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Reversibles & Hard Tanks???


MJR63

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Starting my bow ballast install and looking to add the stock Malibu hard tank under the front bow seats.  I ordered a Johnson reversible pump for this as I'm thinking I may do an additional triangle bag on top of the bow seats if needed and wanted the flexibility.  I just heard that reversables don't work well with hard tanks....  Anyone have experience with this???

Thx

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I don't know why they wouldn't work just fine in fact probably better as they don't have to actually work against the resistance of a collapsed bag. I know if I had to plumb in factory tank all I would need would be a 90 degree elbow and bam! The biggest issue you would probably have is you don't want to run 3/4" line with a reversible if you don't have to and the factory lines and fittings are 3/4". A 3/4" line Johnson set up will be faster than the aerator style pump, but not optimal. You could probably find or even fabricate a 1" inlet but it would almost have to be plastic welded into the tank unless you cut an access hole in the top of the tank to get into to it secure the new inlet on the inside of the tank. In a set up like that I would run a Y valve to switch between the front hard tank and the bag. I use the same set up but for my rear 1100 and front 750. I cut a section of Schedule 40 PVC and dropped it in the factory molded hole in the front tank to support the 750 on the front seat. You could run 3/4 to the tank and 1" to the bag if needed. JM2C Bill.

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The only issue I can see with a reversible is if the pump is mounted higher than the bottom of the tank you can have a loss of prime issue when the tank gets low. With a bag it collapses while its draining and water wont slosh around as much. I know Centurion boats use a reversible pump for their in floor and bow ballast tanks and they don't seem to have issues.

 

 

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On 9/17/2016 at 9:09 AM, MJR63 said:

Starting my bow ballast install and looking to add the stock Malibu hard tank under the front bow seats.  I ordered a Johnson reversible pump for this as I'm thinking I may do an additional triangle bag on top of the bow seats if needed and wanted the flexibility.  I just heard that reversables don't work well with hard tanks....  Anyone have experience with this???

Thx

Nautique uses them with there hard tanks, you should have no issues.  They can also pull a draft up to 10', so anywhere you mount them should be fine.  You need to monitor them while draining, if you run them dry you will toast the impeller and/or the shaft seal.  That is the one downfall to them.  From past experience I also run 30 amp fuses for them, they can surge past 20 when first turned on and will settle at 9 amps when running.

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Thx guys for responding!  WakeMakers confirmed using reversibles & hard tanks would not be an issue as long as I did not put a check valve in the vent.  I guess the suction with the reversible would be too great on the tank when draining.

Edited by MJR63
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Even with an aerator pump, you dont want a check valve in the vent line of a hard tank. IMO, both tanks and sacs, need to vent freely while filling and tanks need to vent freely during draining or they will tin-can. And just to clarify, impeller pumps are self priming, so you could mount it well above the tank, and it would still prime and drain as long as the fitting on the bottom. 

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