ballast fill & drain lines clogged

[wakechick3]

We went out this morning and our lake still had a lot of small debris floating from a flood, not to mention the nasty duckweed was the worst I have ever seen.

The tanks filled okay, but we decided to go to another lake and went to drain and the port rear was just pumping slowly. At the second lake, that same tank was filling ultra slow and then again did not drain much at all. Let me mention I have a fat sac plumbed into that tanks lines and had to bypass it to get the water out.

I think i have some debris in the fill and drain lines.

What is the best way to clean them out?

Thanks,

Kimberly

[Pistol Pete]

Household plumbing snake?

[wakechick3]

yeah, I have one of those.

I shot some air thru the empty side of the fat sac hose and felt it fully thru the vent, so that's one line that is okay.

Got under and looked up the fill port and can cleanly see blue (which i assume is the bottom of the pump).

Can I fill and empty the tanks without being on the lake? I saw that there are threads in the brass fitting and was wondering if I can screw a hose onto that end or something similar?

I did fiddle with the fill pump and it is working, but at a higher pitch (sound) than the other fill pumps. That empty pump has little gurgles in it, but i wouldnt think it would be the problem.???

maybe it was all just a circumstance of our series of bad little events of the day...

Edited September 18, 2010 by wakechick3

[Pistol Pete]

You can fill the tanks with a fake-a-lake, if you have one.

[dalt1]

You can also get water in the tanks by putting it through the vent or drain port on the side of the boat.