I just completed my ballast install and wanted to share my fun project. Many thanks to Mike (Chpthrl) - Mike's Liquid Audio. I purchased the kit from him at a great price and he was a huge help, tons of great advice to miss the gotchas and definitely made the project easier.
I chose to go with the flexible vane pumps as this being my first install I wanted to keep things simple.
Install overview:
- Qty 3 - Johnson flexible vane pumps
- I decided to try for qty 3 1in. thru-hull intakes. Mike included the hardware to do a tee and depending on how much room I could find near the v-drive I would decide on 2 holes or 3 for the intakes. (I ultimately went with 3)
- Qty 2 1100 jumbo v-drive sacs (I already had the w711 in my bow)
- We did 3/4" hose for the sac vents. 1" hose for fill & drain
Step 1: Mount the switch bezel into the side panel where the throttle controller is located.
I chose to mount the switches in the recessed pocket area. Fairly straightforward. I had some 1/8" plywood I cut the bezel hole into and then cut about 2 inches around it and mounted it to the back of the panel with a bunch of small screws (2 sides) to keep it rigid. I cut the vinyl in a pie shape and stapled it to the back of the plywood and inserted the bezel. (*Tip - Thinking the vinyl would affect the fit of the bezel I cut the hole in the plywood slightly bigger than the bezel - as it turns out this was not the ideal way to do it. I recommend cutting the bezel hole to exact size. The vinyl when stretched and stapled isn't very thick at all and would provide much needed friction. My bezel is not as tight as I would like it as with the switches mounted, the wires behind the panel put some outward pressure on the bezel and can push the bezel slightly out of the hole - it's not a huge deal and can live with for now)
Photo Mar 17, 4 26 22 PM.jpgPhoto Mar 17, 4 26 42 PM.jpg
Step 2: Mount the Pump Fuse Panel
Mike included three 30 amp pop breakers and I thought it was a great idea. Up to that point I was planning on using inline fuses but I like the breaker idea better - easier to troubleshoot if a pump stops working. I made a small breaker panel out of that same 1/8" plywood and some thin aluminum sheet metal I had on had for mounting brackets. I painted the whole thing black and mounted it underneath the helm against the side of the hull.
Photo Mar 17, 4 56 35 PM.jpg
Step 3: Mount Pumps
I picked the starboard compartment, behind the locker, where the TAPS controller is located to mount two of my pumps. These pumps would be to fill/drain the rear sacs. I chose to mount one up against the transom and the other on the huge expanse of horizontal space directly below. I mounted the pump for the bow sac in the compartment in front of the helm up against the front wall.
Photo Mar 17, 6 13 25 PM.jpg
Step 4: Run Wires
This was pretty simple. Mike provided 12 ga. marine grade tinned wire. For the rear pumps I simply used wire ties to secure the wire to existing wire runs underneath the gunnel. I used heat shrink butt connectors to splice the wires at the pumps. The switch connections were a bit different. Since the side panel is removable I elected to use disconnect spade connectors. I labeled all wires.
Photo Mar 19, 1 19 32 PM.jpgPhoto Mar 19, 2 17 22 PM.jpgPhoto Mar 19, 2 25 59 PM.jpgPhoto Mar 19, 12 59 46 PM.jpg
Step 5: Drill baby, drill.
When identifying the locations for the 1in. thru hull intakes I quickly discovered my mounting options were going to be limited. There was actually a respectable amount of space on strbd side of the v-drive. I made some initial marks - with consideration for the shut-off valve handles etc. Then with a magnet on one of the marked locations, I crawled under the boat and quickly discovered that I was going to be very limited on where I could mount the intakes due to the location of the trailer bunkers. Long story short. All the space next to the v-drive got shrunk by 70% as a bunker ran directly under that area. After much measuring and analysis (and a couple beers) a good friend and I figured out we need to mount the intakes very near the longitudinal stringer . This gave us about 1in. of clearance from the bunker. The holes for the sac vents were simple. I chose to mount about 1.5 inches below the rail. I used a rotary tool to bevel the edges of all holes. Assembling the thru hull intakes was a 2 man job. I worked under the boat while a friend assembled the valves and the hose barb connectors. A PIA to be honest as we improvised and used the end of closed-ended wrench held by vice-grips to hold in place while the other tightened the assembly from above. (*Tip - the magnets were a life saver - bought mine at a local hobby shop)
Photo Mar 18, 1 18 36 PM.jpgPhoto Mar 18, 4 38 01 PM.jpg
To be continued
I chose to go with the flexible vane pumps as this being my first install I wanted to keep things simple.
