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Ballast Options/Questions


tonysdad

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I'm looking to get some opinions/facts regarding how much ballast I can put in my boat. I have a 2001 Wakesetter VLX w/ the SV23 Wake Hull. It came w/ the 440# MLS bag up front and nothing else. The previous owner plumbed in 2 Launchpad 350's in the V-Drive lockers. I have another sack that goes under the seat opposite the driver (about 200#'s) to compensate for his weight when we don't have a third plus 200#'s of lead in POP bags. We also throw another bag filled to about 250 in the walk-through. This brings me to a total of 1700-1800#'s.

Here's what I want to do:

I purchased a Fly High Integrated bow sack for under the seats up front (700#'s) and I want to purchase the 750's for the back. Including the MLS bag up front, this would give a total of 2600#'s w/out having to lug around the lead, fill an extra sack up front and basically loose a bunch of room in the boat.

I basically have two questions about this: 1) Is this too much weight for the boat (load capacity on the plaque is 1500#'s) in general & for the floors in the v-drive lockers specifically and 2) How will the 750#'s fit in the lockers. I don't think they will be able to fill all the way which will lower the total weight (obviously).

I also think re-propping (sp?) might be necessary as well...I have the stock OJ 14x18 LH...

Thanks for any feedback you guys can provide...I know there's a lot of knowledgable people on this board to hopefully point me in the right direction...

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I'm looking to get some opinions/facts regarding how much ballast I can put in my boat. I have a 2001 Wakesetter VLX w/ the SV23 Wake Hull. It came w/ the 440# MLS bag up front and nothing else. The previous owner plumbed in 2 Launchpad 350's in the V-Drive lockers. I have another sack that goes under the seat opposite the driver (about 200#'s) to compensate for his weight when we don't have a third plus 200#'s of lead in POP bags. We also throw another bag filled to about 250 in the walk-through. This brings me to a total of 1700-1800#'s.

Here's what I want to do:

I purchased a Fly High Integrated bow sack for under the seats up front (700#'s) and I want to purchase the 750's for the back. Including the MLS bag up front, this would give a total of 2600#'s w/out having to lug around the lead, fill an extra sack up front and basically loose a bunch of room in the boat.

I basically have two questions about this: 1) Is this too much weight for the boat (load capacity on the plaque is 1500#'s) in general & for the floors in the v-drive lockers specifically and 2) How will the 750#'s fit in the lockers. I don't think they will be able to fill all the way which will lower the total weight (obviously).

I also think re-propping (sp?) might be necessary as well...I have the stock OJ 14x18 LH...

Thanks for any feedback you guys can provide...I know there's a lot of knowledgable people on this board to hopefully point me in the right direction...

well i would not say that it is to much weight. but it is getting up their toward having to much. you would need to reprop IMO. Biggrin.gif

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What are your goals with the boat? Are you only wakeboarding or are you surfing as well? My impression by the way that you worded that is that you just got the boat this season, but I could be mistaken.

I got the boat last spring and am now working to upgrade/correct a bunch of little things that need to be taken care of. We've put 150 hours on it and the ballast in the back has become a real PITA. The valves on the Launch Pads are all worn which makes it a real challenge considering I have to siphon the lines to get the fill pumps primed (a whole different issue that is driving me crazy Tease.gif ). And I just discovered a hole in one of the valves (just below the threads). So the bags need to be replaced and the 750's look like a great option (if they'll fit). I basically want the option of filling them all the way if there's only 2 or 3 of us or not as much when I have a full crew. We wakeboard the majority of the time and would probably surf more if the surf wake was a little better...

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I see. Well check out this thread. The OP has an LSV, but there's a guy participating (D-GOOSE) that has an '04 VLX that did the swap out for the 750s (I think). He would be a good one for info on that. As far as priming goes....I've been having my own issues with that. I'm about ready to rip my system apart & just put in Simer impeller pumps. Not the fastest, but reliable & self priming. :)

BTW, welcome to the site.

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What is the deal with priming or lack thereof? I suppose your talking about the drain pumps? I would ASSume that the weight of the water in the bag applying pressure to the pump would be enough to get it to prime. Obviously, I am mistaken.

