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2004 Malibu LSV 23' rear ballast drain without the switch or pump on.


Surfbinder

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Hello! On my 2004 Malibu 23' LSV Wakesetter, the rear ballast, both LH & RH (820lb each) will drain while we are surfing. I fill them, start surfing and after the 1st session surfing, the wave is noticeably smaller and the surfer keeps losing their wave. I look at the rear locker bags and they are about empty. Each ballast has its own fill & drain pump, all work when filling and draining. Not sure why I am losing the water.

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After filling can you shut the ball valves on the fill pumps near the Vdrive?  Just trying to diagnose to see if it is sucking water back through the fill pumps. 

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I can try that. I did just replace the fill pumps, but only the cartridges, not the housing. I wondered if my housing were worn and it goes back out through the fill pumps. Shutting the ball valve will tell me that. 

t800.JPG

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Could have a cracked housing or hoses.
Did you run your vent lines to the opposite sides in the boat?

Are the fill lines going into the tops of the bags?  If so it would be hard for them to siphon the water back out.

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I wonder if I did have a worn or cracked housing, would shutting the ball valve stop it from draining? I am not sure about the vent lines. They were in the boat, I will take a look. My fill lines are in the tops of the bags, that makes sense, it would be hard to siphon back out due that. I will fill bags, shut the valve and see what happens to start. 

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I filled the 2 rear ballast, until the overflow started. The overflow trickled out for a short time. I left the tanks for about 2 hours, not driving the boat. Tanks are still full. DID NOT turn the ball stop valve. So it must not be leaking there. BUT tomorrow, I will drive the boat around at surf speed and see what happens then. 

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its a mystery still for me. I left the rear bags filled over night. Still full this morning. I then went up and down the lake 3 times, 6 passes, bags are still full, did not leak out this time. Again, intermittent.  I am not sure what else to try.

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I'm not home to take a pic of my setup but take a wine cork and put them in the side of the boat wear you drain it and see if they stay full after riding. On my boat water would drain pass my drain pump so I add a open and close valve to the line.   But and easy way to check is cap off the end with a cork to test before adding the valve. You can buy a plastic valve and ends at Lows to make a valve if that is wear it is draining 

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Thanks Bradley, I took a look at my drain pump and there is actually a open/close valve in line as you are describing. I closed both yesterday while surfing and one bags still drained. I will try to plug the outlet and see if that stops it.   

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The vented loops between the fill pump and the tank may not be high enough compared to the water level in the ballast bags preventing them from working correctly.  Also, if the duckbill valves in the loops are clogged and not letting air back into the loop they may not be able to create a vacuum break which would normally prevent the water from draining back out through the fill pumps.  This siphoning effect can be constant or intermittent and would happen after the fill pumps are turned off.

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19 hours ago, csleaver said:

The vented loops between the fill pump and the tank may not be high enough compared to the water level in the ballast bags preventing them from working correctly.  Also, if the duckbill valves in the loops are clogged and not letting air back into the loop they may not be able to create a vacuum break which would normally prevent the water from draining back out through the fill pumps.  This siphoning effect can be constant or intermittent and would happen after the fill pumps are turned off.

Thanks, so do I just follow the fill pump hose find the vented loops? This boat had hard tanks in the lockers, 250lbs each from the factory. It had been upgraded to 860 lbs when I got the boat. I have confirmed, one rear bag was leaking out of the drain on the side of the boat, I shut the valve that is in-line and the bag did not empty. Sorry, I am not clear on why it would drain out this way. 

 

The other side, I have determined its siphoning back out of the fill pump. I shut the valve where the fill pump is after the bag was full and it did not drain out.  Looking at how the duckbill valve works, photo enclosed, would I just take it apart and see if it is plugged? And or try to raise the vented loops even higher? Thanks for everyone's help.

duckbill valve.JPG

Edited by Surfbinder
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Take the cap off the vented loop and make sure the rubber duckbill valves are clean and not damaged.  Raise the valves up as high as you can get them.  If they are not always at least a few inches higher than the ballast water level they may allow the ballast water to siphon out through the fill pump.

Shutting off the ball valve at the fill pump will also stop a faulty vented loop from siphoning.

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5 minutes ago, csleaver said:

Take the cap off the vented loop and make sure the rubber duckbill valves are clean and not damaged.  Raise the valves up as high as you can get them.  If they are not always at least a few inches higher than the ballast water level they may allow the ballast water to siphon out through the fill pump.

Shutting off the ball valve at the fill pump will also stop a faulty vented loop from siphoning.

Do you by chance have a picture of the vented loop? Not sure what to look for. 

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