I hate you, ballast bags

[david.osborne24]

I just came to vent. Does anybody else like me just hate ballast bags and wish they had tanks. I’ve had, and keep having a multitude of issues when it comes to filling them. The plug and play have to be baby sat while they fill and I’m constantly shifting them so they aren’t in a bind or putting a lot of stress on the connection fittings. The subfloor bag connections that use the zip ties to keep the bag in place have popped on me twice now which required a replacement bag each time. I have my 3rd replacement coming for one of my plug and plays because of a bad leak on one of the seams. Plus I’m able to see the leak on my plug and play, it’s only a matter of time before one of the sub floor bags that I can’t see start to leaking and filling the bilge. I’m envious of the MC owners who just get to fill their tanks with ease and are not crawling all over the boat checking connections and crap all the time. Sigh. I digress


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[bsreid]

That’s interesting… Yes I did have to replace my sub floor rear bags last year in my rzx (bad design) but that was after 400 hours of mostly surfing. Once you get the pnp bags in the right spot don’t touch them and you won’t ever have to.
You won’t be envious of the MC owners when their tanks crack and you can’t get them out without removing the engine or replacing it with a bag.

[freeheel4life]

^^what bsreid said. MC wanted dealers to split the boat at the rub rail when the X46 had a run of split tanks. The failed because the guys cutting the carpet glued to the roto molded tanks scored them with razor knifes removing the excess. We didn't split boats but had to remove engines, and a LOT of other bilge parts and also trim fiberglass to get the old tanks out. Basically a 3 day job.

The biggest thing IMO is it's been a race to pump water in faster and shorten fill time for all manufacturers. So making sure vent lines are not kinked is huge. If they are kinked bags get over pressured and pop seams and fittings.

Sorry for you frustration david.osborne24...I know it doesn't make it better but I can send you a video of a Centurion with a tank leak I found on a PDI a few weeks ago before customer even took delivery and a ballast leak on a basically new G23 came thru this week...

[chpthril]

In my experience, sac failure at the fitting, is mostly related to hose length, hose routing or fitting angle. Hose too long, hose to short, fitting should be straight and its a 90 or its a 90 and needs to be a straight.

[MikeB313]

Very interesting, never had a problem with any of my bags and never need to move my PnP. As freeheel4life said, you don't want hard tanks. This is what happens to your boat when those leak.

[freeheel4life]

Very interesting, never had a problem with any of my bags and never need to move my PnP. As freeheel4life said, you don't want hard tanks. This is what happens to your boat when those leak.

Ooooof. Was this for one of the rear tanks??

[MikeB313]

Yeah, this is from the rear tanks. The technician at the local dealer has split hulls around 30 times. He has it down pat and can get it pulled apart, new tank in, and put back together in 2 days. Still lot more $$$ than 5 minute fix replacing a bag.

[freeheel4life]

Dang. Like I said at the old shop we were pulling the motor to do em. 6 in one half dozen in the other. We did a lot of them because other sealers in the PNW said they couldn't split em so MC sent them all our way.

[david.osborne24]

I’m in the polyethylene industry, HDPE tanks will NEVER leak or corrode if manufactured properly. Sounds like most issues come from installer error. I still hate bags and would welcome a change to tanks. I don’t get to enjoy the water sports aspect of my boat because of all the issues with my bags. Surfing has become somewhat of a chore and I find myself letting out a groan when it’s time to surf. Split hulls suck don’t get me wrong, and yea two days is a lot of work, but I’m down multiple weeks when you account for all my bag issues. Gimme tanks any day


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[Germaine Marine]

sounds like someone needs too address your specific boat. We sell hundreds of boats. You shouldn't be having an issue. Bags are easy, tanks aren't. Tanks are the dinosaur in terms of what the industry is going too...

[InstantBreakfast]

I kind of feel the same way. I've got a leak in one of the bags, but the dealer couldn't find it and I just don't have the time to dive in and do it myself. I fill all the bags and PNP, and after about 10 minutes the bilge starts spewing tons of water and the PNP bag is almost completely deflated. It's been more than a little frustrating.

[chpthril]

with 3-4 hose connections per sac, not hard to find a leak if the actually fill the ballast and start looking.

Unlike some hard tanks, you can take the sacs out, cap the ports and fill the sacs and watch them for leaks.

[freeheel4life]

with 3-4 hose connections per sac, not hard to find a leak if the actually fill the ballast and start looking.

Unlike some hard tanks, you can take the sacs out, cap the ports and fill the sacs and watch them for leaks.

^^this. I threaded a Schrader into a cap a long time ago and just use air. A lot faster and less weight.

[Wakeman22]

Leaks of any kind suck. I love the Nautiques and others that have all subfloor ballast and it is enough not to need extra bags. Leaks can be hard to find and frustrating. How ever if it is sacks then so be it. If your bag is not leaking look for leaks on the hoses and pumps. Yes it really sucks to split the hull for a fix. So with any ballast system that one may have. it is what it is. Go with it and be glad you are not having to manually fill each bag with a pump thrown overboard.

[Bamer]

How often do fuel tanks leak? What’s the difference between a fuel tank and hard ballast tanks?


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