Draining Ballast Tanks

[mikeyzee]

Hey guys,

I'm getting my sx22 ready for the season and I am ready to address the ballast system.. So last year when I bought the boat, the tanks didn't fill or drain. I tested the solenoids and they both open & close from the decc. The fill also works after I replaced both pumps. So now I can fill my tanks when i'm out on the lake, but they don't drain on the lake. The pump doesn't get power when I press drain. The drain solenoid does open though, so if the boat is on the trailer, the tanks empty through the fill on the bottom of the boat.

My question is, when the tanks are being drained, where is the water supposed to be pushed out of? The overfill vents or is it supposed to drain out the bottom of the boat, just with pressure from the pump? I attached a diagram so you guys know which system I have.

Thanks for the info,

Mike

[brad]

Hi Mike, the pumps should drain out through the bottom of the boat (fill and drain through same port).  The vents are only for venting.  I replaced my pumps and solenoids with reversible impeller pumps that I've located in the storage locker.

[cyclone]

Yep, chronic issue is that the drain pump won't prime. It is under the waterline and should be flooded, but there's a bubble in there. The orig Rule 1100gph get cracks in the base and won't prime. I see that you have replaced yours with Rules, are they the old style or new style? I am about to put mine back together with one old and one new. Its a last attempt before an impeller pump.

Mike, you should test for 12vdc on the output of the external relay box that the Decc or my panel relay box is connected to. THe wires are labeled and you should have 12vdc on the brown and black wires in your bilge when the drain buttons are pushed.

In the case of the PCS touchscreen panel that you have, you should select Drain and select Port, Stbd or All. This will give you power on drain pump and both solenoid valves. you can pull off the quick connects at the pump and use a multimeter to see if you have a switching 12 vdc. If not test the outputs at the PCS relay box terminals, they are labeled.

I'll have your SD card out tomorrow morning, 2 day delivery. I'm verifying that it works properly.