When do you Make Water?

[colemj]

Originally Posted by davel42

One question puzzles me from an earlier post. How did you come to find that your anchor chain skips when trailed. Mine has a lot of trouble staying near the surface

Well, that comment was a bit facetious - we have never actually trailed our anchor chain. However, we have trailed things that were heavily weighted and sinkable that skip along on the surface.

I think the difference here is that we have a catamaran, so our stern hull profile is very much smaller and different than yours. We don't have that suction point behind the stern - we actually have a little rooster tail that would lift something right out of the water if placed directly behind the stern. Further back than that, and it would be bouncing on the surface like it would with yours.

Mark

[Boatguy30]

Would love to know the brand of pump these units use. Based on the pics, its a Honda trashpump not a generator engine. I have been thinking about a unit like this for some time. I would likely plumb the intake below the waterline but have the pump and engine in my aft sail locker so I could place it in deck when running with a few extra feet of hose to keep it all flexible. It will be DIY like the yacht itself of course.

[dejgoldie]

Hi Boatguy, we use a General Pump WM series stainless watermaker pump. It's pretty much the standard watermaker pump these days.
Cheers, Dave.

[a64pilot]

Get a downrigger to keep the hose down, then when your not making water, you can do some fishing

[Goosebumps]

My take on the rainman, I am all for this type of innovative thinking giving us better more practical marine products. i made the point with rainman Ron in email that the combination of petrol pressure supply with genset capacity, ok more weight but shouldnt be lots, would convince more weight conscient yachties to use their product. Concerning carrying extra petrol. I cant see cruisers who hop around with dinghy having large hp outboard mounted can complain about that. I think the rainmajer will be attractive to the serious cruiser who doesnt need charter yachts standard of gallons per hour water making.

[Goosebumps]

Originally Posted by Dod42

I'm looking at installing a water maker (desal) and have gone through lots of research about 12 volt v 240. High output v Lovwer etc. Then where to fit it and how to install.

I then found this

The best desalinator for yacht

Seems a very interesting option. No install. Reasonable price, Simple and other than where to store it when not in use seems an interesting option. About the only thing I can think of is when to make water. This will work well on anchor but possibly not during a passage? As the high volume unit produces 100 ltr per hour plus and we carry about 600 ltrs in 2 tanks and we tend to use one tank, then worse case I just need to run it for about 3 hours to refill. As it's a fairly new product I haven't yet found an owner to get feedback.

What do others think?

I think the rainman petrol pressure supply unit is a great portable idea but very expensive at AUS $4,260! Compare with the price of a 2Kw Honda silent genset today at AUS $1,699 at generatorhouse! The only extra items the rainman petrol pressure supplier has are: lift pump, high pressure pump, pre-filter, high pressure quick connect abd intake hose. The rainman unit has its own housing design. But the beautifull EU inverter alternator from Honda is missing. I really think rainman makes a big mistake overpricing the petrol pressure supply unit as cruisers are very aware of such things! For the rest great design, idea, usefull, I prefer the no installment on shore maintenance and portability for other purposes than yacht!

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by dejgoldie

Hi everyone, I'm Dave, the engineer behind Rainman. I live on my yacht in Sydney, Australia.

It's great to see the interest in our machine. We've been developing our products for a couple of years now, and we're about to take them to the world market.

What we've tried to do is simplify desalination.

Polls of cruisers regularly rate watermakers as some of the most expensive and high maintenance systems on a boat. Similarly, the installation of a watermaker is not a small project.

We believe we've addressed many of these issues by offering a product that arrives ready to make water, requires no installation and if and when service is required, the machine can be serviced in a workshop, rather than in the bowels of your boat.
A few posters mentioned they already have Honda generators, so they wouldn't want a 4 stroke powered machine. For those customers we're debuting a portable AC electric powered watermaker that plugs into your generator at the METS boat show next month.

Another questioned whether it's a good idea to use our pressure unit for washing as well as watermaking. Both the Honda Engine and the General Pump stainless pump are best in class, and are rated for thousands of hours of operation. Why not use it for both?

