Coach's Ballast Install

[samw]

Coach
Just checked out your new uploaded pics, good job. I like the tent city.
And what appears to be a Hein bottle on swimplatform as you drill.

[69BUG]

Well my friend, Thanks for letting me drill a hole in the bottom of your boat!!!!!!! The true definition of trust “a tige owner letting a MC owner drill a hole into the bottom of your boat”

I was not happy doing it because it is a bad A$$ boat!!! But you are good to go! it will not leak!!!!!!

Well the hard part is over you and Money can finish it ….? I am going racing !!!!!!

http://bowtie0069.fotki.com/71008irw...x/img8861.html

See you Sunday night!!!! Oh and keep Money away from the beer until he finishes the job

[SPBFAN]

It is looking good make sure to take more pictures as you go and then when you are on the lake pictures of it in action.

[Coach]

Just finished! Everything worked perfect with the fake a lake. No leaks and every bag drained like a vacuum. I will lake test it tomorrow and update the blog tomorrow or Monday. G-Money was a huge help!

[Coach]

Just updated the Blog.

http://tige-ballast-install.blogspot.com/

[G-MONEY]

Coach's system turned out sweet. Everything is hidden and out of the way. Overall a very clean install, and best of all the wake we sweet and nothing leaked.

With the check valves on the vent lines made filling and draining from the top possible and eliminated the bags draining on their own.




Thanks for giving the first pull with your new system.

[Timmy!]

Great pics and blog. I'm confused on how the reversible pump works, maybe I'm just a little dumb or something but do you have a Y or something between the fill and empty on the bag and then on the pump?

[Coach]

Great pics and blog. I'm confused on how the reversible pump works, maybe I'm just a little dumb or something but do you have a Y or something between the fill and empty on the bag and then on the pump?

No the water is pumped from the bottom of the boat and drained from the bottom of the boat. The vents are just their so when the bag is full the water can escape out so the bags don't blow up. You can make it so the water will drain from the side vents but you end up with 2 more T's and a check valve on each pump. I wanted to start simple and then if I want to get more creative I can down the road.

[Timmy!]

Oh, ok, that's where I got confused! Thanks for clarifying!

One more question, how far do those seat bottom bags go into the storage? All the way to the cooler on the drivers side or ?

[Coach]

Oh, ok, that's where I got confused! Thanks for clarifying!

One more question, how far do those seat bottom bags go into the storage? All the way to the cooler on the drivers side or ?

The bags go all the way to the cooler on the drivers side. They are only 10" high but are longer and fill the entire sides of the storage locker. They are 60x26x10

[SPBFAN]

Very clean system. I am glad the Lake test went good also.

[dogbert]

Nice job, coach!

[KevinMajeski]

Coach I saw that you had some pvc shut off valves in your pics but did not see a mention of when you used them in the install. Where did you use them if at all?
I was also wondering if with your setup did the bags fill up on their own while the boat was underway? Do you have to use the main shut off everytime when you are done filling?

[Coach]

Coach I saw that you had some pvc shut off valves in your pics but did not see a mention of when you used them in the install. Where did you use them if at all?
I was also wondering if with your setup did the bags fill up on their own while the boat was underway? Do you have to use the main shut off everytime when you are done filling?

I was going to run a T after each pump then have 2 lines coming off of each pump with the PVC ball valves. This would have let me fill the main bags up and then add a surf sac to either side to place on top of the filled bag. There is just not that much room behind the access panel so I scraped the idea for simple. I think if I want more weight I am going to get another bag and Tsunami pump.

The bags don't fill up on their own. We put the scoop on facing the rear of the boat so it can't force the water in. The pumps have to pull the water and I am filling from the top of the bags so there is no forced water back out. There is no need for me to touch the main valve unless I have a major leak in the system.

[KevinMajeski]

Thanks for the info! I have been searching these forums for a while now with everything to do with ballast installs and I must say yours might be the best one I have seen in the last year or 2 of looking! I am actually going to try and put a system together for my boat next weekend sometime and really like how you set everything up. Do you have any good suggestions on where to get the pumps and bags. I was thinking I might get the pumps and the switches seperate to save a little money but have been unable to find them on the web recently.

Thanks for the help alreay as the blog was very helpful.

Also any other helpful information you might want to pass along?
-Kevin