Rainman watermaker or USD4,000 worth of spares for my current Spectra Newport 400?

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by B4A

That's 9 Watts per liter, which is way less than 15 Watts per liter of the Spectra.......

The Spectra 400 uses 18 watts - per gallon not per liter. At about 1 1/2 amps per gallon I don't think any other watermaker is more efficient.

https://www.spectrawatermakers.com/u...1-newport-400c

[B4A]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Ideal is two functioning water makers, if your going to have two, it’s best that they are identical as they use the exact same parts etc, two different devices now means two separate spares lists.
I don’t have that kind of room and or money, so I carry spares that are most likely to be needed, the HP pump can usually be rebuilt and a spare low pressure pump, fittings and a membrane, however mine is a simple system, if it were a Spectra Maybe you should carry a Clark pump? I don’t know can you rebuild one your self?

I did a field repair of the Clark Pump, documented in this video:

https://youtu.be/P19GC6GxQ7A

[B4A]

@Mitiempo, you are correct, it's 18 watts per gallon or 4.8 watts per liter. So almost half than the Rainman.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by B4A

That's 9 Watts per liter, which is way less than 15 Watts per liter of the Spectra, although your inverter will probably draw an additional 4 Watts. Had I known about this watermaker when I bought the boat, I would have probably chosen it over the Spectra, but I did not know if it's existence.

Do you have a fixed installation?

What figures did you use to reach that conclusion?

[RaymondR]

You could get an 12 volt E40 or E80 Survivor Pro as a standby for potable water.

[Leo Ticheli]

We have absolutely loved our little 12v Spectra 150 water maker and with 516W of solar and 400W wind generator, we've never been short of power for it. If I were starting over, I might well have gone for the Rainman; the price is right, there's one less hole in the boat, no extra plumbing, zero installation charge, and the unit can be transferred to another boat or lent to a mate.

A friend had one in the Bahamas, a 120v model, and he loved it, especially the powerful wash-down feature.

If Spectra offered a portable unit, it would be the bomb.

One more point; I don't think the price of a water maker is justified from a financial standpoint, at least not for us, but neither is owning a boat in the first place.

Fair winds,
Leo

[B4A]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

What figures did you use to reach that conclusion?

Sorry, I misread. The Spectra uses only 4.8 watts per liter. So it's more efficient that the Rainman.

[B4A]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

You could get an 12 volt E40 or E80 Survivor Pro as a standby for potable water.

I have a Katadyn Survivor 06 Water desalinator in my ditch bag...