Sooo...... some times the stock options on our boats are just not enough. Over the past winter I decided to upgrade the stock ballast system. The fill and drain times were pathetic and it just wasn't enough weight. I thought it would be fairly simple and then my obsessive compulsive disorder kicked in. The system went through countless redesigns before it was started and a few more before it was finished. Oh well maybe not completely finished, but its in an impressive working order. The front walk through bag is automated, but it was a little ugly so I'm currently trying to make it LOOK more appealing.
So here is how the system works- It's a 1.5" manifold based system, driving 5 independent fill and drain pumps. After trial and error Rule 1100's were chosen. I used 1" PVC suction discharge hose. with a little soap and a heat gun they slipped on the 1 1/8" fittings. Each set of bags has it's own plumbing configurations. There were a couple hurdles to overcome the bag vs. tank plumbing. In order to fill while driving I installed a scoop thru hull and seacock to the left of the trans, a very tight fit but it worked well for routing the hose through the small gap in the fiberglass and into the under seat area on the port side just in front of the v-drive storage locker. I didn't want to have to open an electric or manual gate valve every time I wanted to fill the system. I was told that if I ran and looped the hoses to a high point this would prevent self filling at high speeds. It worked well, it's a little messy but its all hidden.
The factory tanks were modified to somewhat resemble the very early SX Quad pump design. I removed the tank level sending units (they were only accurate when sitting still and we always filled it till it spilled out the vent, so why it looks really cool the level sensors were useless to me) That was a hard one to get over, once I did it got a little easier. I modified the opening to accept a 1" barbed fitting and used it as the new fill ports. I then removed and modified the stock fill location. In order to do this I had to remove the fuel tank (by the way this is a big pain in the ass). I removed the ballast access plates and got my first look at how the tanks were built and designed. I removed the stock fill barbs on the tanks and installed brass garboard drain flanges and installed the rule pump. I then enlarged the factory drain thru hull holes and installed 1 1/8" thru hulls. My original plan was to use the vent as a drain and vent with a check valve. When I first tested the system the tanks would never stop draining. The rule 1100's created such a suction effect that it would actually pull new water in through the fill lines. I closed the seacock and they drained fine. I didn't want to close the valve every time I drained, and I definitely didn't want to put a vacuum on the tank on a day to day basis. We all know these tanks can leak. So I now understand why the Early Quad pump system had dedicated vent and drain thru hulls. So I got out the drill and installed a dedicated drain thru hull.
The rear bags and plumbing were fairly simple to install. I was able to use a single vent/drain thru hull with a check valve, based on the bag nature of this part of the system. In order to camouflage the thru hull I installed a black thru hull in the black gel coat section of my boat. I used Flyhigh customized Mastercraft X2 bags with their quick connect fittings. They are the exact dimensions of our v-drive lockers, very expensive but I am more than happy with them. I had to silicone the fittings and the drain pump to keep them from leaking. I modified the aft V-drive locker panels so I could place the drain pump in the trunk in order to have the sacs fill completely.
The front sac is a standard Flyhigh V-drive sac. It fits perfectly in the walkthru without undue pressure on the fiberglass in this area. The real challenge was how to plumb a walkthru bag and make it look good. With no way to vent and fill this bag without hoses everywhere, I used the factory ballast plumbing concept. The fill pump is on the manifold the hose runs up to the front walkthru area and water flows thru the drain pump and fills the sack. To drain the drain pump pushes out through the fill pump back into the manifold and out the scoop thru hull. Surprisingly there is little to no resistance through the unused pump. I am in the process of installing a quick disconnect non spill connection so you will not see the drain pump and if I want to disconnect the hose and get it out of the way it wont spill water everywhere.
I made a switch panel to fit in the stock panel location and used various Mastercraft ballast switches to identify which tank or bag it controls. The system works Amazing. Fill and drain times are under five minutes, I am now able to adjust the entire ballast system for a specific rider in the time it takes to switch out riders. I can also balance the boat without asking people to move around and I can make adjustments for the rider mid pull. The walkthru sac also doubles as a bow filler cushion and the extra V-drive sac can be used for surfing. I may at one point add about 150-200 lbs. of lead up front to balance the wake out when the system is completely filled, but were not using that much weight. YET...
Here are some pics of the system. I have a ton more but didn't want to bore you. I'll post some pics of the front ballast when it looks pretty. There goes my OCD problem again.
