Ballast System "Upgrade"

[Okie Boarder]

I decided I would do more to plumb in the ballast this year so it can be filled up a bit quicker. My system is set up with a 400# bag in the rear ski locker, a 400# bag under the rear seat, and a 350# bag that fits under the cooler down in the bilge in the space I opened up during the rebuild. A lot of times we put a 250# bag right in front of the engine too. I have a Simer pump mounted up under the helm (not in the bilge), and that pump is all plumbed to a through hull fitting and wired into a fill/drain switch. Until now, we've just had a hose off the Simer that we manually connect to each of the bags for filling. I didn't want to add more pumps (yet), but wanted to process to be sped up a bit. So, I made a PVC manifold to distribute and control water flow to each of the bags independently. Each bag will be plumbed in with a fill/drain and also a vent line. This should speed it up significantly.

Here is the manifold finished and ready to be installed.

[sybrmike]

Looks good Okie. Are you putting the manifold up under the helm near the pump? I wanted to have a central valve control panel, but couldn't find a spot that was both accessible and out of the way, so I'm putting a valve in the one inch fill line just ahead of the quick connect on each sac.

Don't forget, you can put a check valve in each vent line so that the impeller pump will suck the sacks down flat. I also needed the check valves to keep the sacks from cross filling since I'm tee'ing the vents together - 2 bow sacs on one pump and thru hull & 3 rear sacs on another (the 6th bag isn't hidden so won't be permanently plumbed in or have a vent line).

How's the knee?

[Okie Boarder]

Yes, I'm going to mount it to the panel that is down by my right leg under the helm. According to wake makers, the check valve isn't necessary with an impeller pump, so I'm going without them. I'm also running my vent lines up to the front near the bilge pump thru-hull so they won't drain inadvertantly.

Knee is good...did a cortizone shot about a month ago and that seems to have done the trick for the pain I was still having. It still feels a little tender and achey at times, but I can walk fine and jumping up an down doesn't bother me.

[Okie Boarder]

Got it finished and tested. Everything seems to work fine and should be a big improvement over the original set up. I timed the drain...was messing with other things during the fill...and I'm down to 15 minutes...not too bad.

Issues right now...not sure if there is a cure.

1. Bags won't drain all the way unless I lift them up.
2. Water doesn't push out the vent lines when filling so I'll have to keep an eye on the bags.

Some pics of the manifold and thru hulls all finished up.

[wotan2525]

Looking good! Real chrome thru-hulls or plastic ones?

(I've got a box full of the plastic ones that I was going to use when I started this project 3 years ago... Still haven't touched it.)

[Okie Boarder]

I used these...kind of a hybrid.

http://www.wakemakers.com/90-degree-...thru-hull.html

[ngavdba]

Is this four inputs and one output or one input and four outputs? I assume the latter but because I'm talentless, I don't quite understand how this works. You talk about exit timing of water and show 4 exit holes, so does this manifold control go straight to the exit points OR as your first post states that you have pump wih one hose but looking to fill four bags faster. So what am I missing in the translation? Water input split to four bags...water out directly to four exit points? Is a fill/ drain line one in the same? Please expound Mr. Okie and as always...your work is flawless. Nice job!

[sybrmike]

Great job, Okie. Wonder why you're not venting water out of the thru hulls once the bags are full? It'd take the check valves I mentioned in order for the impeller pump to suck the bags flat. What sac are you using down in the front bilge? Let me know once you get a chance to time the fill... Again, great job on the plumbing.

[Okie Boarder]

Is this four inputs and one output or one input and four outputs? I assume the latter but because I'm talentless, I don't quite understand how this works. You talk about exit timing of water and show 4 exit holes, so does this manifold control go straight to the exit points OR as your first post states that you have pump wih one hose but looking to fill four bags faster. So what am I missing in the translation? Water input split to four bags...water out directly to four exit points? Is a fill/ drain line one in the same? Please expound Mr. Okie and as always...your work is flawless. Nice job!

It is one pump that is plumbed in for fill and drain that goes into the bottom of the manifold, that then lets me route the water to 3 seperate bags and also one auxilary hose (for a surf bag on the floor).

[Okie Boarder]

Great job, Okie. Wonder why you're not venting water out of the thru hulls once the bags are full? It'd take the check valves I mentioned in order for the impeller pump to suck the bags flat. What sac are you using down in the front bilge? Let me know once you get a chance to time the fill... Again, great job on the plumbing.

The vent lines do travel a fair distance and/ or height to the thru hulls so I suspect there isn't enough pressure. I'm not convinced the check valves would help suck the bags flat...the guys at wake makers didn't seem to think so. It might be worth a try to buy one and see though.

I have an old Launch Pad 350# sack I'm using down there for this year. I'm probably going to get something a bit bigger for next year and go with Fly High.