Ballast drain into engine intake?

I am going to T into the engine intake for ballast fill, but could I use a reversible pump and drain out through the same pipe? The water could and probably would drain into the engine if i was running, but if I were stopped, it should all go back into the lake right?

Messing With the engine water intake is just asking for trouble, and will most likley void the warranty on your boat motor

and no it will run back into the proably run into the engine, it's hard to push water out of the bottom of the boat

The answer is yes and yes. I think Ryan is right though, if you are worried about warranty I would contact your local dealer first.

I've got two intakes on my ballast system. One is a hole w/a scupper.

The other is tee'd into my freshwater intake after the tranny cooler and right before the impeller. The reason why I tee'd in that spot is so I could drain while moving. I use a Simer pump there. I've been using it all summer long w/no problems. It seems to me that the faster I go the faster it drains because the water is being sucked into the engine and not out the scupper/intake hole.

When you are pumping the water out, it is going to find the way of least resistance. If you are stopped and don't have the motor running, it will easily go out the water intake. If the boat is running and or moving, it will probably flow into the engine as the impellor draws it in.

The impellor may not create a 100% seal when it is not running, but it does take quite a bit of pressure to force water through it. So the water will naturally flow out the intake screen back into the lake.

Check some of the old posts... here is what we did on Cliff's Mob. Temp has not been an issue...
http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/56835.html

I have my intake hooked to the bottom drian hole in my hull (with the bigle pump i really didnt need this drain plug, plus my malibu has another drain in the back), for my empty line i use the same through hull exit as the bilge use. I am able to fill or drain while moving.

THanks for that Jeff, very helpful and informative. I think I'm going to go ahead and do it like that.

Not to confuse the situation… but you can also drill a hole and use a scupper intake for the self priming pumps. I opted to go with a hole and intake under the boat. The hole is very easy to drill… just measure 10 times before you drill. I am running 3 pumps off of one intake. Yes I can drain them while moving.

I have pics but can’t post them from work… they are on my home computer. If you want any let me know. Good luck.

Wayne,

I've got a 1990 Malibu, and I was thinking on having the intake hook to the drain hole just forward of the pylon. Is this where you are hooking your line also? Mine is a 1/2 inch pipe thread fitting, is yours the same size or larger? What pump are you using, how much ballast do you have, and how long does it take to fill?

Your the only guy I've heard do what I was thinking about doing, so I'm curious to know how well it works.

Thanks!!

Thanks Jeff, but I think i'm going to use the existing raw water intake. Are your pics specific to your project or would I benefit from seeing them even though i'm not drilling a new hole?

wakeman,
I've just done what you've asked and I have no problems. No overheating issues, pumps and fills in about 7min for 480 lbs. Draining is faster when the boat is moving because the engine is taking in more water to cool it. At the end of the day while heading to the dock just start draining. I have two reversing pumps running off 10 gauge wire, so far no blown fuses. The system just works real nice.

Wakeman,

I've had my system for three months now, and no problems. I have two reversible pumps, and run with 2000lbs of ballast. My engine doesn't get anywhere near hot while filling even at full speed. The sacks take twelve minutes to fill while moving, and about the same to empty.

When you T off the raw water intake I agree with Ryan "Messing With the engine water intake is just asking for trouble". If there is any leak in the system, the engine water pump will not create enough suction to cool the engine. This happened to me when I forgot to tighten the drain plug on my tranny cooler. The warning buzzer went off and I had too find where the leak was in the cooling system. All I could hear was a hissing sound, so I knew there was a leak.

You should spend a little extra money/ time and install a dedicated ballast Thru-Hull Scooper.

Wakeman,

I live close to Toronto (Stouffville, ON). I have installed several ballast systems. The systems that I install are quite unique and trouble free. Actual fill times are under 5 min for a 1800 lb. system (under 4 min. if your boat is going 25 mph). If you email me at wremnant@rogers.com I will send you the systems I have installed.

