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rakr

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Welp, I learned a lesson, that I hope can help others, or maybe I’m a dummy, or possibly over complicating it! I bought 4 of the Wakemakers reversible ballast kits, and kind of wish I didn’t. Why I’d do it different? 1. I have fly high bags and the fittings in the kit are for wake makers bags (this is noted on their site), 2. Kind of in conjunction with #1, I have extra hose, extra tubes of sealant, extra fittings, etc, I’ve probably spent $2-300 more than I would have piecing it together. And I know this is a bit perfectionist, but getting the labeled switch covers ,that you can order with the premade wiring, would have been nice. 
 

If I could go back and do it again, I’d plan on a couple of orders. 
 

Order 1 - get all 4 pumps, 2-3 through hulls, fittings/valves (I ended up only doing 3 and using one for the ski locker and bow bag as I didn’t like any spot to put a 4th), maybe 30’ or so of hose, and the side drain outlets. Also engine divider panels. 
 

After order 1 - I’d mount the 4 pumps, figure out where to put your through hulls, and side mount vents. At this point I’d also figure out if you are going to drain out the vent/side or down through the bottom. I’d use the hose purchased to figure out routing, bends, and whether you will need any threaded/barbed wyes, threaded/barbed 90s, and any other misc fittings. There are a couple of places where I want to put in 90s so that I’m not making too sharp of bends from the bow bag and also intakes near the engine. 
 

I’d measure for your battery harness, pump harness, fill/vent/drain tubing. 
 

Order 2 - buy the wiring, switches, tubing, through hulls, vents, quick connect fittings, screw clamps, adhesive, check valves,  and all other things that you might need.
 

After Order 2 - finish everything up and plan on a 3rd order… 

I could have planned this out a bit better, but I’m finding a good bit out as I go along. I took my eye off the ball a bit thinking “the kits should have everything I need” which isn’t the case for me. I’ll take some pics and add to this once I am done,  I’d be surprised if I didn’t have at least 2 more orders, as I’ve been buying a fitting or two at a time as I go along. 

 

Edit: Adding Misc items as I go:

Clamps for the tubing. These are a touch big for what I got from WM, but not much. I might put some adhesive backed EPDM (Left over from a house project) in a few of them where I need a bit more purchase. Ill use these in place of zip ties where I can. image.png.72f3983145a16b76d167050f6adb3f43.png

Edited by rakr
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I'll be placing my order this weekend. I've been drawing it out for a few weeks to know exactly what I need to order. I am working with Wakemakers on custom bags for my build as well. I look forward to seeing how you pull it together.

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18 minutes ago, St. Ellis said:

I'll be placing my order this weekend. I've been drawing it out for a few weeks to know exactly what I need to order. I am working with Wakemakers on custom bags for my build as well. I look forward to seeing how you pull it together.

I'm really trying to be cognizant of where I put everything and thinking about all of the things I can't change. I have waffled back and forth on a bunch of stuff on this one. Just curious, where are you going to put your switches? for now I bought a project box and will just mount it under the helm. Also, I edited the post above and put some info about straps for the tubing.

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Mine is a little easier than yours in that regard. Mine is a Wakesetter so I already have ballast plummed in. That said, I am building a surf system and will be adding switches for that which I'll be locating in place of the stereo remote at the driver's knee. I'll have a new piece of aluminum machined to accept the switches, then screw it into the same location. I've also seen them put on the side panel above the arm rest and that seemed to work well in some instances.

Helm.png

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  • 1 year later...
On 5/11/2022 at 7:31 PM, rakr said:

Welp, I learned a lesson, that I hope can help others, or maybe I’m a dummy, or possibly over complicating it! I bought 4 of the Wakemakers reversible ballast kits, and kind of wish I didn’t. Why I’d do it different? 1. I have fly high bags and the fittings in the kit are for wake makers bags (this is noted on their site), 2. Kind of in conjunction with #1, I have extra hose, extra tubes of sealant, extra fittings, etc, I’ve probably spent $2-300 more than I would have piecing it together. And I know this is a bit perfectionist, but getting the labeled switch covers ,that you can order with the premade wiring, would have been nice. 
 

If I could go back and do it again, I’d plan on a couple of orders. 
 

Order 1 - get all 4 pumps, 2-3 through hulls, fittings/valves (I ended up only doing 3 and using one for the ski locker and bow bag as I didn’t like any spot to put a 4th), maybe 30’ or so of hose, and the side drain outlets. Also engine divider panels. 
 

