Ballast Vent Question

[Bryan]

When plumbing in a permanent vent for a ballast bag, the hose needs to be long enough to allow the bag to lay flat in the bottom of the compartment when empty right? So in the rear lockers with a lot of depth, does the excess hose kink up when the bags are full? I ask because while I do t have permanent ballast yet, I plan to get some bags made and wondered if I can do things in stages as the checkbook allows. Vents still work while using a portable pump right?

[NICKYPOO]

As usual, the best thing to do is ask Mike. We designed mine a little different than most. The vent for my custom sacs actually run out the side of the top, front inboard corner. My vent lines only just stick into the compartment. This means the bags end up "hanging" from the vent fitting. This has never been an issue and the system works exactly as designed. Included is a pic of the starboard sac vent. It runs to the port side of the boat, up the gunwhale and out the side under the windshield. I don't think that's going to work in your set up. Most sacs are vented out top center and I've never heard of the lines kinking. I'd bet that would be just fine in your boat. I figure you'll end up not cross venting your sacs because of the unique set up of the 22i. I'm sure others have done the sac vent on the same side of the boat with check valves. Seems logical.

[Bryan]

Ya I don't think I would cross vent.. In my head I see 2 bags, one in each rear side locker as big as Mike will be able to make fit. Each bag will have its own vent on its side and its own pump. I would want reversible pumps that fill through the bottom of the boat and then drain and vent through the same hole in the side.. I think that can be done with check valves right? For starters I would like to get the bags and maybe get the vents working and just fill/empty with a portable pump.. Then maybe is winter plumb everything for auto fill/drain with switches... Unless the family just really takes to surfing this summer and I get tired of filling by hand

[Stingreye]

Extra hose needed but it will coil kind and generally won't kink. I have two fills and two vents with lots of hose in each bag in my rear locker.

If I was doing reversibles I would just fill and drain out the bottom and ditch the check valves to go out the side. Impellers on these pumps these days are relatively robust and it's usually pretty obvious from the sound when they are empty. My reversible cross pump is pretty obvious when it's done pumping. Plus the Johnson pumps have run dry protection.

On a tall bag you might have to cross vent to prevent passive draining where the thru hull is lower than the bag. Mike has some other tricks that might help you if you are getting gear from him. I just cross vented to the other side on mine.

I would just bite the bullet if the pocketbook allows and try the install ASAP. Manual filling gets old VERY fast. After two trips manually filling my wife demanded we automate it and our project was pushed forward a season.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[chpthril]

Yes, you do want the hose long enough so the sac can settle down into the locker when empty, with little pull on the fitting. The 2 piece fly high quick connects will allow the hose to rotate the female fittings around on the male sac fitting and the sac fills and raises up in the locker. The proper hose will not kink.

Sure, you could plumb in the sac vent and still manual fill the sac. it will work just as if the sac is fully plumbed in.

[NICKYPOO]

I ended up going with reversible pumps (jabsco) only because I really didn't have anywhere to mount the aerator pumps. It's a lot easier in a Vdrive. I fill and drain through the same single 1 1/2" thru-hull. It is possible to drain back out the vents with check valves but I chose to keep it as simple and fast as possible. I haven't had any issues with running the sacs or pumps dry and have done so a couple times. I'm still running the original green impellers on both pumps.

[Bryan]

I ended up going with reversible pumps (jabsco) only because I really didn't have anywhere to mount the aerator pumps.

You make this sound like you "settled" for the reversible pumps. Am I wrong in thinking that reversible is superior to aerator? I thought having one reversible doing the same job as two aerators would be better.. Same with the vent and drain in the same line.. I've always thought killing two birds with one stone is better. If this is wrong then I would definitely rethink and listen to suggestions..

[chpthril]

I thought having one reversible doing the same job as two aerators would be better

They both have their pros and cons. One is not necessarily superior to the other, but one setup can be better in a given boat then the other type. Direct drives and boats with shallow bilges, as Nicky's, are typically better suited for reversible pumps. They are self priming where as aerators need to be right at the water source and below the water line. Shallow boats will prevent this, leading to priming issues. Direct drives usually dont have a lot room for pumps, since aerators have to be in the bilge, so using an impeller pump that can be mounted just about anywhere, is best.

[Bryan]

Gotcha... So reversible will be my route too

For your custom bags how many seperate measurements can you incorporate? For instance, in my 22i I've measured the rear lockers and they are 24" deep and 48" long, but there is another part that can extend forward under the little side seat another couple feet, so I guess kind of like the Enzo sac but not as long. The kicker is, this rear compartment is 15" wide at the bottom and 23" at the top... So the whole bag should be a narrower at the bottom than the top. Is that possible or would I have to find a happy medium?