In February 2015, Cruising Helmsman published a review of our first watermaker that we had launched less than a year earlier. It has since been moved to mysailing.com. Or we have the pdf of the original printed article available.
Keeping the family clean
Whether staying long times away from land or having crew that like to shower a desalinator can be a welcome addition to a yacht and Jonathan Neeves takes a test on a new Australian portable unit.
Some of the conclusions were:
Conclusion
The Rainman does everything it claims.
. . .
But would we buy one and what would we buy?
On the assumption there is no space restriction we would opt for the 40 inch membrane, the single costs around AU$1,430 versus $2,435 for the 2 x 21 inch unit. But the double 40 inch membrane at $2,820 makes best use of the power supply unit which costs around $4,260 and this combination seems the best buy – power unit and 2 x 40 inch membranes total equals $7,080.
We think it a very neat solution for small yachts and for any yachts where retrofitting might be expensive or difficult. It is also a very neat solution if electrical power is an issue.
On this basis, the unit is to be recommended.
Rainman Remarks:
Rainman has since performed sound levels tests on the petrol (gasoline) version in this review. We thought it best to present relative values against a known standard, which would mean more to most people than straight db levels. We performed a sound test versus a Honda 20i 2kva generator running in non-eco mode, which most people would have some familiarity with.
Under identical conditions at 6 metres and using a Dick Smith Q1362 sound level meter, the Rainman is 2db louder from straight on, but 1db softer from 90 degrees to the side.
| Position | straight in front | 90 degrees |
| Honda 20i | 66db | 68db |
| Rainman | 68db | 67db |
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