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Ballast & Ballast Timers?


TexasWakeRep

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Hi Folks,

I'm about to purchase an 08 VLX this summer...very stoked about trading in my 2003 Supra SSV for a Bu. I like all the features of the 2008, but have a few things that I'd like to mod. I'd like to add additional sacs to the rear lockers and also a custom sac under the port side seats for surfing. I'd like to integrate these with the stock system. Is there any one thread that is the most comprehensive you guys can point me to?

Also, I've noticed other boat manufacturers installing ballast timers in their systems so they automatically shut off when draining or filling. This seems like a great idea so you don't burn up your pumps. I think they are actually set based on a time period that a normal drain and empty cycle takes. Anybody put ballast timers on their Bu?

Thanks for the help!

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Hi Folks,

I'm about to purchase an 08 VLX this summer...very stoked about trading in my 2003 Supra SSV for a Bu. I like all the features of the 2008, but have a few things that I'd like to mod. I'd like to add additional sacs to the rear lockers and also a custom sac under the port side seats for surfing. I'd like to integrate these with the stock system. Is there any one thread that is the most comprehensive you guys can point me to?

Also, I've noticed other boat manufacturers installing ballast timers in their systems so they automatically shut off when draining or filling. This seems like a great idea so you don't burn up your pumps. I think they are actually set based on a time period that a normal drain and empty cycle takes. Anybody put ballast timers on their Bu?

Thanks for the help!

MOst of the MC guys hate the new timer setups. Makes it really difficult to increase the capacity of the syetem. Also, if you disconnect the battery, the timers have to be reprogrammed, which is a PITA. Check over on wakeworld.com, there is some threads about the new MC systems.

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Can't say that I've ever left my pump filling or draining for any "extended" period of time..

Keep your eye out for NvBoarder. He is always over filling his system to make sure he has ever last bit of space filled. I have also seen him filling during a set just to keep the boat weighted. Crazy.gif

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Can't say that I've ever left my pump filling or draining for any "extended" period of time..

Keep your eye out for NvBoarder. He is always over filling his system to make sure he has ever last bit of space filled. I have also seen him filling during a set just to keep the boat weighted. Crazy.gif

Overfilling won't ever be an issue, the draining to where there is no water left in the tank will be a problem. Eventually the pump will go.

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And the bigger reason why Malibu doesn't use an inferior system like that is because they use aerator style pumps, which have a hard plastic impeller instead of the rubber ones used in self-priming pumps. The benefit of these pumps is that they're cheap to replace ($30 vs. $250), fast, and you could leave one on all day and it wouldn't do any damage.

The disadvantage of them is that they are not self-priming, but in this application, with modern ballast system design, that's almost never a problem.

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Hi Folks,

I'm about to purchase an 08 VLX this summer...very stoked about trading in my 2003 Supra SSV for a Bu. I like all the features of the 2008, but have a few things that I'd like to mod. I'd like to add additional sacs to the rear lockers and also a custom sac under the port side seats for surfing. I'd like to integrate these with the stock system. Is there any one thread that is the most comprehensive you guys can point me to?

Also, I've noticed other boat manufacturers installing ballast timers in their systems so they automatically shut off when draining or filling. This seems like a great idea so you don't burn up your pumps. I think they are actually set based on a time period that a normal drain and empty cycle takes. Anybody put ballast timers on their Bu?

Thanks for the help!

You might want to ask your dealer about adding fat sacs in the rear locker... I asked mine and he discouraged it because he said it could collapse the plastic tank... let me know what ya find out im interested as well, I like to add more ballast eventually... when my skills could utilize it of course Crazy.gif

Link to comment
Hi Folks,

I'm about to purchase an 08 VLX this summer...very stoked about trading in my 2003 Supra SSV for a Bu. I like all the features of the 2008, but have a few things that I'd like to mod. I'd like to add additional sacs to the rear lockers and also a custom sac under the port side seats for surfing. I'd like to integrate these with the stock system. Is there any one thread that is the most comprehensive you guys can point me to?

Also, I've noticed other boat manufacturers installing ballast timers in their systems so they automatically shut off when draining or filling. This seems like a great idea so you don't burn up your pumps. I think they are actually set based on a time period that a normal drain and empty cycle takes. Anybody put ballast timers on their Bu?

Thanks for the help!

You might want to ask your dealer about adding fat sacs in the rear locker... I asked mine and he discouraged it because he said it could collapse the plastic tank... let me know what ya find out im interested as well, I like to add more ballast eventually... when my skills could utilize it of course Crazy.gif

Plus1.gif

It is pretty clearly labeled 75 lbs max in those compartments (at least on the VTX) Maybe that is mitgated if the tanks are full=support underneath, but you still have the potential for blowing out the panel next to the motor. Fortunately, I am not on the bleeding edge, so the stock set ups are all I need.

If you can fill an added tank with an existing pump by adding some plumbing, that would be the way to go.

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