R20 ballast ?

[Bleonardmn]

Few starter questions on ballast

How do you know when it is full?

How long does it typically take to fill?

Is it normal to see the boat bilging when surfin, multiple times after a few runs?

[chpthril]

1) it purges from the vent thru-hulls

2) Your boat has either 1000 gph pumps or 1200 gph pump, not sure exactly when the switch was made. Either way, they both pump at about the same rate once the water reaches the tank. IIRC, the R20 base level ballast is 900 lbs. 400 in the bow and a pair of 250 lb hard tanks in the back. A gallon of water weights about 8.6 lbs.

3) no

[boardman74]

Like Mike said it will spill out the overflows when full. Those are the thru hulls, on each side just below the winshield for the front and rear corners under the rubrail for the rear. R20 for 2013 has tsunami 800's and the fronts fill in less than 5 and the backs in just over 5 if you have the standard 900. If you have the surf 1600 the rears will take about 10 to fill.

Bilge running it not normal and you have a problem. I have a 13 RZR(same hull), I have 30 hours on the boat and the bilge has never turned on. Sounds like you either have a problem with your packing gland(there is a known issue) or you have a leaking ballast.

[DRJones]

I have a 2012 R20 with a 1600 kit. Bow takes less than 10 min to fill and each stern sac is about 5 minutes. They overflow when full. With the bow full and a stern sac full, Tige setting at 3 and 9 mph I could make a smooth surf wave of 42" when steering the craft to the inside of the skier and only a spotter on board. Amazing boats. I have always been so happy at how tight the sacs will drain and then tuck away.

[Dandy]

One thing to consider is that your bilge pump may not be what you are witnessing when you are surfing. Keep in mind that the bags overflow out the thru hulls when full. If the sac is full and the boat is listing, some water can overflow through the fittings if the boat is turning or gets into waves, etc. causing water to flow out the side. We usually hit the fill button between riders on the surf side sac to make sure it is FULL since some water is lost durring the run.

[supremedevice]

my R20 front ballast only takes 3 minutes at the most to fill before it starts peeing out the sides. Makes me wonder if the bags are even full but there is no way to even get a good look at them. Or is there?

[Dandy]

Supreme - we have noticed that the top of our sacs get some air build up (noticed on the rear locker sacs since they can be viewed). We typically fill until they overflow and then give it some time and hit the fill for those sacs again and usually there will be 30sec - 1 minute before they flow out the side again. On the rears we open the cover and push down or step on the sac to push the air out and then fill again. I had another owner tell me that while surfing, they just leave the pumps on for the sacs that need to be full, not sure if this is the best idea for pump life.

[supremedevice]

cool, I'll try that tonight and see if it fills any more. thanks Dandy

[Bleonardmn]

Thanks all for the input! Need to do a little more investigating, I don't think I've ever had my ballasts all the way full based on everyone's comments that I should see the overflow when full.

I talked with my dealer today and he mentioned it could be a shaft seal which they already have coming in for the boats they sold this year. Also mentioned they had another boat with a bad ballast bag that had to be replaced. Keep u posted!