Well I just placed my order to start putting in a ballast system on the boat!!! Only doing the rear 2 this summer I'll do the bow next spring. I'm super excited about this enough fighting with throwing pumps over the side of the boat losing prime.. I get pretty angry with it some times. I've placed my order From CHPTHRL and started off with a bunch of questions before hes even shipped it out lol. A big Thanks to Killerbren as hes answered lots of questions as well. Nervous to drill the hole but still excited. I'm doing a manifold system so one hole with reversible pumps draining thru the intake. I Have 800lb strightline sacs that I just purchased and have been using and they work fine. Over the winter I'm hoping to build shelving to hide the bags so I can still use the storage area with out interfering with the bags. I'm hoping I can do the install in a day but we all hope for lots of stuff that doesn't happen don't we lol.
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Keep us posted. I'd like to see your manifold -
I need to plumb in my ballast too. Let us now how it goes. Have all sacs just need pumps and hoses. Money seems to always need to go somewhere else when I think its time....lol.Comment
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I will keep you guys posted with pics as soon as I get the package and start the installOriginally posted by Felssogd View PostComment
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Yes money can always be spent else where that's why I decided to just do the back first and I'll finish it next year. I also have a bimini coming from Samson to install next week the boat is getting a big overhaul I'm pretty pumped for it.Originally posted by jimidemo View PostComment
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Honestly the best upgrade I ever did, you'll ask yourself why you never did it sooner, not having to deal with throwing pumps over the side and cords running everywhere is a huge game changer!!Comment
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exactly why I want to get this done!!! It makes me so cranky the cords and throwing the pump over the edge. id rather flip a switch and relax and wait!!!!!Originally posted by culrich77 View PostComment
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I'd agree. The first year I picked up my boat I was constantly throwing pumps overboard. The second year I plumbed in my 1200lbs MLA bag with dual fill/empty and it was life changing to just hit a switch and watch the boat start leaning over.Comment
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So on Tuesday I picked up my install package from Chpthrl. And it had EVERYTHING I needed to do the install I was EXTREMELY pumped to do this. I have been reading all the threads I could that everyone had posted I have spoke to many people and then read some more. So that studying plus my mechanical back ground I felt ready to do the job............until I got the seat out and seen how much space I had to work with. I started this project Tuesday afternoon at 4:30 pm a large portion of the start time was spent moving the mocked up thru hull shut off and manifold around until I found the right spot, i had about 1/4 in of play on either side so I had to be pretty close. I had to also take in to consideration how it would fit when it was fully tightened down which did give me a little more room. I marked the bilge and then used the magnets to make sure there was nothing under the boat I would drill into or that the bunks were not in the way. I also made sure that I could spin the manifold and shut off with out contacting anything. 20180814_162451.jpg
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I ended up beside the transmissionComment
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when It came time to drill the hull I tapped the outside of the boat and then drilled thru from the inside out with a 1/16 drill bit for the pilot hole. I then used the 1 1/2 hole saw from the bottom to drill into the boat starting in reverse to get thru the gel coat the forward and I cut roughly half way through then finished from the inside out. I really didnt need to do that as I had to grind the hole bigger with a grinding stone in my drill as the 1 1/2 was to small but the 1 3/4 was to big. I beveled the edges and had a nice tight fit. 20180814_174451.jpg
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thats a BIG hole to drill into your boat let me tell you lol. sorr forgot to take a pic with the thru hull in place.Comment
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I sealed the thru hull liberally and secured with the nut I placed the valve on and then the manifold and tightened it alll up. Then mounted the reducers from the 1 1/4 to 1in with the elbows I put sealant on it all. Then I mounted the pumps I mounted the port side on the small portion of engine divider on the port side. I mounted the starboard pump in the compartment with the trim tab pump both areas worked well. Then I ran the hose it was very straight forward. I used a heat gun to loosen up the plastic so it would stretch over the fittings easy worked awesome. I used sealant on all the hose ends and clamps. The starboard side was east to run hose for the back as it was 1 foot piece out a hole I cut to come straight out to the bag. the port side ran to the back of the engine divider where I cut a small corner out anf came in from the side with an elbow to connect to the bag. I didnt want to put any more stuff in the battery area.
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the vents were super easy I measured where the one was going to be next to the bilge pump and used that for the other side. I did the small pilot hole from the outside in reverse through the gel coat the finished it in forward and then the 1 3/8 hole saw for the vent thru hull. I used a one way check valve but didnt have enough hose for a loop to prevent passive draining but not going to worry about that right now. I was disappointed to have to remove my genie in a bottle stickers but ballast is more important lol
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not sure why the pics are coming out upside down the are right side up in my file????
to get all the plumbing done with the pumps mounted it took about 4 hours counting the hour of mock up.
On day 2 I did the electrical it was very easy running the wire and connecting it all up. I had to reove my old clarion remote so I used that hole to mount the switches. I was at the lake and had no access to anything to put around the hole so I made it work until I get the boat home. Once it was all wired in I left the switches hanging out and placed the boat on the water and flipped the switch to figure out which way was fill and which was empty then mounted them and secured the wire. I used the main bus bard under the dash as my power source and ran the hot and ground wires to the pump bus bar with 30amp fuses
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This was a fun project im very glad I did it. The only mistake that I did make was when I mocked up I thought the shut off valve turned one way but it actually turned the other but it was an easy fix i cut 3/4 of an inch off the end of the handle and it now works properly. my total time working on this was about 6-6.5 but that was the 2 rear bags only not the front ill do that one next year. I did time the fill times and it was 6 min to fill my 2 800lbs sacs. I am more than pleased with that. I didnt time sitching sides but it was still very fast to fill one side and drain the other at the same time, I dont know if it would be worth the cast of a transfer pump for me to save a minute or 2 (thats my 2 cents).Comment
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