditioning, chillers, and hydraulic systems were running efficiently. With ClearLine, pumps run at peak flow rates, incurring less downtime caused by high-pressure and low-flow alarms due to clogged raw-water lines.
“Like clockwork, I would clean my strainers every Tuesday for years until we installed the ClearLine System,” says Capt. Harry Schafer of the 66-foot Viking Sea Wolf. “Now I check them about every five weeks. I’ve had the system installed for six months now, and can honestly say this will change how the industry thinks about descaling saltwater systems. I haven’t had to call for air-conditioning service since we installed it. In my opinion, this is one of the best improvements to boating in recent years.”
There are two key components in the ClearLine System: the Control Unit and the ClearCell. The Control Unit acts as the brain of the system, while the ClearCell is the heart of it. It is plumbed into the raw-water lines, and when seawater enters the ClearCell, it mixes with an electrical current and a unique formula of Earth-metal oxides. This process generates a consistent, low level of chlorine similar to what you’d find in tap water. And it’s just enough to keep barnacles and other growth from forming.
ClearLine monitors the vessel’s raw-water demands and dynamically delivers the precise amount of chlorine to prevent marine growth. A secondary flow of chlorinated seawater runs back through the strainers to keep them cleaner, longer. This process provides a cost-effective way to permanently eradicate barnacles that is much safer for the marine environment than descaling with acid-based cleaners, and the water that exits the system contains an ultra-low level of chlorine that will not damage the internal components of your raw water cooling systems.
Retrofitting a boat with the system is an easy process, and begins with an inspection of the vessel’s raw-water circuit by an ElectroSea field technician or dealer: “Every boat is a little different,” says Cabe Regnerus, ElectroSea’s senior field technician, “the first thing we do is determine the optimum installation location to maintain the original flow characteristics of the vessel’s systems—having the ClearCell as close to the raw-water pump as possible.” After plumbing the ClearCell into the raw-water system, the technician will mount the Control Unit and wire it to DC power.
On a recent installation of a 90-foot Weaver Boatworks, the vessel had nine air-conditioning units that all required a steady flow of seawater. “The forward stateroom was about 50 feet away from the seawater pump,” Regnerus said. “Before we installed ClearLine, the entire length of hose that also supplied the units forward, as well as discharging out the back of the boat would get backed up with barnacles.” Once the system was installed, the crew has not had any growth issues.
The ClearLine systems, which became available in early 2019, have been installed on many major manufacturers, such as Viking Yachts, Hatteras Yachts, Paul Mann Custom Boats, Spencer Yachts, Weaver Boatworks, Hargrave Custom Yachts, Ocean Alexander, Princess Yachts and many others. To see more manufacturers that feature ClearLine, visit its installation gallery.
ElectroSea offers four ClearLine models to fit a wide range of vessels: Available now, the CL-990 fits 1¼ to 1½-inch pipe—up to 50 gpm—running on 24 volts; and the CL-1000 also fits 1¼ to 1½-inch pipe—up to 50 gpm—and 24 volts includes a dual-pump control and an inhibit feature that puts the ClearLine in standby mode when running a livewell or reverse-osmosis watermaker. Shipping in January 2020, the CL-430 is designed for 3/4 to 1-inch pipe—up to 26 gpm—and runs on 12 or 24 volts; the CL-410 model is designed for 3/8 to half-inch pipe—up to 7 gallons per minute—and runs on 12 or 24 volts. The entire installation takes about a day or two to complete and can be done with the boat in or out of the water. Click here to learn more about each model.
No matter the size, if you have an ongoing issue with barnacles in your boat’s air conditioning or raw-water systems that requires descaling, consider ElectroSea so you can keep your cool and spend more time fishing.
For more information, please visit electrosea.com or call (888) 384-8881 to set up a professional consultation.
