Reversible Ballast Pumps

We're currently building a custom ballast system for our Setter LSV. I found these reversible ballast pumps at West Marine. They look pretty durable (metal housing). Has anyone tried these? They say they pump 80 pounds of water a minute. Just want to make sure I'm not installing junk. They are pretty pricey too.

Well, by definition: if its pricey, it must be good. haha

My brother in law is looking at installing a ballast system in to his Tige. Would you be willing to give me a brief run down on what you are doing and how much it costs? Thanks

Jim, It appears to be pretty simple. We thought we would have to install 4 pumps (2 ins 2 outs) Then we found the reversible pump. Out boat has two plugs/holes in the hull. We're going to screw the inlet fitting on the pump into the hull and ditch the plugs so we don't have to drill holes in the bottom of the boat. Then the pump outlet has a hose to the fat sack. Wiring should be a breeze. The pumps come with diagrams. We're using switches with two 'on' positions. One for pump in, one for pump out. I'll know more once we get into it, but I predict it will cost us under $500 (not including the sacsk). Also, we don't have ballast sacks (with the inlets at the bottom) so this means that when we pump the water out, some one has to hold the hose down in the fat sac so it picks up. Ballast sacks would be a better way to go, or hard tanks. I keep you posted on how it goes.

thanks for the info. I'll pass it on.