Increasing ballast on 212X

[Williamsone46]

When i was looking at 212x's I remember the bags being in the storage compartments on the port and starboard side with no wall. I wouldn't see why you couldn't buy a longer fly high bag and put those on each side. The battery will have to be moved but that is simple. Is there something I am missing?

The port and starboard storage compartments are 16" wide and 16" tall, and I haven't found a ballast bag that are those dimensions, and long enough to provide more than 400lbs a side.

 

[jcyamaharider]

@Williamsone46 , gotcha same dimensions as my boat. Wakemakers can custom make any bag size that you may need to put in that compartment. Also I think any bag that is close in size will just form to the walls of the boat. My 16 X 16 X 42 bags actually inflate bigger then that size. Heck yesterday I was bidding on a 88 X 19 X 19 to put under my port cabin seat. That is almost a 1200 pound bag.

 

[bryanl]

I know this is an old thread, but has anyone actually done this with the stock setup? How'd it work out?

 

[jcyamaharider]

Alot of people have. Search in the water sports section.

Here is my older build:

https://jetboaters.net/threads/ballast-3-0-another-ballast-upgrade-plan.8164/

 

[bryanl]

Thanks for the reply, and the link! I'll be reading through that one too.

I should probably have been more specific though...my bad! I meant has anyone had an success with reprograming the stock pump to increase the fill time on the stock bags? I'd much rather use the full capacity of the stuff that's already there than replace sacks I don't need to replace. =)

 

[jcyamaharider]

On your boat you just need to hit the switch again

 

[bryanl]

Yup...hit the switch again a few times, to fill to a maximum of 750lbs. But the bags are supposed to have 600lbs of capacity each.

unless i'm missing something?

 

[spatty99]

For the timer on the 2008ish 212X you have to reprogram the timer, it won't fill beyond the programmed run time (even if you keep flipping the switch). There are posts somewhere on how to reprogram it.

 

[jcyamaharider]

@buckbuck can you help us out here? I have been in your boat when you hit the switch multiple times, did you do something to your timers?

 

[bryanl]

There's a post in this thread about how to reprogram it...I'm sure it's got the correct info. Per the manual, the stock 09 has a max 750lbs of ballast, but I've read several different places that the bags are 600lbs each. To get to that 750lb max, you hit the switch once, let it run for 8 and a half minutes, and then hit the switch a few more times, which adds additional ballast each time.

I was just curious if anyone had actually reprogrammed the switch to fill the stock bags all the way, rather than the 2/3 that Yamaha set it at.

 

[Gerrie]

Could you just wire the pump directly to the switch? Bypass the timer module. Switch will be “fill” until you switch it off. “Drain” until you switch it off. You will have to watch them fill or create an overflow.

 

[bryanl]

That's an option too I suppose.

I think though, that I'll just give reprogramming it a try. I'd rather have it automatically turn off.

Will report back, if anyone is curious.

 

[nate kennedy]

Could you just wire the pump directly to the switch? Bypass the timer module. Switch will be “fill” until you switch it off. “Drain” until you switch it off. You will have to watch them fill or create an overflow.

I just did that... it wasn’t bad to do but kind of a pain too. I got the wakemakers prewired switch block and wire to re run as Yamaha ran 4 wires there and I think picked up power from the timer. I had to get a rocker switch from wake makers too because the Yamaha switch didn’t have all the connection points to line up with wake makers termination block. The reason I did that was I have a 750# bag in ski locker 1180# bag under port seat and 400# bag under starboard... it took me forever to fill them because the weight was so much higher than stock I had to constantly reset the timer to get it to fill longer. All 3 of my bags are now vented so I don’t have to watch them with not having a timer

Nate

 

[buckbuck]

I don't think the earlier 212X boats had a programmed that prevented you from overfilling. Every time I recycle the switch it continues to fill. There are no vents so you have to watch the bags. If the cupholders pop up in the rear corners that means you have overfilled. I can't imagine putting more water in after that without damaging the boat.

 

[Scott McDoniel]

Ok, I am not the best at math. However, I did compute what is needed to get to 540 lbs per side which is 60 lbs short of max weight.

Assuming the bags are 600 lb bags, as mentioned in this forum, and the standard fill process is 8.5 minutes, then I have determined what is needed to accomplish a goal of the total weight of 1100 lbs.

Known information:
--- Ballast pump is set to 8 minutes and 30 seconds.
--- Fill volume approximately 630 lbs during this time. This equates to 37 lbs every 30-seconds or 74 lbs per minute.
--- 1 gallon of water is approximately 8.4 lbs.
--- Therefore, the pump is really only pumping 8.8 gallons per minute / 4.4 gallons every 30-second cycle.

If we use the conservative estimate of 10 gallons per minute / 5 gallons per 30-second cycle which someone posted in this thread.

