It's been a tad since I last posted here. It's been a busy summer for both work and play. 
To sum things up. The last time out was this past weekend, and was by far the best weekend we have had all season. We have been battling little issues with the boat this season. No major mechanical issues. WOO HOO! So I thought I would share my pain, and what I did to over come these issues.... FINALLY!
Ballast Issues:
I bought pumps from a local dealer and I thought they were the right pumps just like the ones from Wakemakers.com. Not even close. I purchased Jabsco Water puppies model # 18860-0123, and the ones from wakemakers.com are model #18220-1127. Basically, they are they are the same pump. Both are rated to be reversible.
The issues I was having were that my pumps wouldn't always turn on and eventually would trip the breaker, or they would only go in one direction and not reverse when I would flip the switch. This would also cause the breaker to trip.
So I double checked that the pumps were getting the right amount of voltage with the switches in both directions using my volt meter. CHECK! Both pumps were getting juice.
So my initial thought was that the pumps weren't getting enough juice because of initial source I choose to wire the switches from. I pulled power from a bus bar under the helm. So I ran a 10 gauge wire off of the common post of my battery switch to a dedicated bus bar, and then 10 gauge directly to the switches. The pumps were all ready wired up with 10 gauge.
Did this change anything. NOPE!
Frustrated I talked with the local dealer, and said they said to bring the boat in and they would fix it. Took it in, and they charged me $200 and said they redid the wiring, and replaced the impellers, and that it was gooood to go.
This didn't do it either.
What did it? Well, these pumps came stock with the black impellers which are really stiff. REALLLLLY STIFFF! The fix were the green impellers that I bought from wakemakers.com. I spent 3 minutes on the phone with them, and before I could get my story finished they knew what was wrong. A $50 dollar fix, and my pumps ran faster, and worked properly all weekend long.
The black impellers are really stiff, and make it hard for these motors to actually turn them. Now, if it's warm outside, and I mean near the the 90 plus mark, then they would work somewhat. The temp this past weekend was in the low 80s high 70s, and the pumps work perfectly all day long.
Stereo Issues:
Some of you probably saw my stereo install thread. I had a bit of an issue with a HIGH pitched noise coming from my tower and in boat speakers. IT WAS ANNNOYING, and it really really made Mrs Hyphen mad. DOH!
How did I end up fixing it? The remote turn on for the amps is being controlled by my accessory switch on my dash. The power for that is from the common bus bar from under the helm. I ended up rewiring my Accessory switch to the bus bar that I used for the pumps, and the high pitched noise went away.
So, all of my gremlins that have been haunting me have been RESOLVED!
To sum things up. The last time out was this past weekend, and was by far the best weekend we have had all season. We have been battling little issues with the boat this season. No major mechanical issues. WOO HOO! So I thought I would share my pain, and what I did to over come these issues.... FINALLY!
Ballast Issues:
I bought pumps from a local dealer and I thought they were the right pumps just like the ones from Wakemakers.com. Not even close. I purchased Jabsco Water puppies model # 18860-0123, and the ones from wakemakers.com are model #18220-1127. Basically, they are they are the same pump. Both are rated to be reversible.
The issues I was having were that my pumps wouldn't always turn on and eventually would trip the breaker, or they would only go in one direction and not reverse when I would flip the switch. This would also cause the breaker to trip.
So I double checked that the pumps were getting the right amount of voltage with the switches in both directions using my volt meter. CHECK! Both pumps were getting juice.
So my initial thought was that the pumps weren't getting enough juice because of initial source I choose to wire the switches from. I pulled power from a bus bar under the helm. So I ran a 10 gauge wire off of the common post of my battery switch to a dedicated bus bar, and then 10 gauge directly to the switches. The pumps were all ready wired up with 10 gauge.
Did this change anything. NOPE!
Frustrated I talked with the local dealer, and said they said to bring the boat in and they would fix it. Took it in, and they charged me $200 and said they redid the wiring, and replaced the impellers, and that it was gooood to go.
This didn't do it either.
What did it? Well, these pumps came stock with the black impellers which are really stiff. REALLLLLY STIFFF! The fix were the green impellers that I bought from wakemakers.com. I spent 3 minutes on the phone with them, and before I could get my story finished they knew what was wrong. A $50 dollar fix, and my pumps ran faster, and worked properly all weekend long.
The black impellers are really stiff, and make it hard for these motors to actually turn them. Now, if it's warm outside, and I mean near the the 90 plus mark, then they would work somewhat. The temp this past weekend was in the low 80s high 70s, and the pumps work perfectly all day long.
Stereo Issues:
Some of you probably saw my stereo install thread. I had a bit of an issue with a HIGH pitched noise coming from my tower and in boat speakers. IT WAS ANNNOYING, and it really really made Mrs Hyphen mad. DOH!
How did I end up fixing it? The remote turn on for the amps is being controlled by my accessory switch on my dash. The power for that is from the common bus bar from under the helm. I ended up rewiring my Accessory switch to the bus bar that I used for the pumps, and the high pitched noise went away.
So, all of my gremlins that have been haunting me have been RESOLVED!
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