NEw Ronix ballast bags
 

look pretty sick. Faster and easier sounds like a good thing to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5ZDm...1&feature=plcp

In my exp Ronix makes some great, but very fragile things. Not sure I'd trust anything they make with hundreds of pounds of water in my boat.

the dump mechanism is legit!

We are always sitting on and walking over our bags. Zippers aren't water tight, and by the looks of it there shouldn't be water in the zipper area as there would be no way possible to open it and drop a pump in.

The system works. The zipper is the same thing that you would find on a newer high end dry suit. It is water tight. As for the Ronix Eight.3 system it is not for everyone but it is the first product in the line with more to come.

How nice would it be for the guys that fill sacs on top of their seats for surfing? You would have to have 2 sacs but when you want to switch sides you just drop the pump in the bag and hook the hose to the bag on the other side of the boat. From what I have been told it will fill a 400# sac in about a minute and a half. So you could go from having the 400#'s on the regular side to the surf side in 90 seconds. That sounds pretty good for someone who doesn't want to plumb those sacs whether they are going to be on the seats, in the bow or in the vdrive lockers.

Glad I waited. I will be purchasing one of these @ the spring boat show.

Just my luck . . . this comes out after I installed a 4 jabsco pump system in my boat! Oh well, I love my setup. And for all that don't already know, wakemakers rocks.

3700 gph bilge pump.... pretty fast. wonder what diameter hosing they use.

Come on guys - get with times...throwing pumps over board is old news.

Poke a couple holes in your boat and pump in some permanet pumps!!!!!

I'm not sure why someone has yet to make a boat specific shaped hard floor tank that you can just permanently drop in and walk on.

They are using 1-1/2" hose and bag ports.

I have to agree but not everyone wants to do it that way. We have a lot of customers that share a boat or only keep a boat for a couple seasons and don't want to make the investment in a fully automated ballast system.

Cost mostly. The other problem is the room that a hard tank takes up when it is empty. That and it would either need to be thick plastic or full of water to hold the weight of the people walking on it.

So this 3700 gph per hour pump weighs 5.6 lbs without hose and fittings.

You can't just throw this thing over the side of the boat without secring it...wont it sink.

Also 15amps via a cigarette lighter would concern me

The pump is quite heavy and that was a huge worry for me as well. It is going to be a drop over the side procedure. Ronix is aware that this beast will sink and is on it.

The Eight.3 product engineer has also researched the 12v ports in Ski/Wakeboards boats from the early 90's to 2013. Sounds like they are aware of a couple models that might have an issue but for the most part it should be a non-issue.

with the pump thrown in the bag, i could see getting all of the water out being a problem.

I thought that as well but seeing how it will have that big hole/tube once you get it down to just a little water you can pick the bag up and empty over the side easily.

It's a neat concept. I don't think the fill time is really a fair comparison. Hook that monster pump to a Fly High bag on a single port and though it will likely fill slower it won't be much slower. Put a "Y" fitting at the end and you are looking at identical fill times.

I think the zipper is a neat idea but I will put money on it that there will be complaints of it leaking 1-2 years after being introduced, if not sooner.

The "Y" idea is a good one.

I personally don't like the zipper idea. It will probably work fine. Just don't like the idea of it as it seems to be just asking for trouble. it's a necessary evil on a drysuit and most leak over time. Why add a potential problem when there is no need?

does anyone have the new eight.3???

have they ever hit the market? cant find any reviews...

They have not been released yet. The Eight.3 PnP bags will be here any day but the telescoping bags and pumps will not be here until next month. I am guessing they will have 2014 skus.

I have seen pretty old drysuits that don't leak, so I disagree with that point. That being said the regular flyhigh pump is pretty damn quick so while I applaud the continued evolution not really a huge deal.

They were having some production issues with the pumps according to my local rep. They might release them late this season but I wouldn't hold your breath.. A submersible pup has several requirements including head acting on the pump. I could see the motor dynamiting itself... Plus at that flow..I am concerned the power requirements might be pretty hefty! I have been toying with the idea of a Step up DC transformer to run in boat ballast pumps that can put out 4500 GPM. you may have the same 120-150 Watt pump but only run at 2 amps and 90 VDC . Just trying to find a compact design is the tough part...We shall see..