Products testedAll prices are RRP and include VAT
GEAR TEST
A compact unit
that is light and
comfortable to
hold. The switch stays on
without keeping your fi nger on
it and the bin is translucent so
you can see if it’s full.
One of the few small wet &
dry units made, although it’s
more for slightly damp dirt
rather than sucking up litres
of water, having a maximum
liquid capacity of 100ml.Supplier http://www.force4.co.ukWith a
19cm-wide
rectangular
nozzle it looks
like the bottom
end of an old-
fashioned upright
vacuum cleaner. On top
is a rubber bung that you pull
away to attach the 1m-long
hose with crevice attachment.
The Chinese manufacturer
appears to have copied ablender as there’s no fi lter
on the incoming side, so dust
and debris are sucked in (very
feebly) and then minced up
in the fan. This process not
only sounded horrendous, it
also deposited a fi ne layer of
powder everywhere.
The roller hardly turned and
muesli fell out when switched
off. The hose attachment was
more powerful.It comes with a wall
bracket-cum-charger base
and recharges in just four
hours – a small LED indicating
when it is fully charged. It has
small wheels, which help it
move over a fl at surface and
the whole front end comes off
really easily for emptying and
cleaning.
It is surprisingly
powerful for only
7.2V, has two speeds
and is really easy to
use, although the
crevice nozzle is a bit
short (95mm).60 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com NOVEMBER 20151 /
10AEG Rapido £59.99 Hoover Jovis £79.99
Supplier
http://www.aeg.co.ukSupplier http://www.hoover.co.ukRoadpro £26.95 Black &
Decker
Dustbuster
£29.95
8 /
10Supplier
http://www.blackanddecker.co.ukDesigned primarily for car
cleaning, this 12-Volt hard-
wired vacuum cleaner is
pretty basic but it’s relatively
powerful and economically
priced. It need a cigar-lighter
style 12V socket somewhere
and you have to put up with
dragging a cable behind you.8 /
10Supplied with
a wall bracket/
charger base, this one has fancy
blue LEDs to indicate charge
state. Despite being an 18V
model it wasn’t as powerful as
we expected and took a long
time to suck up all the muesli,
although it was better with the
crevice nozzle that clips into the
casing when not in use. It also
has a small brush set attached
under the handle and anotherLooks good
and easily cleaned
but not as powerful as someComfortable
to use, but
the hose was
short and
not very
fl exiblecrevice cleaning attachment.
While it is comfortable to
hold and simple to use, it gets
a little heavy after a while. The
switch stays on without fi nger
pressure and it is easy to empty
by pulling the trigger to release
the hinged bin.Surprisingly
powerful, the AEG
Rapido can handle wet debrisIf you are
happy with a
trailing cable, this cleaner
will never need charging upThe benefi t is not needing
to be recharged – it’s always
ready to go. It has a convenient
cable drum on the back to tidy
the wire away neatly, which
also acts as stand.
One downside is the current
draw is quite high (measured
at 4.3-4.8A), but it’s only likely
to be on for a few minutes.
The second thing is
that the cable is only 5m
long, so if you have a big
boat you’ll either need an
extension cable or more
12V sockets.5 /
10This is a prime example
of very poor engineering
and is not worth buyingThe convenient cable tidy works well
and also makes an excellent standWe never did fi nd out what
happened to the raisins!We liked this easy-to-use two-speed unit