started my ballast project

[scott_fx]

Started my ballast install today; what i truly thought i could do in one day has quickly proved me wrong!

after a slow start and some relatively easy fixes I have the bags set up, two fill pumps installed and some of the wiring started.

the system consists of:

fly high v-drive sacs. (400 lbs each)

fly high ski locker sac from a supra (~300 lbs limited by the ski locker size)

tsunami 1200 gph fill pumps

tsunami 800 gph drain - directly connected the bags

quick release vent and fill fittings

I don't have many pics yet but here are are few:

here is the tsunami 1200 gph pump modified with a 3/4" inlet:

first pump installed:

second pump installed (still have to route the wires):

relay board :

I'll update this more as I go along.

Edited April 27, 2009 by scott_fx

[skicrave]

Cool, looking forward to your updates Scott.

[scott_fx]

here is a small update. i have everything mocked up with temp wiring. initial tests proved unsuccessful with my blackberry but my buddy's iphone connected w/o any problems. Which if fine since i'm going to be using an ipod touch to control it anyways.

i have a buddy that is currently creating a web app for a clean user interface. 6 buttons (large touchscreen friendlly) one for each pump. initial testing on the iphone allowed me to toggle each realy from the supplied website when connected directly to the relay board via the wifi router (no internet service provider needed)

here is the mock up... my boat is now wifi!

each pump is fused with a 5 amp fuse for safety.

i am taking the boat out tomorrow for testing, if everything works well then i'll spend an afternoon cleaning up the wiring and making a cover for the unit

so why did i do this? well... because i'm a geek, i thought it would be different and i don't have the need to clutter up my dash with more toggle switches.

you may ask, what if you forget your ipod? well, my next installment will be a bank of toggle switches that i can connect via a molex connector. This will give me a 'safety' back up in case anything happens.

Edited May 16, 2009 by scott_fx

[CrazyTegger]

From one Geek to another, 3 words.... That is Awesome!!!

[scott_fx]

From one Geek to another, 3 words.... That is Awesome!!!

thanks, i was worried that i'd get a lot of negative feedback 'waste of money', 'too compliated' but it is a lot of fun doing this stuff.

i was just on the boat (with my laptop... the ipod touch is en route since i was working today my buddy went to the apple store to get it for me) and it was so cool to be sitting on the back bench and turning on the pumps wirelessly... everything worked great. i did come up with some small issues i have to figure out. one is power consumption. i'll have to figure out a way to economize the amount of power the unit draws. a simple toggle switch could be the answer (though; i may use a q-prox capacitance sensing ic to make a hidden toggle switch to turn everything on when i wave my hand in front of it ) second is the size it takes up. it's really hidden but i am a bit anal and may try to consolidate everything in one water tight package. other then that it was freakin cool!

since i have a lot of experience with modifying car dashes and integrating screens to make it all look oem, the bug is biting me to revamp the instrument cluster on the boat. i noticed i have two speedometers. i could get rid of one of them, move some gauges around and make room for an ipod doc. I could then use the ipod's gps/speed apps to display speed and other fun stuff. It may be a poor man's 'malivue'.

now i just have to research how to stream music from the ipod to the stereo without having any physical connection... oh an probably a waterproof ipod case would be a good investment too

Edited May 17, 2009 by scott_fx

[zzbutler]

Sweet. Running open-wrt or dd-wrt on that Linksys?

[scott_fx]

Sweet. Running open-wrt or dd-wrt on that Linksys?

dd-wrt; though, i can't take credit for setting that up. electronics is my thing... networking definitely isn't! I told the I/T guy at work about my project and he hooked me up with setting up the router for me. i think it took him less then a half hour to do it.

Edited May 17, 2009 by scott_fx

[the_dude]

Cool install. As a 97 VLX owner I'm interested in seeing more about your pump locations and set ups

[Chia]

That is pretty cool, keep us updated on your dashboard mod. you might end up with a sideline enterprise if you were interested in that.

btw, your photo hosting site "onfinite.com" sets a cookie to everyone clicking on this thread. I have been denying the cookie and the pictures still work though.

[CrazyTegger]

as much as I love dd-wrt, it keeps resetting my connection on both wireless and LAN. Torrents are almost impossible now.

[scott_fx]

as much as I love dd-wrt, it keeps resetting my connection on both wireless and LAN. Torrents are almost impossible now.

It worked flawlessly this weekend UNTIL I took a wave over the bow and ruined the ipod I juct bought! The touch was right next to my 5 gen and that is working flawlessly. I wnet to the apple store and all they'd do was give me 10% off. So lame, I'm gonna write them and see if they can repair it.

Ijust ordered the malibu contura switches. Looks like I'm gonna rip out the project hopefully I can use it in another project.

[Murphy8166]

as much as I love dd-wrt, it keeps resetting my connection on both wireless and LAN. Torrents are almost impossible now.

It worked flawlessly this weekend UNTIL I took a wave over the bow and ruined the ipod I juct bought! The touch was right next to my 5 gen and that is working flawlessly. I wnet to the apple store and all they'd do was give me 10% off. So lame, I'm gonna write them and see if they can repair it.

Ijust ordered the malibu contura switches. Looks like I'm gonna rip out the project hopefully I can use it in another project.

Did I miss something? You took your IPOD that you got wet back to Apple and are calling them lame b/c they would not replace it or give you more of a discount. Are you serious???

[scott_fx]

as much as I love dd-wrt, it keeps resetting my connection on both wireless and LAN. Torrents are almost impossible now.

It worked flawlessly this weekend UNTIL I took a wave over the bow and ruined the ipod I juct bought! The touch was right next to my 5 gen and that is working flawlessly. I wnet to the apple store and all they'd do was give me 10% off. So lame, I'm gonna write them and see if they can repair it.

Ijust ordered the malibu contura switches. Looks like I'm gonna rip out the project hopefully I can use it in another project.

Did I miss something? You took your IPOD that you got wet back to Apple and are calling them lame b/c they would not replace it or give you more of a discount. Are you serious???

Nope. I'm calling the 10% off as my only option lame. I totally owned up to it being my fault but when I asked what options I had he just said that he can give me 10% off. I'm pretty sure that they do have a repair service that might be able to replace the damage board.

Calm down you are on the internet high horse and reading into more then what I had wrote.

On a related note. This is the first time I got pulled behind a vdrive wake specific boat and WOW. Amazing. Compared to the othe boats the wake was like a launch pad!

Edited May 20, 2009 by scott_fx

[DUKENO1]

You da man MacGyver!!!