Interesting.....
I was originally going to T into the intake to keep it simple. How complex is this thru-hull scupper design?

Here are a few pics from my set up…

You can see the manual shut off valve that I threaded onto the scupper intake. You can just make out the block of wood that I used for a spacer/ washer to account for the slight slope of the hull. I painted it black with some spray tool dip to protect it from water. If you can find a flat spot on the hull to drill through you won’t need a spacer… I did not want my intake under the engine cause it was too hard to access the shut of valve.

I have a T just off the intake that splits the water… one hose to the locker sack pump… one hose to the pumps for the back bags. Note the light grey hose is spa tubing that I used to run the wires for my pumps under the floor.

Cliff’s system is very similar… just used a T off the engine intake line instead of using the scupper. Hope the pics help. Good luck.

Very cool. Jeff what is the white material the pumps are mounted to? Where did you get it? Thanks.

Wes,

I came up with that one. It's a portable kitchen cutting board that has been cut to size. We originally put plywood in, but I didn't want any issues with rotting.

Remnant,

I'm confident that there is no more likelyhood that there will be a leak from the "T" than there would be from the hose intake without the "T" if properly installed. Even if there was a leak the engine water pump pulls at 50psi, and only opens up for a few seconds to bring cool water to the block. I think people are under the assumption that the water is continuously being pushed through the cooling system, this is not true. You would need a major disruption, not just a leak, to seriously jeopardize the cooling system. I have to agree though that Jeff's system is more efficient at drawing water. The scuper intake pulls with 1"id hose to the pumps, and doesn't get robbed of flow by the engine's water pump.

All and all I think both systems work well, Jeff's is a little more refined than mine because he wanted to go with a three pump system and have control over wich bags he filled. I just wanted to fill all of my bags full, and keep it simple.

BTW,

Jeff and I got most of our ideas for my system by learning from what Ty did on his boat.

Thanks for all the info and help. Really pleased with the response and effort from you guys. Where do you guys get your hoses from? local garden supply? what exatctly is the hose you are using?

Wakeman,

I work for a bottling company, so I got the hose for Jeff and I free. If your going to purchase hose, I would go to Lowes. Make sure to get the braided type or you may have problems with kinks in your line.

ok, thanks

Cliff, I thought so. That looks clean! My wife said I could use ours if I can find it.

Great info thanx!

I've been doing my homework through the archives and haven't found this question so here I go, I want to start with a little less expensive system and wanted to use one simer pump to fill a fat seat in the rear and a fat sack up front, now my question is this, do I need a valve to divert water to only the front, or only to the back, or am I going to have to worry about water flowing from the front of the boat to the back while underway?

Would it work with just a simple T off the pump, or should I worry about them draining/filling unevenly, especially if I have breather overflows on them?

Thanks guys

Rob,
The water will drain into the sack that's the lowest. If the lowest sack is completely full and has a nonstretching bag, it's not a problem. If not, you'll want to put a ball valve inline on the way to the lower sack. Close the valve after the lower sack is full and all will be well.

You should put a ball valve on both sacs. It is not a requirement, but that way, you can fill or drain either independent of the other.

Just called up Atlas and orderd my simmer pump. Also went by Sears and stopped by the gardening department, they have some great quick release nozzels, a couple of them have the valve built right in. Also the T for spliting the flow from the pump has valves built right in. I'm thinking about placing the pump right under the drivers seat so I can manage the valves from there. One thing I'm worried about is people trying to use the pump with out knowing what they are doing and some how burning it up. I also got a very thick guage lawn hose that I can chop up for all my lines. Assuming I have all I need right now, I'm coming in under $100! Of course in the boating world, nothing seems to be as easy as it first appears so I'll wait to see how it goes.

I did check out the switch I got from Radio Shack and it may not be tough enough for the job. Also I need to find some side sacks to fit under the front seats.

Ok I went and played around a little more with MS paint and this is what I came up with, it's a basic idea of what I'm planning on doing.