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3 ballast pumps for Mid MLS (center ballast tank)?


rrkrrk99

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Hi, first time out for the summer last Saturday with my 2007 VLX. It has the bow, center and rear shell ballast tanks. The center tank filled but now is not emptying. When you use the dash switch for the middle tank the red light now doesn't come on for either filling or emptying and I don't hear any humming. On the bank of breakers/fuses under the throttle, the one labeled Mid MLS is popped (the black teat is popped out). When I push it back in and turn the dash switch to drain, the red light on the switch momentarily comes on and then the breaker/fuse pops out again. I've read quite a bit about the ballast pumps on the forum and am guessing a pump may be clogged (the lake did have a good bit of debris in it). When I open the center compartment on the floor I see 3 pumps. The left pump has a yellow handle, the center pump does not have a yellow handle, and the right pump has a yellow handle. What are the handles for and which pump(s) do I need to open and check for debris? Also, if I'm able to get the pumps to spin or work spinning them by hand but the breaker/fuse still pops, how do you replace the fuse (says 5amp). Do you loosen the small serrated wheel that the teat protrudes from on the face of the breaker/fuse panel or do you need to get to it by removing the 8 screws on the breaker/fuse panel and dropping the panel to get behind it? Haven't had to mess with the ballast pumps up to this point. Found a lot of good info on the site, but still had these questions.

Thanks in advance for any help!

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The three pumps in your floor access are the:

  • Fill pump for bow tank.
  • Fill pump for center tank.
  • Drain pump for center tank.

The ones with the yellow handled ball valves are the two fill pumps; those are working so leave them alone.

Remove the cartridge from the other remaining pump (which is threaded directly into the center ballast tank at the bottom). You'll get water immediately out of that housing once you pull the cartridge, so make sure your drain plug is pulled already (if the boat isn't in the water).

Then you can check for debris, and test the pump with the cartridge removed to see if the circuit breaker still triggers. If removing and cleaning, or replacing the cartridge does not fix the problem you have an issue elsewhere in that electrical circuit that you need to locate. I highly doubt that will be the case however.

You're dealing with a circuit breaker (a resettable fuse), so there's nothing to replace if it keeps getting tripped, you just need to find the source of the amperage draw that is exceeding the rating of the breaker.

  • Like 2
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  • 2 years later...

Hi Guys

Resurrecting this thread. We just purchased a used 2006 Malibu 21 VLX and as I start to fix the non working items I have come to question wether the upgraded factory front bow ballast tank is ran by 2 pumps as the center ballast tank is. When I look in the center hatch I have the three pumps with one of them having a yellow shut off. It matches your above description perfectly. I assumed that the front ballast pump was bad and ordered a replacement off amazon. I did this because when I switch the front tank rocker switch to fill I get nothing from that pump in the center hatch however when I switch the rocker switch down the piranha pump spins that impeller as if it was emptying the front bow tank. I assumed it would be a faulty pump since it only was spinning one direction but after reading several threads I’m wondering if there is a second pump that fills the front ballast somewhere other than the hatch I’m looking in. It would appear that that one has gone bad because i don’t hear anything when I switch the front tank rocker to fill nor did the front ballast fill when we water tested it. 

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Thank you

Chris

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Yes there is another pump in front next to the tank. You have to remove the vertical carpet panel. There are screws on the top, remove the windscreen bumpers and I use a crow bar to wedge the panel up and then pull out.

also check the circuit trip buttons under the throttle.

the yellow handles are shut offs and prevent water from coming in if your working in the water.

Edited by wakechick3
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  • 8 months later...

Resurrecting again: When looking at the pumps, which pump is which between the two fill ones? ( I know the middle is empty the center tank. Im assuming Left (Port) is center ballast and right (starboard) is front/bow ballast??? Can anyone confirm?

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6 minutes ago, BCohen said:

Resurrecting again: When looking at the pumps, which pump is which between the two fill ones? ( I know the middle is empty the center tank. Im assuming Left (Port) is center ballast and right (starboard) is front/bow ballast??? Can anyone confirm?

That's a solid guess.  Could all depend where the boat was built and what day of the week it was.  Easiest way to know for sure is to turn the bow or center pump on and feel which one is humming. 

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