Ballast problem

[kirk_tx]

Hey guys,
First post here, just found the site.  This should pretty handy.

Quick question.  I have an X22 and the ballasts are filling just driving around.
This will quickly change the weight in the boat so that it is drasticly different from the start to finish of a run.

My questions is: is there a valve or something that is getting stuck open?  Something else?

I will look at it tomorrow to see if i can see anything obvious.

Another, possibly connected issue, is that a good bit of water is making its way into the boat just during the coarse of an afternoon ride. 
All of this stuff is probably easy fixes but I just haven't had time to look till this weekend.

Any help is appreciated and thanks ahead of time.

Kirk

[mvermeer]

Kirk

I am no expert, but I will try to help you out.  First, at least I have one, if you take the battery cover to the right of the driver's seat out of the floor, there should be a black valve in the upper right corner if you are facing the front of the boat.  If the handle is running straight up toward the sky, it is open.  If it is parallel with the floor of the boat, it is closed.  Hope your's has one so this takes car of it.  Do you have a ballast pump to the tank?  If so, it should keep water from getting passed it to the bags.  If you do not, it could be that you have a direct line from the bottom of the boat to the bags and that is why it is filling up. 

In terms of the water getting in the boat, the only thing I could think of is that your packing around your drive shaft is loose or getting bad.  Again, I am no expert but hopefully this information can help.

[kirk_tx]

Thanks for the input.
I adjusted the nut on the shaft packing and am only getting a small drip, which I understand in natural. 
However, I am still getting a good bit of water in the bilge.
This weekend I figured out that the bilge pump is either clogged or not working which is certainly contributing.  The water is still getting in somehow though.

My boat does have a ballast pump, for fill and empty, which I 'thought' would keep water from being forced into the ballast in the back.  I guess I just have to get used to shutting off that intake valve everytime I finish pumping water in. 

I absolutely love the boat though.

Thanks again for the help.

[kirk_tx]

Well the pump was clogged.  Not too bad.  Easy fix.
I also found out that I had two decent size leaks in a large hose for the ballast system.  The hose goes from a check valve at the bottom of the ballast sack to the filler pump.  It is a very rigid piece of hose.  It had started springing leaks all over it.
The folks on here who have X22's should keep an eye on it.

I thought it was funny that my boat only took on water when the ballast had water in it.

[Ktown]

After reading your post, I think I may have a similar problem.  Seems like my bilge fills up much faster when the ballast is full (Bilge pump works, so it's not as noticable unless I forget the pump).   How did you find the leaks?  Did you replace the hose? If so, where did you get a replacement?  Thanks for posting your findings.  It will probably help others find a similar problem.

Thanks

[kirk_tx]

Yep,  I replaced the hose.  I went to West Marine and got a 2' long piece of 1" rigid hose.  For an X22 (probably others too) the hose dead in the middle of the boat underneath the ballast.  It runs to the pump that empties the ballast overboard.  This is the only hose like it on  my boat that developed this problem.  I think this is because it is running right in between the exhaust bellows in the belly.  Maybe the heat causes it to break down.

I didnt' figure out the problem till I pulled the ballast completely out fo the boat and put water in it to test it for leaks.  The ballast sack never leaked but the one hose sure did.  It had 3 seperate large holes in it.

If you can't figure it out from my description, I can take a picture of the area I am talking about and post it this weekend.

Kirk