R20 Ballast Upgrade from Basic

[lems52]

OK, I swear I've done a search and read through countless installs and I'm still not clear on my options to upgrade my ballast. I'm looking to add to more ballast when surfing. I currently have the rear 250lb hard tanks in the rear. 400 bow sack up front.

Is there any reason I can't go with this setup? One of the guys I boat with had his new Wakesetter upgraded in this fashion. Basically as soon as the hard tanks are filled, they would overflow into the fly high sacks.

http://www.wakemakers.com/tige-piggy...upgrade-1.html

[Ewok]

That would work but it would be very slow to fill and drain. I did a ballast upgrade over the basic factory ballast, here is how I did it:

http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16220

[NICKYPOO]

Contact Chpthril on here. He's the man with the plan and the parts.

Ewok put a lot of work into his setup. Good info on his thread.

[Ewok]

And the wakemakers kit is for one side only. You'll want to do both sides to cover everyone on your boat.

I used the 1,100 W719 bag, so the wakemakers kit would be about 260, x2 for both sides is about 520. My "kit" from chpthrill incuded the bags, the hose, the pumps and the switches (everything you need) and it was under 900 shipped. It took me a few nights and a weekend to put it all together but I'm very happy with the result and I know the system inside and out so I can troubleshoot if I have problems in the future.

However, the wakemakers kit looks a little easier to install, but it looks like it doesn't address the passive draining from the vent line and other little things that pop up. Luckily there is lots of good info on this site to help you find the right system for you.

[NICKYPOO]

Those little things make all the difference. The system that addresses the little things is the difference between loving it and hating it. That's why I like Mike (chpthril). He knows his stuff and puts a package together for your boat.

[lems52]

Good to know. That gives me a starting point to start weighing my options. Ideally I would do both sides, but I guess it depends on how quick the wife gets at surfing. The better she gets, the easier it'll be to justify the expense to upgrade. Good thing were going out tomorrow.

[chpthril]

it depends on how quick the wife gets at surfing. The better she gets, the easier it'll be to justify the expense to

In all honesty, reverse your approach. Beginners will struggle to learn to surf slack-rope with a small wave. The ballast will absolutely speed up the learning process. Surfing is completely opposite of wake-boarding. Beginner boarders do want or need a big wake created by ballast, but a beginner surfer will most definitely benefit from it.

Basically as soon as the hard tanks are filled, they would overflow into the fly high sacks

One issue we see on a piggy-back setup that takes the overflow from the in-floor tank to the bottom fitting of the above sac is the increased fill time. Aerator pumps are susceptible to head-pressure, which is caused by the length of the hose, the elevation gain that the hose makes and the amount of water being pushed. When the hard tank, being filled at the top port, is full, water exits the vent which is not routed to the bottom of the sac. As this overflow water begins to fill the sac, the head-pressure rises exponentially.

Think about an Igloo water cooler. The fuller the cooler, the greater the flow when you open the spout. As the level in the cooler drops, so does the rate of flow. Filling the sac through the bottom is the same principal, just in reverse.

Also, you will need to add a check-valve into the factory fill line is one is not currently there. In years past, Tige installed them when the tanks where above the floor, but I cant recall if they are still in use on the current models. The check-valve is needed to prevent passive (unwanted) draining back through the fill plumbing.

Depending on which sac you choose, you may also experience some passive draining through the drain plumbing. This happens when the top of the filled sac is higher then the drain line's thru-hull. The water level will equalize down to the level of the thru-hull. We see this with the large (tall) surf sac and the fix is to extend the hoses to the opposite side thru-hulls. This puts the vent and drain up hull from the filled sac.