Dontknow.gif

I see. Well check out this thread. The OP has an LSV, but there's a guy participating (D-GOOSE) that has an '04 VLX that did the swap out for the 750s (I think). He would be a good one for info on that. As far as priming goes....I've been having my own issues with that. I'm about ready to rip my system apart & just put in Simer impeller pumps. Not the fastest, but reliable & self priming. :)

BTW, welcome to the site.

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What is the deal with priming or lack thereof? I suppose your talking about the drain pumps? I would ASSume that the weight of the water in the bag applying pressure to the pump would be enough to get it to prime. Obviously, I am mistaken.

Dontknow.gif

I see. Well check out this thread. The OP has an LSV, but there's a guy participating (D-GOOSE) that has an '04 VLX that did the swap out for the 750s (I think). He would be a good one for info on that. As far as priming goes....I've been having my own issues with that. I'm about ready to rip my system apart & just put in Simer impeller pumps. Not the fastest, but reliable & self priming. :)

BTW, welcome to the site.

The drain pumps prime and pump on their own no problem...I run those off the front, bottom valve up unter the gunnels with a loop to the through-hole. The overflows have a 1-way check valve and they work fine. The only issue is the fill pumps won't get started by themselves...they are Rule 2000's mounted DIRECTLY into a through-hole in the bilge, 1" tube back to the transom, through a check-valve (to prevent the sacks from draining on their own), up and over into each locker. Each side has it's own dedicated pump and fill-line.

Once I prime them (by siphoning) they work fine all day. I can drain and fill them repeatedly without losing prime...once I drain them for the last time and pull out of the water I'm back to square one the next time out. So I'm ASSumng that it's a problem with air getting in the lines and/or bags.

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What is the deal with priming or lack thereof? I suppose your talking about the drain pumps? I would ASSume that the weight of the water in the bag applying pressure to the pump would be enough to get it to prime. Obviously, I am mistaken.

Dontknow.gif

I see. Well check out this thread. The OP has an LSV, but there's a guy participating (D-GOOSE) that has an '04 VLX that did the swap out for the 750s (I think). He would be a good one for info on that. As far as priming goes....I've been having my own issues with that. I'm about ready to rip my system apart & just put in Simer impeller pumps. Not the fastest, but reliable & self priming. :)

BTW, welcome to the site.

The drain pumps prime and pump on their own no problem...I run those off the front, bottom valve up unter the gunnels with a loop to the through-hole. The overflows have a 1-way check valve and they work fine. The only issue is the fill pumps won't get started by themselves...they are Rule 2000's mounted DIRECTLY into a through-hole in the bilge, 1" tube back to the transom, through a check-valve (to prevent the sacks from draining on their own), up and over into each locker. Each side has it's own dedicated pump and fill-line.

Once I prime them (by siphoning) they work fine all day. I can drain and fill them repeatedly without losing prime...once I drain them for the last time and pull out of the water I'm back to square one the next time out. So I'm ASSumng that it's a problem with air getting in the lines and/or bags.

Wakwgirl, thanks for the welcome. I've seen quite a few of your threads and belive me, alot of it has been very helpful to me. Thumbup.gif

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@ Scott,

My priming situation is a bit unique, I'm having difficulty with my fill pumps. You're right, the drain pumps work fine, although it bugs me that I have to get in & adjust them to keep them primed once they get low. That doesn't happen with the Simers, they suck the bags into raisins. :lol: The tradeoff is speed, they're not as fast as the aerators. I'll get it figured out.

Tony,

Your problem sounds similar to mine, airlock. Siphoning does seem to help our situation as well, but I can't get it to consistently work. I suspect that your check valve is causing the same problem that our ball valves cause, a hiccup in the line that creates the airlock. It's incredibly frustrating. We have Rule 3800s & when they work, it's very fast. But getting it to work consistently hasn't been achieved yet.

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@ Scott,

My priming situation is a bit unique, I'm having difficulty with my fill pumps. You're right, the drain pumps work fine, although it bugs me that I have to get in & adjust them to keep them primed once they get low. That doesn't happen with the Simers, they suck the bags into raisins. :lol: The tradeoff is speed, they're not as fast as the aerators. I'll get it figured out.

Tony,

Your problem sounds similar to mine, airlock. Siphoning does seem to help our situation as well, but I can't get it to consistently work. I suspect that your check valve is causing the same problem that our ball valves cause, a hiccup in the line that creates the airlock. It's incredibly frustrating. We have Rule 3800s & when they work, it's very fast. But getting it to work consistently hasn't been achieved yet.

have you considered putting in a smaller pump to prime the line and then close a valve to take that smaller pump off the system.