After order 1 - I’d mount the 4 pumps, figure out where to put your through hulls, and side mount vents. At this point I’d also figure out if you are going to drain out the vent/side or down through the bottom. I’d use the hose purchased to figure out routing, bends, and whether you will need any threaded/barbed wyes, threaded/barbed 90s, and any other misc fittings. There are a couple of places where I want to put in 90s so that I’m not making too sharp of bends from the bow bag and also intakes near the engine. 
 

I’d measure for your battery harness, pump harness, fill/vent/drain tubing. 
 

Order 2 - buy the wiring, switches, tubing, through hulls, vents, quick connect fittings, screw clamps, adhesive, check valves,  and all other things that you might need.
 

After Order 2 - finish everything up and plan on a 3rd order… 

I could have planned this out a bit better, but I’m finding a good bit out as I go along. I took my eye off the ball a bit thinking “the kits should have everything I need” which isn’t the case for me. I’ll take some pics and add to this once I am done,  I’d be surprised if I didn’t have at least 2 more orders, as I’ve been buying a fitting or two at a time as I go along. 

 

Edit: Adding Misc items as I go:

Clamps for the tubing. These are a touch big for what I got from WM, but not much. I might put some adhesive backed EPDM (Left over from a house project) in a few of them where I need a bit more purchase. Ill use these in place of zip ties where I can. image.png.72f3983145a16b76d167050f6adb3f43.png

Getting ready to start adding pumps to my Sunscape 23 LSV. Interested in some pics and what you learned to do and not do since you completed project. Not too concerned about your parts list as I already have WM bags so I’ll just order their kit. But looking for advice on intake holes/pump locations etc. TIA

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@Bushmankev  Sorry for the delay… it took us 2 days to leave the house and get all of the “boating things” ready. 3 through hulls in the bilge, the bow and belly share a intake and a wye feeds two pumps in the bow (I’m considering relocating the two rear pumps to the board in the bow underneath the observers seat. I’ll get some pics of the underside once I put the boat up for the night. Good luck!!! 
 

P.S. I mocked up the board for the pumps with plywood. I plan on ordering some HDPE in the winter. 

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77AB0372-7FEA-4F87-924F-0A8EC4B9442B.jpeg

718B00D8-265D-4C6E-8FC5-4D3F1307127B.jpeg

Edited by rakr
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On 6/29/2023 at 4:47 PM, rakr said:

@St. Ellis looking back on some old posts... I have no idea why we didn't get together and compare notes, were both in GR...

@rakr yay we blew that. I used a piece of aluminum for my pumps and hung it by the grab handle bolts on the transom. Might be the same place you hung yours. How is yours working out? I have a leak somewhere I can’t find. No obvious leaks, wondering if a fitting on the back of the bag is leaking. Where do you use your boat?

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@St. Ellis I mounted mine on the aluminum that is behind the rear seat. I don’t love it because the bag presses into the pump. 
 

we’re in EGR so early/late in the season we’ll go out on Reeds lake, June-august it stays on a lake up north. 
 

where do you usually go out? 

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@rakrI’m not far from you at all. I don’t get out to Reeds ever. I spend time between Hardy Dam, the Grand and Lake Leelanau. During the week often to Murray. I trailer mine everywhere. What lake are you on up north?

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Hi guys, I've been slowing planning and adding automated ballast to my 2001 Sunsetter VLX for surfing. I added a tower and wedge when purchased back in 2001. Anyway, what I'd like to share that may be of value to both of you is where I'm mounting my 3 reversible pumps from Wakemakers. My 2001 is a shallower V than your 2004 LSVs so fitting everything in has been a challenge. I made and mounted plates for the pumps that are attached to the rear seat & seat back cross members; one on each side of the V-drive. My 3rd pump will be mounted to a plate that I'll attach to the upper and lower cross members that the port locker panel is attached to. My photos show the port mounting plate looking from the front and the rear. The masking tape on the inside of the port locker panel gives an approximation of where the 3rd reversible plate/ pump will be mounted.

I will be installing my port, starboard, and bow/ ski locker pump switches within the original switch locations on the dashboard. I had 3 plus spare locations. BakesMarine.com has original Malibu MLS port, starboard, and center switch covers, and DPDT ( on-off-on ) switches. I'm waiting for my DPDT switches and reversing polarity harness from Wakemakers to verify they are identical in size to the original Malibu switches. The reverse polarity harness from Wakemakers really simplifies connecting to the back of the DPDT switches. I have a wiring diagram for the back of the DPDT switches just in case I don't use the reversing polarity harness from Wakemakers.

Thanks for what you guys have posted. This is a project for sure:)

port side mounting plate.jpg

port side pump mounted.jpg

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