Ballast System completed

I just thought I would share with all of you the system Jeff Reese, Mike Hoferer, and I put in my Moby this weekend.

These are all the parts used for the system prior to install.


These are the disconnects I decided to go with. They are from the gardening department, and have very little flow restriction.


These are the t's I used for the 3/4 id fill, and the 1/2 overflow lines.


These are the check 3/4 check valves I found. I decided to capture the part number for anyone who's interested.


These are the 1/2 check valves used.


Here are the simer/bluewater BW85 pumps that everyone keeps talking about.


this is where we placed the switches.


We drilled a 1 1/2 hole for the hoses to run into the ski locker.

Here is the locker view.


Jeff in "The Hole", we kept him there most of the day. You can also see how we ran the hoses under the floor to the steering cable hole under the drivers side.


We zip tied the hoses together so they didn't interfere with anything under the floor.


Here are the pumps under the passenger seat behind the driver.


The pump holding platform is a little sparse right now, but I'm going to replace it with 1/2 black plexi when it comes in. The rear pump was angled up in the front to make clearance for the hose. We just used washers for now, but I'm going to replace them with rubber gaskets when I put the new platform in.

I trialed the new system out on the lake yesterday, total time to fill the front 800lbs 13min, total fill for rear 550's was 15min. I wasn't moving so I could estimate the slowest fill time. The emptying was also impressive, front sack 15min, rear sacks 17min. I left the boat in the water so I could see how much push back I got from the intake. Out of water I'd probably see improved emptying times.

Ok, I know I left out a ton of details, it was hard to document everything as we went along, so I'm sure there are many questions. You may now start drilling me.

I forgot to put the back connection pic in.

how many trips to home depot did you make, mine took at least 7

good info and setup

Great work. I like the pump mount...

That looks real good.

Nice Job. Mine is amazingly similar. Have not tested mine yet. Did You have any problem with starting the prime to the pumps?
John

Looks really good, How does the bag vent it self when its full??? Are your bags two hole or three, Fill, Drain & vent??

Thanks

John,

there is no issue with priming at all. My pickup is off of the intake for the motor. I T'd off of the intake hose with 1 inch hose to another T that splits into 3/4id for both pumps.

Mike,

The bags are standard two hole on top.
The white hose you see in the locker picture is the vent hose. I used 1/2 id for the overflow because it is just air pushing through it. The hose ties back to my bildge line with an inline check valve to prevent air from being re-introduced into the system while emptying. The pumps are so strong they made the sacks look like raisins when the system was completly emty.

As far as the discussion around overheating the motor is concerned, my motor raised in temp 5 degrees and then the thermostat opened up wich brought the temp back down in an instant.

The one issue I'm going to have to resolve is the amp draw while both pumps are running. My voltage meter draws down to 11.5 while they are both running. I have plans to install a larger battery with 950 cranking capacity to insure that I don't have any problems.When I turn the pumps off, the charge jumps up to 14.5 for a couple minutes, and then settles down to 13-13.5 so I'm not all that concerned. I still wouldn't suggest filling or emptying the system with the engine off.


BTW,

I would like to thank Ty for all the research he did for his system. All I did was expand on what he came up with.

Next, we are going to do Jeff's system, and use three pumps. It will definatly be a more complex system than mine. I'm sure we'll post more pics that are better in detail.

(Message edited by SEATTLE on March 05, 2003)

Thanks for the nice pics....looks good!

Thanks guys, but the good work is all yours...

You are the picture taking maniac! Very informative and well done. I hope it has you flying high soon.

where can I get those pumps and what is the GPH on them and are they reversible?

1 800 305 4393 Not sure on the gpm Yes they are reversible

Great job Cliff! You guys getting out much?

Cliff (McGiver) Griffin! Lol

Hey Cliff could you take a picture of your engine and how you piped into the cooling line. Thanks

FYI those check valves are pretty restrictive and take a fair amount of pressure to open. You can get the bronze ones at Home Depot for 5$, they just have a hinged metal flap inside, they seal well and have almost no restriction. Only drawback is that you have to orient them so that gravity closes the flap. No big whup. Talk amongst yourselves. I'll give you a topic....

Eric,
We used 1" id off of the intake to a 3/4 T that splits off to the pumps. The pic is below. Make sure you get the intake hose warm, preferably with a heat gun. Installing the barb fittings in the hose is a *****.

Psyclone,

I'm confused as to the statement about pressure to open the check valves??? The valves take very little pressure to open them, and they worked great when we tested the system on the water. I do agree that they are pricey as compared to the Home Depot valves, but I didn't want to deal with the gravity issue.

hey cliff what type of pumps did you use are they reversible. I'm trying to figure out what would be the best pump to use with a ballast system to fill a fat seat and maybe a 500ibs sack in the front. I want to use a reversible pump to keep it simple. and where would I get a pump. Also is that valve that you used to tap off the water intake is it a manual valve that you have to open when you want to fill your sacks? and how does your drain system work do you have drain pumps? Sorry these mite be stupid questions but I'm trying to get an idea of how I want to do this. thanks

Eric,

I used Simer BW85 reversable pumps. My friend has the same set up as you in his Calabria. He originally used aerator pumps, and had problems keeping the emptying pump primed. He's now using a Simer self priming for the empty side, and has no issues.

I used a 1" id ball valve from Lowes, for my master shut off. You can see a picture of it towards the top of this post.

Eric,
Re read this post and check all the pics. The pumps are simer and yes they are reversible. You can call 800-305-4393 to order them. ($67) yeah price has gone up a bit. The shut off valves are manual. (see pic… the white plastic valves with red handles from Home Depot)
The idea of using a reversible pump is that the water comes in and out of the same location. You may want to do a search and read all the stuff about ballast systems that have been posted over the last 2 months. There have been a ton of good ideas.

What do you think of using the middle drain plug as a intake and outlet for the ballast system?

Cliff,

What type of bags are you using in the rear?

Aaron,

I'm using two Fly High 550's, one on either side of my motor.

Eric,

The issue I had with using the drain hole was the size of the opening. I wanted a higher flow rate to my pumps, and the drain hole would have reduced my pumps capacity.