Ballast project results

[Scottie]

I've had a couple of weekends now with my new ballast so I thought I'd post up some results and some small info on what I did. I didn't reinvent the wheel so I didn't think a long drawn out install thread was relevant, since its already been done. I have a 2013 212x. Last year I swapped the 400 lb factory bags for 800 lb bags, added a ski locker bag, and installed a manual ball valve to divert the factory intake to the port side bag. I used a portable pump for the ski locker bag. This gave good results, but it was a giant pain to get everything filled, and it took a long time. So over the winter, I followed @swatski, @jcyamaharider, and @Mainah and added intakes, hoses, pumps, and timers. I added 3x 1" intakes (bronze thru-hulls with ball valves) and left the factory intake in place for a total of 4. I removed the factory ballast puppy pump and went with 4x Jabsco ballast king pumps on wakemakers timers. I made my own harnesses and terminal blocks since I was using 10 terminal rocker switches. I can pump 2400 lbs of water into the boat in less than 6 minutes. Right around 5:30 actually. The swimdeck bag takes about 8 min to fill. The swimdeck bag is a bit slower due to the vertical distance that has to be pumped with the fill port, and the swim deck bag has 3/4" ports, where all the other bags are 1". In the end, its a really large wake, with great push. I'm 240lbs and as soon as you pull into the wave, you're ropeless and on your back foot to stay off the boat. It's really nice. It's also quick and easy to fill, and the bags shrink up like raisins when emptied. This project is A LOT OF WORK, and it's a fair investment. For me personally, I can't get a huge draught inboard into my dock reliably, so buying a "real" wakeboat isn't an option, which means this project was absolutely worth the time, effort, and money, in my situation. Some install pics included below. As I said before, most of this was not my idea, but I'm happy to answer any questions anyone might have. First pic below is yesterday's wave, with the 800lb transom bag, 800 in the ski locker, around 500 under the starboard seat, and the WakeWedge. Only two people in the boat.

 

[jcyamaharider]

I've had a couple of weekends now with my new ballast so I thought I'd post up some results and some small info on what I did. I didn't reinvent the wheel so I didn't think a long drawn out install thread was relevant, since its already been done. I have a 2013 212x. Last year I swapped the 400 lb factory bags for 800 lb bags, added a ski locker bag, and installed a manual ball valve to divert the factory intake to the port side bag. I used a portable pump for the ski locker bag. This gave good results, but it was a giant pain to get everything filled, and it took a long time. So over the winter, I followed @swatski, @jcyamaharider, and @Mainah and added intakes, hoses, pumps, and timers. I added 3x 1" intakes (bronze thru-hulls with ball valves) and left the factory intake in place for a total of 4. I removed the factory ballast puppy pump and went with 4x Jabsco ballast king pumps on wakemakers timers. I made my own harnesses and terminal blocks since I was using 10 terminal rocker switches. I can pump 2400 lbs of water into the boat in less than 6 minutes. Right around 5:30 actually. The swimdeck back takes about 8 min to fill. The swimdeck bag is a bit slower due to the vertical distance that has to be pumped with the fill port, and the swim deck bag has 3/4" ports, where all the other bags are 1". In the end, its a really large wake, with great push. I'm 240lbs and as soon as you pull into the wave, you're ropeless and on your back foot to stay off the boat. It's really nice. It's also quick and easy to fill, and the bags shrink up like raisins when emptied. This project is A LOT OF WORK, and it's a fair investment. For me personally, I can't get a huge draught inboard into my dock reliably, so buying a "real" wakeboat isn't an option, which makes this project was absolutely worth the time, effort, and money, in my situation. First pic below is yesterday's wave, with the 800lb transom bag, 800 in the ski locker, around 500 under the starboard seat, and the WakeWedge. Only two people in the boat. View attachment 95316View attachment 95319View attachment 95320View attachment 95321View attachment 95322View attachment 95325View attachment 95326View attachment 95333View attachment 95334View attachment 95335View attachment 95336Some install pics included below. As I said before, most of this was not my idea, but I'm happy to answer any questions anyone might have.

Great job and great looking wave!!!

I am actually borrowing your fitting idea and doing my transom bag fill with the same fitting that you used instead of the fly high. I really like how they lock on.

 

[Scottie]

I am actually borrowing your fitting idea and doing my transom bag fill with the same fitting that you used instead of the fly high. I really like how they lock on.

It seems to work really well. There's lots of ways to do it, as those fittings come in all combinations. I went with 1" cam and groove to 1" npt male. I then found this fitting which is basically 1" npt female inside on both ends, and added a 1" npt male to hosebarb on the bottom side.
Amazon.com: Lifegard Aquatics 1-Inch Double Threaded Bulkhead: Pet Supplies

 

[buckbuck]

That wave looks great. It takes a lot of push to get 240 lbs ropeless.