Rival Ballast Install

[talltigeguy]

I have been in touch with this boat's owner even though it has been 2 years since I sold it.

This spring he says that several of the ballast lines split open and filled his bilge with water. It seems that the spiral hose has not held up. I did ask if he filled the lines with antifreeze for the winter and he said he did not. So I do suspect residual water in the lines over the winter split them. But he did not have the splitting until after his first several trips of the year, so that does not make perfect sense.

I love the spiral hose because of its flexibility, but is it prone to wearing out? I also put a bunch of it in the ballast install in my X45.

[Bad05]

I have been in touch with this boat's owner even though it has been 2 years since I sold it.

This spring he says that several of the ballast lines split open and filled his bilge with water. It seems that the spiral hose has not held up. I did ask if he filled the lines with antifreeze for the winter and he said he did not. So I do suspect residual water in the lines over the winter split them. But he did not have the splitting until after his first several trips of the year, so that does not make perfect sense.

I love the spiral hose because of its flexibility, but is it prone to wearing out? I also put a bunch of it in the ballast install in my X45.

I'm currently fixing and upgrading the system but using the same Shield 141 Multiflex only using 1"ID. I'm also changing the pumps from the 600 to either 800 or 1200 for faster fill/empty times. The hose doesn't appear to be damaged from residual water, the damage seems to be where the hoses made sharp 90 degree turns like where the drain lines go to the side drain holes. I'll update more as I get further into it on Sat.

[bigdaddy_houseboater]

Hey Tall, I was noticing the hole you put in the side of the boat, and I didnt see that you bevelled the gelcoat away from the edge of the hole. If you didnt do so, I recommend you pull the fitting and take a fine half-round file and bevel the gelcoat. If not, you will experience cracks in the gelcoat radiating from the hole very soon. It's extremely simple to do. Just file the gelcoat around the edge of the hole so that the bevel goes through the gelcoat into the fiberglass. The bevel should be about one sixteenth of an inch deep. Do this with ALL drilled or cut holes in a gelcoat / fiberglass surface.
Good luck.

Dale

[lee]

Hey Tall, I was noticing the hole you put in the side of the boat, and I didnt see that you bevelled the gelcoat away from the edge of the hole. If you didnt do so, I recommend you pull the fitting and take a fine half-round file and bevel the gelcoat. If not, you will experience cracks in the gelcoat radiating from the hole very soon. It's extremely simple to do. Just file the gelcoat around the edge of the hole so that the bevel goes through the gelcoat into the fiberglass. The bevel should be about one sixteenth of an inch deep. Do this with ALL drilled or cut holes in a gelcoat / fiberglass surface.
Good luck.

Dale

Tall cannot do that..He sold the boat two years ago.

[chpthril]

Tall cannot do that..He sold the boat two years ago.

But Bad05 can

[Dan and Christy]

But Bad05 can

I'll make sure he does

[Bad05]

I'll make sure he does

Thanks buddy! I have noticed a few new cracks from last season that I will probably get addressed this year along with the upholstery. I was counting up the pounds that will be in the new ballast system and here is what I see:

rear right locker @ 1200
left rear locker @ 1300
front @ 600
center @ 400
plus (x2) 155 bricks

I think the new setup will be nice with (x4) sets of tsunami pumps, one set to each rear locker, one set to the front and a set with longer hoses for filling and emptying the 400 and 155s. That will take some work this weekend and a new manifold for the 4th intake pump, otherwise I need to intercept the hose to the front and install a bypass to the longer hose for the "portable" sacs which would eliminate the need for the 4th fill pump since the front sac fills quickly compared to the rear sacs. Too much to think about, looks like a call to NC is in store for tomorrow am! Regardless, we should be able to surf regular or goofy with no problems and be able to dial in a wake for anything we need after this weekend....hopefully!