Ballast 3.0 ( Another ballast upgrade plan)

[jcyamaharider]

That time of the year to start thinking about what I am going to do to the boat this year since my Rhino project is almost finished so I want to make my fill times MUCH faster.

Ballast revision 1 was a single inlet port connected to 3 bags that had manual ball valves that I had to turn and I had a over the side pump that I had to use to fill a seat bag and a swim deck bag. Took about 30-40 minutes. Empty time was longer because I had to wait for the seat bag to empty before I could drain the under seat bag due to one of the ball valves being placed there. Bags were placed 800 ski locker, 400 beside each motor and a 750 on top of the seat and another bag on t he swim deck.

Ballast revision 2 was a Bluetooth touch screen on my phone using the same single pump but every bag had an electronic ball valve. Same fill times but I greatly reduced the empty times and I could empty while underway as soon as the seat bag and swim deck bag was emptied. Bag placement ended up being 800 ski locker, 2 400 bags under the port seat, 750 on top of the port seat and a 550 bag on the starboard side of the swim deck. I had to put the swim deck bag over there to get my jet back into the water. I took the starboard side out and put it under the port seat. I now realize this was a mistake.

Revision 3 plan is to add 2 more pumps with 1" line. My initial setup has 3/4" line. Running my current 3/4" line pump to the 400 bag put back on the starboard side beside the motor getting rid of the need for the swim deck bag. I am also going to use one of my ball valves and have a port up top so I can plug in a line and also use this pump to fill my seat bag with a larger pump. Should greatly increase this fill time. I also plan on buying another 800 bag and putting this single bag under my port seat. 800 in the ski locker will stay where it is at and the 750 bag on top of the port seat will be the only bag that is visible. I am going to ditch my Bluetooth setup and just go back to toggle switches, more simple and the wife would be able to operate it. So with 3 Johnson ballast pumps I would hope to be around a 10 minute fill and empty time. Those pumps say they are 720 GPH but I know they fill faster then that. Math says I should be around 6 minutes if they fill around 17 GPM which is what I clocked it at one time.

Ok so see any holes in the system or anything that you would do different?

 

[Speedling]

I'm to cheap to do all that.
I miss the 2 smoke. Everything about those boats is cheap.

 

[jcyamaharider]

Lol @Speedling , It is fun and gives me projects. Plus I would surf more if fill and empty times were at 6 minutes.

 

[bobbie]

Jerry...don't know what size my lines are but I'm probably around 8 minutes for a fill and empty on our custom bags from wakemakers.

 

[swatski]

That time of the year to start thinking about what I am going to do to the boat this year since my Rhino project is almost finished so I want to make my fill times MUCH faster.

Ballast revision 1 was a single inlet port connected to 3 bags that had manual ball valves that I had to turn and I had a over the side pump that I had to use to fill a seat bag and a swim deck bag. Took about 30-40 minutes. Empty time was longer because I had to wait for the seat bag to empty before I could drain the under seat bag due to one of the ball valves being placed there. Bags were placed 800 ski locker, 400 beside each motor and a 750 on top of the seat and another bag on t he swim deck.

Ballast revision 2 was a Bluetooth touch screen on my phone using the same single pump but every bag had an electronic ball valve. Same fill times but I greatly reduced the empty times and I could empty while underway as soon as the seat bag and swim deck bag was emptied. Bag placement ended up being 800 ski locker, 2 400 bags under the port seat, 750 on top of the port seat and a 550 bag on the starboard side of the swim deck. I had to put the swim deck bag over there to get my jet back into the water. I took the starboard side out and put it under the port seat. I now realize this was a mistake.

Revision 3 plan is to add 2 more pumps with 1" line. My initial setup has 3/4" line. Running my current 3/4" line pump to the 400 bag put back on the starboard side beside the motor getting rid of the need for the swim deck bag. I am also going to use one of my ball valves and have a port up top so I can plug in a line and also use this pump to fill my seat bag with a larger pump. Should greatly increase this fill time. I also plan on buying another 800 bag and putting this single bag under my port seat. 800 in the ski locker will stay where it is at and the 750 bag on top of the port seat will be the only bag that is visible. I am going to ditch my Bluetooth setup and just go back to toggle switches, more simple and the wife would be able to operate it. So with 3 Johnson ballast pumps I would hope to be around a 10 minute fill and empty time. Those pumps say they are 720 GPH but I know they fill faster then that. Math says I should be around 6 minutes if they fill around 17 GPM which is what I clocked it at one time.

Ok so see any holes in the system or anything that you would do different?

