04 Wakesetter VLX rear ballast replacement

Hi all - #2 post for me today...

After a few outings on my '04 Malibu VLX i noticed my rear right ballast was leaking. basicaly it appears to me there is actually a meaningful crack (1/4" wide) where the emptying pump (lower pump)connects to the ballast. It also appears to have been repaired once in the past. (joy of buying used boat! - i missed this before purchase)

My options are:
1) Repair again with some waterproof glue type stuff (I don't think this is right as it will just leak again at some point)

2) Replace rear right ballast - this looks pretty simple - remove carpet, remove ballast, replace ballast, reattach carpeting - but Does anyone know where to get OEM ballast replacements and how much they cost?

3) This is the fun one - has anyone removed the factory hard plastic ballasts and replaced them with soft Sacs? This looks like it could be easy as well and on non wakeboarding trips (few as they may be!) you could leave them empty and have extra storage...Does anyone recommend or not recommend this route for any reason?

Thanks again,
Fred}

I'd just repair it, the tank is not under pressure so just fix it with some JB weld or something.

JB Waterweld acquired and applied...
$8 and 5 minutes is better than a few hundred and a few hours!
Watertesting tomorrow morning...
Thanks, Nubu!
Fred

Id replace the rear tanks. I really dislike my VLX for only having 400 in the back. Results in no lip.

Fred-
It is very common for us Malibu owners to replace these rear tanks with sacs. There are several write-ups over on themalibucrew.com. I have a 2004 WS 23LSV and right after I bought it I pulled out my hard tanks and put a 750-lb sac in each rear locker. It is a great upgrade. I used the factory hoses so I have a fill line, a drain line, and an overflow line going into each sac. It works great. Like most people, I found that the factory system allows water fromn the ballast tanks to trickle down through the pumps throughout the day (both the fill and drain pumps). To counteract this, I put a cheap one-way check valve in the fill line going to each sac. Unfortunately, this doesn't work well on the drain lines, so I had to purchase a $60 electrically-actuated valve for the drain lines that opens when the drain pump is on. Now my ballast sacs stay full and I have 1500 pounds of rear ballast instead of only 500. Like you said, it increases the storage area when the sacs are empty too.

BTW, my total project cost was:

2 sacs off ebay: total about $120 shipped
2 electric valves: about $130 shipped
2 one-way check valves from ACE hardware: $10
Misc. hose extension, fittings, and wiring: $30

Total: about $290
A small price to pay for such a large increase in ballast that is completely automatic with the flip of a dash switch.

(Message edited by atropine on July 22, 2007)