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@ Scott,

My priming situation is a bit unique, I'm having difficulty with my fill pumps. You're right, the drain pumps work fine, although it bugs me that I have to get in & adjust them to keep them primed once they get low. That doesn't happen with the Simers, they suck the bags into raisins. :lol: The tradeoff is speed, they're not as fast as the aerators. I'll get it figured out.

Tony,

Your problem sounds similar to mine, airlock. Siphoning does seem to help our situation as well, but I can't get it to consistently work. I suspect that your check valve is causing the same problem that our ball valves cause, a hiccup in the line that creates the airlock. It's incredibly frustrating. We have Rule 3800s & when they work, it's very fast. But getting it to work consistently hasn't been achieved yet.

have you considered putting in a smaller pump to prime the line and then close a valve to take that smaller pump off the system.

Yes, that is one thing (among many) that I'm considering.

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:blush: Thanks Tracie.

TonysDad I have run both 750's full, front MLS (250ish) 300 front lead, wedge down, 6 people, OJ 475 prop and gear inside with out a problem.

Yes I did install the 750's in the rear lockers and have no problem with priming but then I do not have the check valves in at this time. What I'm thinking is that you have the spring type check valve and it is keeping a great seal and not allowing the pump to self prime. I do have the rule 1100gph pumps. The one problem I do have with my set up is when filling the bags over 75% it will push the eng side covers in. I need to install a brace on the back side of the covers. Also you will need the front bow sac (watch out for chilli dipping) or a bag in the walk way.

If your needing more hole shot I would think about changing your prop over to the ACME 1235 or OJ 475 from the group buy.

Tracie as a side not to the priming problem what do you think about this. Just before loading the boat on the trailer, shut the sac fill pump ball valves to hold the water up in the line. Dontknow.gif

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I have had a priming problem but only on rare occasions and only with my ski locker pump/sac.

I attributed it mostly to driving with the ball valve closed and trying to pump before opening the valve.

The fix was - open the valve and back up and go forward then turn the pump on. Although one time we had an air pocket that wouldn't excape so I had to get in the water and reach under the boat with a cupped hand and push water in.

Now the other thing I suspected was - we were using a Mayfair 1100 gph at that time. Since we switched to Rule 1100 gph I don't recall the problem anymore.

And I've never had it with the rear pumps

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Tracie as a side not to the priming problem what do you think about this. Just before loading the boat on the trailer, shut the sac fill pump ball valves to hold the water up in the line. Dontknow.gif

I'm sure that I've tried that. I think that the problem is that the valve is between the bag & the pump, not the pump & the hull. Consequently I think that it creates a bubble in the line & it can be a real PITA to get primed when that happens. Since Tony has check valves, I think that it's the same basic effect airlock.

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:blush: Thanks Tracie.

TonysDad I have run both 750's full, front MLS (250ish) 300 front lead, wedge down, 6 people, OJ 475 prop and gear inside with out a problem.

Yes I did install the 750's in the rear lockers and have no problem with priming but then I do not have the check valves in at this time. What I'm thinking is that you have the spring type check valve and it is keeping a great seal and not allowing the pump to self prime. I do have the rule 1100gph pumps. The one problem I do have with my set up is when filling the bags over 75% it will push the eng side covers in. I need to install a brace on the back side of the covers. Also you will need the front bow sac (watch out for chilli dipping) or a bag in the walk way.

If your needing more hole shot I would think about changing your prop over to the ACME 1235 or OJ 475 from the group buy.

Tracie as a side not to the priming problem what do you think about this. Just before loading the boat on the trailer, shut the sac fill pump ball valves to hold the water up in the line. Dontknow.gif

Hey Greg, thanks for the reply and great pics on the install of your ballast. The one thing I haven't changed-out is the check valves on the fill lines. Everything else is plumbed out the exact same way as the stock MLS bag in the ski locker which works perfect every time. Can you or someone else recommend a good check valve that will fit on 1" tubing? The valves that are on there now are these great big valves that are used for PVC like in a sprinkler system...

My other option would be to put a strainer/scooper on the through-hole to get the pumps primed. Would I need to change the check valves to ball valves to prevent water from filling while the boat is underway?

Thanks for all the advice...BTW Tracie my name is Joe. Tony is my son.

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