Sounds awesome, I'm watching!

 

[KXCam22]

I would put my intake lower on the hull, or through the bottom of the hull so I could fill while underway. Or add an electric ball valve that takes water from the pump/cooling lines. Then you could fill while underway which essentially makes your fill time zero. My float switches work great to shut the pumps off when full. If you have electric valves, going back to toggle switches (while simpler) is going to take a fair bit of wiring and extra relays. What about a cheap dedicated bluetooth tablet? Easier and possibly cheaper. Even a old 8" used one would work. My PLC is great as it takes care of all the logic and makes fill/empty a 1 button press. Not expensive but is more complicated than most would consider. If I did mine again I would use the bluetooth board to control my PLC with an 8" tablet for an HMI. My HMI is a bit too small to have very nice graphics on it. Hope this helps. Cam.

ps with 2 pumps and 1" line my fill time is 360sec

 

[jcyamaharider]

You read my mind on the intakes @KXCam22 . I was going to put them in the bottom so I could fill those while under way. I still have the one that I will have to fill while stopped or idle.

 

[jcyamaharider]

So this evening I spent a little time in the boat. I have to move my batteries back over to the port side So I can stuff my 400 bag beside my motor again. So 1 group 29 ( 61 pounds ) a group 27 ( 50 pounds ) and a group 24 ( maybe 30 pounds ) all back on the surf side again. My bag will go right behind the batteries giving me 1300 pounds under my seat when full. My small battery is just for starting the boat and running instruments, bigger batteries for stereo and ballast.

 

[jcyamaharider]

Just ordered the rest of my ballast stuff!

 

[jcyamaharider]

Ballast 3.0 had arrived!!!!

 

[buckbuck]

That poor boat is going to have a lot more holes in it.

 

[jcyamaharider]

Sure is Jim, and it is excited about it!!

 

[swatski]

Looks Freakin Awesome!!!

I want to see the bags' ports/valves how you install. Hope it's not a secret.

 

[jcyamaharider]

Nope not a secret at all. I logged all of my original install on the other site but there will be plenty of pictures of this one as well.

These are the bags in the boat already.

 

[Addicted]

Break out the hole saw and let the fun begin!!! Hidden ballast and hard mounted pumps sure make surfing more enjoyable.

Are you draining from the pickup or through the vent? I chose to drain through the pickups to minimize fittings and potential leak points, but find it to be a pain to know when the bags are empty.

 

[jcyamaharider]

I agree @Addicted and that is why I have another thru hull just for the drains in each pump.

 

[dustinjean]

those pumps are what kills your fill times! my boat runs all the intakes from the bottom of the hull to 1100gph pirahna pumps, and then has dedicated 1100 pumps to drain out the topside, also are you running vents or manually venting? topside vents help fill times as well. I never time my fill times but i know its usually quicker than i can get my rope ready and into my bindings. factory 800 center tank, rear hard tank and 750's on top of them 1100's getting ordered soon and a 750 bow bag

 

[jcyamaharider]

@dustinjean Each bag is vented as well. Do you mean kill in a good way or a bad way? I love these pumps! I like that I only have to have one pump to do both and a pump per bag makes it killer! The biggest increase in fill time I am going to see is upgrading from 3/4" line to 1" line.

 

[jcyamaharider]

OK, I dug up some older pics of the first install so it can be documented over here as well.

Here is the first round of items I purchased from Wakemakers. 800 ski locker bag and 2x 400 fly high bags. The line that I ordered is 3/4" line so I will be using that as my vent line now.

800 Ski locker bag in place

Prep work that I did to get the boat ready for the bags to go beside the engine compartment. I had to tie back the fuel hose and grind down the rub rail screws. Then I used 3m spray adhesive and put indoor outdoor carpet on the side.

Carpet ( picture is sideways )

Starboard 400 bag

This was a vent for the bag now it is going to be a drain for the port bag or the center locker bag. Another thru hull will be going close to this fitting as well.

This is my first intake, my next 2 will be on the bottom of the hull.

 

[dan144k]

For other people planning to do a ballast system. When I did mine I used all 1-1/8" hose and it turned into a pain, because I was unable to buy 1-1/8" fittings locally. Thought I could clamp down the 1-1/8" hose onto the 1" fittings and it leaked everywhere at all joints for me. Had to order the 1-1/8" fittings to correct the leaks and did about 3x's the work after disassembling and reinstalling.

So I would recommend people use 1" hose from my experience.

Also When I did my install I ran some solid 1" PVC thru different areas.