SX Ballasts

[cyclone]

I would cut a hole for an 8" watertight deck plate http://www.beckson.com/screwout.html like one of these. When installed, it will be stronger than the surrounding (non-load bearing) storage floor. I would definitely seal up that peeling Plexus, caulk up anything I could reach. I'd do the black light test, too. Good idea!

[Ktown]

What tools wood you use to cut the hole?  Those deck plates are exactly what I was envisioning.   

[Johnny B]

mine are mounted directly to the flange that pipes through the hull. Only the intake pumps are leaking, the other 2 are good.  I have messed with them a few times trying to screw them in from the bottom of the flange but have had no luck so far.  I need to get the whole flange assembly out but don't know how.  Getting the tank out of the way would be a huge help and I could get in there and fix everything the right way. it's a big job...

[hockey651]

Does anyone know if its possible to install the quad pump design in the sx out of the dual pump design?   I really want to speed up the fill and drain times but dont no if its possible to keep the system stock and have all the buttons on the control panel still work and do what they are supposed to.  any ideas?

[wakejunky]

hockey651- I looked into it for quite some time and finally gave up. I'm not saying its impossible, but if you don't have the electronics equipment to reprogram the DECC which is what really controls all the pumps and solenoids your out of luck. You could make something kind of work with it, but it wouldn't work the way the panel says it works.

I just gutted it and built my own system. Added two v-drive bags and a walkthru bag for a grand total of 2000 lbs. It wasn't cheap (I'm sure someone could do it cheaper) but each bag/tank is independent and it fills and drains in 4 minutes. Really great for switching it up quick for wakeboarding or surfing. Which made it worth every penny. I did a write up on it somewhere on here a while ago, but I'm too lazy to look it up.

[hockey651]

thanks wakejunky, yeah that is what i was thinking. i keep trying to figure out if it was possible or not but got no where, I know its possible to fill and drain the tanks using four pumps, but the trims are where i got stuck! it was the hole question how do i turn only one pump on from the stock control panel.   
and i do have to say that im really jealous of our system thats got to be awesome to control and ride behind! i would really like to upgrade our sx to something like that one day. thanks again

[cyclone]

I have the stupidass ability to reprogram the little microprossesor to do different stuff but the hardware is different, yada yada.

I will probably hack the system and put in independent controls for each tank. Hidden switches is all it would take.

[hockey651]

that is a good point to put hidden switches somewhere im thinking i only need to have the switches trim the tanks and since we never really use the trim feature on our boat anyway they would never really get used that much i just dont want to loose that option of trimming a tank if i have to.  what do you guys recommend for pumps the rule 1100's or i was thinking about the Attwood 800 Tsunami pumps there only 25 bucks compared to the 40 for the rule's.  Do you think the filling times will be that different on the two pumps? im thinking the tsunami's because they are 3/4 inch and i wouldn't have to change any of the fittings on the tanks just have to add new fill ports for the tanks. 

[cyclone]

I know Wakejunky likes the 4 pump ballast, I like my two pump ballast because it is so simple. I don't like the drain/fill options but I don't want to change the stock appearance, I'm just like that. I will dig into the wiring harness one day and figure out which wires to splice to put in a toggle switch.

In the mean time, I need to make it reliable and MUCH faster. First thing will be to replace the stock .5" solenoid valves with 1" ones. There are two valves, see the ballast and tower owners manual for details. Space is really limited so I'll probably stay with Rule 1100's in the stock location, I have had really good luck with them. One thing to check, the bases can crack and cause priming problems. They also had a recall on those pumps for base screws that would loosen and cause the same priming problem. The fix is to use blue locktite. If a pump is cracked, I will consider putting bigger pumps in. I just wakeboard right now so I just want reliable, relatively quick fill and drain. It takes me a while to put the boards up and get my sheot put away:) I know that the pump should be able to fill the ballast in 4.34 minutes with no restrictions, so if it's double that with the bigger solenoid valves, I'm fine with that.

I think my main problem is sticky valves. The little piston inside gets rusty. You can take it apart and clean it up, but it's hard to do while installed without breaking fittings. I will take my old valves and clean them up and recycle all parts for the back sacks, which are recycled from Shamu 1.

[phenom_1819]

My Shamu 1?     Pete, before you make any commitments to those sacks... they are kind of a pain in the butt.  They have chambers inside to keep the square shape, but have the unfortunate effect of trapping water inside the chambers.  Just for fair warning...

[cyclone]

Fair enough Cal:) I usually have enough people in back so I'll probably go with an underseat sack and some more lead up front.

Johnny, when you pull those Rule pumps out, check the bases carefully for cracks. They are toast if they crack, they will not prime and will suck air. They also had a recall to put blue Locktite on the screws for a while, use some but don't overtighten. Buy them from TMS for cheaper than anywhere else you can find them;)

I am getting ready to order the solenoid valves. They are quite a bit larger than the stock valves, I'm hoping I can fit them in there! I'm gonna stick with stock Rule 1100's, they pump a lot of water and are very small.

[brad]

Pete:

I'm very interested in this project.  I'd like to tweak my ballast system this year including the ability to fill only one side.  Can't wait to hear how things go.

[Johnny B]

as for now, I removed the pumps and pulled the intake hoses to one location and ran a third hose to the rear trunk for a 1000 lb bag.  Now I take my Tsunami pump and fill them up manually from one place.  takes a little longer but it's easy, has no leaks and I can fill both tanks, 1000 lbs in the rear and 600 lbs in the bow in about 15 minutes or so.  I still have the drain pumps for the stock ballast working so draining is easy.  Wake will be huge!

[brad]

Pete - any progress on isolating ballast tanks?