Extra Drain Pumps

[pawter1970]

Hello Gents,

I will be adding 2 extra drain pumps to drain my extra piggyback sacs and was wondering where the 2 rear drain stock ballast pump wires are located in the engine compartment, so i can just splice the wires to make my connections for the newly added pumps (Port and STB). I can clearly see the fill pump wires but not the drain ones. I will be changing the 5amp fuses to 10amp on both lines at the dash. I have 2006 Wakesetter VLX. Any pics would be great. Thanks in advance.

Also I read here, on an older post, problems with the heater no blowing heat at idle speed. Mine doesn't blow heat at all. I read that a Y hose is needed for the water line to the heater core but was told by the dealer that the Y hose is already there on the 06 VLX models. He suggested that I get a mechanic to make the intake hole bigger on the Y hose. Can someone confirm that? Just hope this makes sense....

Edited March 20, 2012 by freddielam

[a92harley92]

Increasing fuse ratings without increasing wire size increases the chance of a fire.

[pawter1970]

Really?

I was told from Bakes it wouldn't be a problem to connect my 2 extra drain pump to the stock drain ballast pumps.

[a92harley92]

Some people think that they can add components to a circuit, increase the fuse rating and all is well. I was just putting the warning out there for you. I (personally) would do some research to make sure what you want to do will not cause a fire.

You may be fine... I don't know... because I don't know what size wire is being used in the circuit that you're adding to. Nor do I know what current draw your existing pumps pull, or your new pumps. So, I'm not saying that it won't work. I'm just saying that I would find out what the total current draw is going to be on the circuit, determine what size wire you're using, how long the total wire run is, and see if you're overloading the wire. The total wire run needs to be calculated to include the positive run and the negative run (i.e. if you have a 10 foot length of wire to your pumps (the positive wire is 10' and the negative is 10') then you have a total wire run of 20 feet. Also, don't put a smaller gauge wire in the circuit downstream that can't handle the current load of the fuse rating (you don't want wire in your engine compartment getting too hot).

If you really want to get technical there are other factors such as: if the positive and negative lines are bonded together or in free air, what the ambient temperature is, what type of insulation is on the wire, stranded vs. solid, the size of the strands, duration of use and "on time" duration, etc. But you shouldn't have to worry about these factors too much... just know that they exist.

So your options are... (1) Just add to the circuit (and increase the fuse) because your total current will not overheat the wire. (2) Upgrade the wire size to handle the total current load. (3) Use the same wire and fuse (you have now) to activate a solenoid that will supply power to the pumps.

When it comes to wiring I go 1 size larger if I'm any where close to the limits of the wire (I have a tendency to overdo things).

All of what I said may be overkill for your project... I don't know. I'm just saying do a little research. Maybe some others can chime in with more information that have specific knowledge with your particular application.

I'm not an expert by any means. With all this said... I'd bet that Bake's is steering you in the right direction because I'm sure they have done it many times over without any issues.

As far as your heater issues... others with better knowledge can probably help you out better.

But I'll try...

I'm not sure where your return line goes. My 2011 has the return go back into the recirculating pump (which I'm re-routing to before the raw water pump). I read somewhere that on older Bu's they put a "Y" pipe in after the raw water pump... and it's been recommended that they move the "Y" to BEFORE the raw water pump (on the intake side). However, this is to fix the "no heat at idle" issue. So... look to see where your heater return line is. If it goes into a "Y", you might check the hole in the "Y" to see if it is blocked. This hole isn't very big to begin with so it can easily get blocked by some debris.

Hope this helps.

[pawter1970]

Thank you 92harley for all the info. Its always better to be safe then sorry. I will research this further and ensure to get it done right. Thanks again for your reply, well appreciated.