Install overview:
- Qty 3 - Johnson flexible vane pumps
- I decided to try for qty 3 1in. thru-hull intakes. Mike included the hardware to do a tee and depending on how much room I could find near the v-drive I would decide on 2 holes or 3 for the intakes. (I ultimately went with 3)
- Qty 2 1100 jumbo v-drive sacs (I already had the w711 in my bow)
- We did 3/4" hose for the sac vents. 1" hose for fill & drain
Step 1: Mount the switch bezel into the side panel where the throttle controller is located.
I chose to mount the switches in the recessed pocket area. Fairly straightforward. I had some 1/8" plywood I cut the bezel hole into and then cut about 2 inches around it and mounted it to the back of the panel with a bunch of small screws (2 sides) to keep it rigid. I cut the vinyl in a pie shape and stapled it to the back of the plywood and inserted the bezel. (*Tip - Thinking the vinyl would affect the fit of the bezel I cut the hole in the plywood slightly bigger than the bezel - as it turns out this was not the ideal way to do it. I recommend cutting the bezel hole to exact size. The vinyl when stretched and stapled isn't very thick at all and would provide much needed friction. My bezel is not as tight as I would like it as with the switches mounted, the wires behind the panel put some outward pressure on the bezel and can push the bezel slightly out of the hole - it's not a huge deal and can live with for now)
Photo Mar 17, 4 26 22 PM.jpgPhoto Mar 17, 4 26 42 PM.jpg
Step 2: Mount the Pump Fuse Panel
Mike included three 30 amp pop breakers and I thought it was a great idea. Up to that point I was planning on using inline fuses but I like the breaker idea better - easier to troubleshoot if a pump stops working. I made a small breaker panel out of that same 1/8" plywood and some thin aluminum sheet metal I had on had for mounting brackets. I painted the whole thing black and mounted it underneath the helm against the side of the hull.
Photo Mar 17, 4 56 35 PM.jpg
Step 3: Mount Pumps
I picked the starboard compartment, behind the locker, where the TAPS controller is located to mount two of my pumps. These pumps would be to fill/drain the rear sacs. I chose to mount one up against the transom and the other on the huge expanse of horizontal space directly below. I mounted the pump for the bow sac in the compartment in front of the helm up against the front wall.
Photo Mar 17, 6 13 25 PM.jpg
Step 4: Run Wires
This was pretty simple. Mike provided 12 ga. marine grade tinned wire. For the rear pumps I simply used wire ties to secure the wire to existing wire runs underneath the gunnel. I used heat shrink butt connectors to splice the wires at the pumps. The switch connections were a bit different. Since the side panel is removable I elected to use disconnect spade connectors. I labeled all wires.
Photo Mar 19, 1 19 32 PM.jpgPhoto Mar 19, 2 17 22 PM.jpgPhoto Mar 19, 2 25 59 PM.jpgPhoto Mar 19, 12 59 46 PM.jpg
Step 5: Drill baby, drill.
When identifying the locations for the 1in. thru hull intakes I quickly discovered my mounting options were going to be limited. There was actually a respectable amount of space on strbd side of the v-drive. I made some initial marks - with consideration for the shut-off valve handles etc. Then with a magnet on one of the marked locations, I crawled under the boat and quickly discovered that I was going to be very limited on where I could mount the intakes due to the location of the trailer bunkers. Long story short. All the space next to the v-drive got shrunk by 70% as a bunker ran directly under that area. After much measuring and analysis (and a couple beers) a good friend and I figured out we need to mount the intakes very near the longitudinal stringer . This gave us about 1in. of clearance from the bunker. The holes for the sac vents were simple. I chose to mount about 1.5 inches below the rail. I used a rotary tool to bevel the edges of all holes. Assembling the thru hull intakes was a 2 man job. I worked under the boat while a friend assembled the valves and the hose barb connectors. A PIA to be honest as we improvised and used the end of closed-ended wrench held by vice-grips to hold in place while the other tightened the assembly from above. (*Tip - the magnets were a life saver - bought mine at a local hobby shop)
Photo Mar 18, 1 18 36 PM.jpgPhoto Mar 18, 4 38 01 PM.jpg
To be continued
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