Regarding price: Tellie, I think you might have gotten the exchange rate mixed up or something, our systems start at about US$4500 and go to about US$6200.

We hope prospective customers factor in total cost of ownership. Yes, there are cheaper machines available, and machines the same price that make a fraction of the gallons per hour of our portable watermakers. At least here in Sydney, the several days required to install a watermaker is charged at $90 an hour, with a haul-out required to fit the through-hull.

Similarly, a common cause of watermaker malfunction is lack of use. You can take a Rainman watermaker home with you at the end of a cruise, away from the corrosion and neglect that causes so many watermaker headaches.


And Robyjeff, yes we agree about needing a manual mode. By making our units portable, we've been able to do away with the need for electronics, solenoids and other high-maintenance components. We feel our fully manual machines are more in keeping with seaworthy design. Simple, robust, less to go wrong.

Tellie and Rich, great to hear your thoughts. I've been reading your posts for years, and in fact your views on watermaker issues have definitely influenced the design of our machines. I look forward to you both joining our dealer network some time down the track!

We'll be at the METS trade show in Amsterdam next month. If anyone wants to drop by for a chat, come and say hi.

Hi Dave, welcome to CF and good luck with your product.
I think it may fit the large niche market for racers who occasional cruise but want a striped down interior for racing.

Having depended on water maker’s full time for almost 40 years this portable setup is not attractive to me for a few reasons.

1. You make water when it is convenient and you have a clean source
2. That is usually underway, away from polluted anchorages and should not be a problem in any seaway.
3. You don’t want to be hauling out over 50kg of equipment every time you need to fill up your tank
4. A fixed installation lends itself to proper sound dampening, minimizes high pressure hose vibrations and allows proper monitoring and back-flushing of filters and membranes.
5. Proper filter management and treatment is the key to maximize equipment’s lifespan and cost of operation as well as the quality of end product.
6. I just recently purchased and permanently installed a new 120 liter/hr. unit at a cost more attractive than yours
7. I believe the electric HP Pump should not be powered by just one energy source, so I ordered a large DC pump, so that my house battery bank can be replenished by a variety of means, rather than depending on one primary mover like a generator

Again, good luck and I am sure you will find your market

[Boatguy30]

Does seem a neat bit of kit. I am only cruising this winter a few month and then will be back home for 18 months or so. Buying a watermaker right now does not seem like a good plan as will really be at least 2 years old.

Perhaps if this vendor is keen to have a qualified marine engineer in the SE us as a rep/ rental center; we could work a deal?

[colemj]

Originally Posted by Goosebumps

I think the rainman petrol pressure supply unit is a great portable idea but very expensive at AUS $4,260! Compare with the price of a 2Kw Honda silent genset today at AUS $1,699 at generatorhouse! The only extra items the rainman petrol pressure supplier has are: lift pump, high pressure pump, pre-filter, high pressure quick connect abd intake hose.

You forgot to add the AUS $1,000 for a pressure vessel and membrane.

One can always make a less expensive watermaker - either by sourcing parts to cut out the small profit margin, using less robust/quality parts, getting used parts, or searching wide and far for those occasional good deals on parts.

So to add it up, you will need a $1,699 Honda, a $1,000 pressure vessel and membrane, a $800 electric motor and HP pump, $75 of prefilter housings, $50 of suitable HP hose and probably $100 of various plumbing, electrical and general items.

Total DIY = $3,700 - but you aren't counting any value of your time (that's OK, I rarely value my time in projects).

So you will save $550 and spend a lot of time finding/ordering/installing parts. None of which you will have a usable warranty on.

A perfectly understandable way to go about obtaining a watermaker, but hardly a fantastic savings over a price-gouging commercial system.

Mark

[meshugah]

Hi,
I'm based in Melbourne. Does anyone stock your products here? Also, I could not log onto your website www.rainmandesal.com


Is there another website which provides details of your complete product range.


Regards
Gary

[mike66]

Jn

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