Reprogram standard timer as outlined below
Fill-Drain Time Set up
• Disconnect all battery from main boat connection for at least 30 seconds. Disconnect plug between pump and the Active Intelligence box until programming is complete.
• Reconnect power from battery and immediately start toggling switch to enter program mode.
• Push toggle to the fill position and toggle between fill and drain 5 times stopping in the off position each
time (fill-off-drain-off-fill-off, Etc.) Do not rush. This should be done in a slow methodical 1 second at
each position pace.
•Unit will blink when you have entered program mode and the number of blinks will
indicate the current fill time in 30-second intervals. It should be 17 blinks according to the Yamaha manual of a 8:30 fill cycle.
• To increase fill time - toggle between off and the fill position, each toggle increases the fill time by 30
seconds.
• You WILL NEED TO INCREASE FILL TIME BY 11 Toggles. Each toggle should fill (overestimated) by 42 lbs (5 gallons).
• 630 lbs + (42lbs x11 toggles) = 1092 lbs total weight or 546 lbs per bag. This would leave 54 lbs or approximately 6 gallons left per bag from max capacity.

If you felt like you overfilled the bags then go back and reprogram down following the steps below.

• To decrease fill time - toggle between off and drain position, each toggle decreases by 30 seconds..
• Reconnect power to pump and run pump in drain cycle until pump stops automatically. This must be
done to reset unit to zero after programming


I am going to try this tomorrow and see how the fill is over the weekend and report back.

 

[jetboater4life]

I went ahead and reprogrammed my 2010 212x ballast pump controller last night. Mine was set at 14 blinks which means 7 minutes and never filled all the way up so I usually spent some time adding several extra toggles (30 seconds of fill) to the bags. I added 10 blinks/toggles which put me at 24 30second intervals/12 minutes. This turned out to be too much so I had to back it off and brought it down to 10 minutes. I didn't get a chance to test out the 10 minute fill time because we ran out of daylight and needed to get back on the lift. The programming was very easy though.

 

[Scott McDoniel]

I went ahead and reprogrammed my 2010 212x ballast pump controller last night. Mine was set at 14 blinks which means 7 minutes and never filled all the way up so I usually spent some time adding several extra toggles (30 seconds of fill) to the bags. I added 10 blinks/toggles which put me at 24 30second intervals/12 minutes. This turned out to be too much so I had to back it off and brought it down to 10 minutes. I didn't get a chance to test out the 10 minute fill time because we ran out of daylight and needed to get back on the lift. The programming was very easy though.

I am glad you were able to get this done. I could not seem to get to the program mode on my 2016! Never would work out like the write up I did for my boat. I tried several times to get to the program mode with no luck.

 

[Gerrie]

Re-animating this thread. Well, it turns out that kids and water skills have reached the point where I would like to use my ballast bags. Have never really used them before, other than to check from time to time to see that they work. Turns out my timer sucks. Will run for about 4 min and then about 10 sec with each further toggle. Tried the re-program recipe, multiple times, no luck at all. Toggled fast, toggled slow, no program mode. I will admit I did not disconnect the batteries at source, it did switch them off and disconnect timer completely each time. No luck. Earlier in this very thread I suggested “just” bypass the timer. Turns out it is not that straight forward. The stock Yamaha switch does not have sufficient configuration to allow this. Therefore my options, as far as I can tell, is to buy a ready made switch from Wakemakers or such, or to redesign a switch using a relay. Any thought welcomed. In particular: the secret to reprogramming the unit in a 2014 212X, and, will a wakemaker switch be as simple as what it sounds to bypass the unit. Any electronic whizzes with a simple relay solution switch may chip in at any stage.

 

[bobbie]

@Gerrie we ended up getting custom bags with upgraded pumps. My advice would be going that route. You will get a better wake in the end.

 

[swatski]

Re-animating this thread. Well, it turns out that kids and water skills have reached the point where I would like to use my ballast bags. Have never really used them before, other than to check from time to time to see that they work. Turns out my timer sucks. Will run for about 4 min and then about 10 sec with each further toggle. Tried the re-program recipe, multiple times, no luck at all. Toggled fast, toggled slow, no program mode. I will admit I did not disconnect the batteries at source, it did switch them off and disconnect timer completely each time. No luck. Earlier in this very thread I suggested “just” bypass the timer. Turns out it is not that straight forward. The stock Yamaha switch does not have sufficient configuration to allow this. Therefore my options, as far as I can tell, is to buy a ready made switch from Wakemakers or such, or to redesign a switch using a relay. Any thought welcomed. In particular: the secret to reprogramming the unit in a 2014 212X, and, will a wakemaker switch be as simple as what it sounds to bypass the unit. Any electronic whizzes with a simple relay solution switch may chip in at any stage.

Can you still use/fill the factory center locker (ski locker) ballast bag?
If yes, or if you can "jury-rig" it to work, the best option may be to add the "Gatlin custom swim deck bag" from @jcyamaharider. Most people find the Wedge, in combination with the other two bags, to provide the most simple yet satisfying setup in these boats.
Given your location, may need to just go with a stack of generic (2?) bags on the swim platform? I do not know of anyone who can produce a great wave without ballast on the swim deck in these boats, unfortunately. Even @bobbie !
(@bobbie's setup is enigmatic and different as she runs without the wedge - I believe no one here understands how does she throw the wave she does... But some of us suspect maybe Willamette river flows heavy water... or something like that )

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