2007 22VE Ballast build

[skiguy]

I'm getting ready to install a ballast system on my boat this spring. With regards to the pumps. Is there any reason you can't mount them upside down? Looking at your install it seems like an impeller change would require you to remove the pump to get the screws off the cover plate.


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[chpthril]

Skiguy,

In a vertical orientation, it is suggested to mount with the pump head down, motor up. For an impeller change, you just have to pull two screws on one side and the mount slides off the rubber insulator feet.

[Jetdriver]

I'm getting ready to install a ballast system on my boat this spring. With regards to the pumps. Is there any reason you can't mount them upside down? Looking at your install it seems like an impeller change would require you to remove the pump to get the screws off the cover plate.


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Hey Skiguy! Like Chpthril said you just want to avoid having the motor lower than the pump housing or you risk water intrusion. The way I mounted all of mine you can pretty easily pop the plate off the bottom of the impeller housing for changes. The two that I mounted on the trans/drive support would require me to pull the middle seat out to get better access to them though. That center section comes out easy.

[GzeroX5]

This is fantastic, thanks so much for posting! I have all the goodies from Chpthril and am basically going to copy your install! Any other lessons learned after a year of use?

[Jetdriver]

Gzero, no worries at all, it was a fun project!
The system worked flawlessly all last summer and I couldn't be happier with the results. There are a couple small things I'd do differently if I did it again though.
1-I'd go with a single 1.5" thru hull and build a simple intake manifold for the 3 bags. One hole drilled versus 3 for the intake.
2-when I drilled the hole for the vent on the port side it was tough getting a good measurement on where to drill. I ended up drilling a small pilot hole from the inside out and the hole came out a touch lower than I wanted. I didn't think of this until after I had used the holesaw to widen the pilot hole but I should've measured 1/2 the holesaw diameter and drilled another small pilot hole higher up. The holesaw would've cut out the lower pilot hole and I would've been able to move it up a little more. Just a personal note and I doubt that anyone would notice but me.
Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions. Chpthril knows his stuff so I'm sure you'll have no issues.
Cheers!

[Jetdriver]

I thought of one more thing I'd have down different. I choose to split my bow fill/drain line into two lines with a Y piece on top of the gas tank, one for each leg of the bag. In retrospect I feel I was overthinking it. I don't think it was really necessary and I'm guessing it'd drain just as well off one line ran up one side to one fitting. Less hose used, less fittings, and two less holes drilled in my boat.

[Jetdriver]

Hey guys! I wanted to make an update to the ballast install I did last summer. While everything has been working perfectly with the system (unlike the rest of my boat) I did notice my bilge pump auto cycling on and off the other day at the lake. I found that the bag in the starboard corner has sprung a leak around the fill/drain fitting. It's come detached about half way around it. These are wakemakers bags and while the construction seemed durable after I see the internals of the bag connection ports all I can say is, WTF?! I'm blown away that someone would design it like this and expect it to last. I've removed and installed the bags around 10 times tops and have made a point to be gentle with the quick connection points when pulling them apart and putting them together. I'm attaching a pic of the attachment point and how it's sealed onto the bag. There is literally about a 1/16" of plastic material for the bag to bond to. I haven't contacted them about it yet but I'm guessing fixing it is going to be problematic at best. Anyone had a fly high or MLA custom bag do this? (Not sure where you source those bags Chpthril and certainly not calling you out, just curious)
Here's a pic

IMG_0320.jpg

[chpthril]

My custom are built by fly high. In 10 years, I think ive only had 2 sac failures.

[Wakeman22]

Mine did that so I used primer and glue and put it back in. Still hold after 100 plus hours of use.

[Jetdriver]

Thanks guys, I'm gonna see if Wakemakers will take care of it before I do anything. If not I'll try the primer and glue route.
Chpthril, do you know how the fly high bags are put together? Seems there should be considerably more plastic for the bag to adhere to especially with 1000 lbs of water pushing on it.

[Jetdriver]

Wakemakers told me that they had some issues with bags made last year and sent me a replacement no questions asked.
I also wanted to add that I recently had to pull my v-drive and transmission to replace a damper plate that blew apart. Upon starting the disassembly process I realized that I hadn't considered removing the v-drive when I decided on the placement for my thru hulls and valves. I had to remove the valves from the thru hulls to get enough clearance to remove the v-drive. In hindsight I could've mounted the thru hulls and valves closer to the gas tank and had the clearance necessary. Hope this helps someone that's planning on doing a ballast install themselves.

[Hammertime]

What bags did you use?
I want to add bags to mine but they will NOT be automated. If I want to later, can the same bags be used for automated fill?
Thank you

[chpthril]

Hammer,

All the popular ballast brands can be manually filled and then later plumbed in. I use the Fly High brand sacs and have lots of customers that start out manually filling before switching to plumbed in. All that needed is the supplied fittings that come with our custom ballast plumbing kits. The main things to consider is the number of threaded ports and their location on the sac. Go with a sac with at least 3 threaded ports, with one being on the top.

[Jetdriver]

Hammertime, get ahold of Chpthril (aka Mikes Liquid Audio) regarding bags. He knows what he’s talking about and also sells anything you’d need for a full fledged automated system.
The ones I bought were wakemakers branded bags and I’ve replaced both already because of port failures. I think the fly high bags are just a better quality. My bow bag is fly high brand and it’s noticably sturdier construction IMO. To Wakemakers credit, they have awesome customer service and took care of me at their expense no questions asked. The 2 new bags are different than the last. I was told they got a batch that they experienced lots of the same type port failures. Time will tell if they hold up or not.
When I designed my system I didn’t want to use a bag that went under the middle seats because I wanted to keep that space. I measured the rear lockers and decided to get a bag that was slightly bigger than all the measurements except the height. That way as the water fills the bag it has room to fill the voids as much as possible. The dimensions of the bags I selected were 45” long X 25” wide by 20” tall. The say they hold 910 lbs. when full the bag comes up to the edge of the rear in boat speakers so I still have full storage under those mid seats. Hope this helps.

[BCRider]

I purchased one of the WM bags from another member here and it failed on me at the end of the season here. WM warrantied the bag for me even though I didn't buy it from them originally and sent me out a replacement free of charge. The WM bags have a 2 year warranty on them and I don't think they've had them out that long so it was still under a warranty. Either way I was surprised and very appreciative of them doing that for me.