Air Nautique Ballast Issues(help)
 

WE experienced ballast issues all season. I have a pro air nautique and the ballast guages never worked properly. We would fill the hard tanks untill the overflow was spitting water and assume they were full. After each session we'd drain them for about 15 but never knew because the gauges were jacked. We yanked it out and then turned decided to drain it again and one of the tanks was still full and draining extremely slow (30-40) mins and the other had no water in it. Possible issues? shoudl i just have the Nautique dealer check it out? I may just scrap the hard tanks and use more sacs.

You say "pro Air" so I assume it’s a 1999-2000ish model with the old aerator pumps. I don’t have that exact boat, but my 2003 shouldn’t be too far off.

Your first problem is that the gauges are not reading and IMO you don’t need them with this type of ballast system anyway. The problem is probably a sending unit issue. Remove the sending rod from the top of the tank, slide the float to make sure its not registering and replace. I only had one go out so I was able to swap a sending unit from another tank to make sure it wasn’t the gauge or wiring that was broke.

It sounds like your second issue is that one tank is not draining properly. There should be a pump to fill and a pump to drain for each tank. Check the drain hose and pump for the tank that is not draining. Make sure there is no clogging debris or kinks in the hose. Check the pump and if it’s not running, test the power or replace it.

Sending units and aerator pumps are not that expensive. Replacing them with bags is your call (you will get more weight with bags), but you will still need to buy at least one aerator pump and still will not have working gauges. You will also need more weight up front if you slam the back with large bags.

Check out planetnautique for more detailed information.

Yeah ive played around with alot of weight variations and alot of weight in the back on that model is no bueno with without alot of weight up front and it rides pretty low anyways up there> thats for the input. I appreciate the help.

The tank that is not draining could have a possibly bad vent. The two control knobs have to be turned a certain direct to enable the venting for both to fill and empty. I leave my open to vent all the time as the valve in the hull controls these and I like both them full and not worried about having more so in one than the other. I have noticed mine sometimes in slow to drain and I plan on abandoning the tank ventilation system and have it vented 24/7. And more so I am going to try having the drain pump empty thru the side of the boat so it is visible. Also I always open the valve in the hull back up when the boat comes off the lake…that way it can drain completely as I also don’t have working gauges.

Yeah bad vents, had this problem on my air nautique.

Good luck,

I have a 2000 Air. Like Trey I want both thanks full and don’t care about controlling them. I abandoned the vent system. The vent is just a 3/8 tube to a small valve and could easily get plugged over time. The line that runs to the 3/4 through-hull from the top of the tank extends to the bottom of the tank. This one will not vent so be careful in your design... I also re-plumbed the empty pump to discharge out the ¾ through-hull that was for the vent so I can empty while underway.

Hey Quen, Do you have any pics of your ballast emply pump replumbing system? I want to do the same thing, but didn't had time to figure out how to do the re-plumbing for the water to come out on the side of the driver.
Thx,