Tige Ballast Filling

[Clax]

Having recently bought a 2012 RZ2, I am wondering what is proper method of filling the factory ballast. I used to own a Mastercraft, and they recommended for the boat to be moving at 1500rpm (not sure why). I checked the Tige manual, and there is no reference to being moving, idling, or with the boat off running in accessory mode. Any thoughts? Ultimately it would be great to do it while the boat is off (and in accessory mode), so you're not wasting hours on the engine.

[neildorin]

Typically because the ballast pumps draw a fair amount of current, having the engine running at 1500rpm is a good idea since the alternator will generate enough current to run the pumps without draining batteries. A typical alternator won't begin to charge batteries until your rpm are > 2500/3000 but you're just looking to power the pumps, not charge the batteries.

I've seen boats with dead batteries out on the water simply because they were pumping ~2000lbs of ballast with the engine off and stereo running. That's with two batteries

[talltigeguy]

The Mastercraft people are retarded. Ok, not that retarded, but their recommendation makes little sense...especially to asphyxiate your rider with the engine running while they are putting on their board. I can say that since this is the Tige owners site (I used to have an MC also).

The tige pumps are aerator style pumps and only require a few amps each, so the amount of current draw is very little, and you are not going to hurt the pumps or run batteries down.

Even if you did have reversible pumps like a Mastercraft, they draw 10-15 amps each, so you are going to pull max 45 amps from the batteries. A modest stereo will pull that much, easily. The only logical reason is that the pumps may operate more efficiently at 14.4 Volts instead of resting voltage (about 12.6 on most batteries). But it is not worth the trouble. If your battery dies during ballast pumping, it is from the stereo, or a weak battery. NOT due to 10 minutes of ballast pumping.

The short answer is...Shut off the engine to fill your ballast.

[What she said]

Oh and use it in assy mode to the right. It will not put hours on your Tige.

[bspot]

Typically because the ballast pumps draw a fair amount of current, having the engine running at 1500rpm is a good idea since the alternator will generate enough current to run the pumps without draining batteries. A typical alternator won't begin to charge batteries until your rpm are > 2500/3000 but you're just looking to power the pumps, not charge the batteries.

I've seen boats with dead batteries out on the water simply because they were pumping ~2000lbs of ballast with the engine off and stereo running. That's with two batteries

A typical alternator WILL charge a battery at idle.

[neildorin]

I stand corrected!

[Guma]

We routinely fill and empty with the motor off and listening to the radio while we are on a swim break. We normally surf, so complete empty and fill from one side to the other. Not once have we had a problem with running the batteries low.

[Clax]

Great feedback, thanks! Engine off, and in accessory mode. Love this forum, great people.

[Wickedcummins]

u can fill the ballast in any key position and or running or not. Do whatever makes sense to you! Really is no right or wrong way!

[chadsanchez]

Is there any way to adjust how quickly the ballast fills and drains? Mine is set at 6 minutes?

[neildorin]

You can adjust the timers, but that only affects how the tige touch displays the current volume in percentage, not the actual fill rate.

The fill rate is dependent on the GPH speed of the pumps themselves and/or the size of the ballast bags/tanks. That's the reason you can adjust the timers in the tige touch setup, to compensate for different speed pumps or different size tanks.