X2 ballast acting up. Why?

i took my boat out on the water and the ballast will work as long as i fill one bag at a time. at first i was thinking i need new impellers (i still might, i havent checked them) but if i did need new ones, that means they shouldnt fill at all, right?

if i start to fill the rear sacs, only one will work. if i start off filling only one, as soon as i turn on the other rear pump, the one i had on first will not fill anymore. any suggestions as to what would cause this? i can fill them but of course its taking twice as long.

(Message edited by mossy44 on May 16, 2005)

Is this a new problem (has it functioned correctly in the past)? How many inlets do you have?

I had 3 vanes of one of my pump impellers break off and it still continued to pump, just at reduce volume.

maybe i should have said this to begin with. it is an '02 xstar and i know they had a recall on them. i took them in to have the problem fixed and they were working fine until the last 2 or 3 rides of last summer. i completely forgot about it until i went out for the first time this summer.

i am not sure off hand how many inlets i have. its definitely a reduced volume when emptying. anyone else ever have this problem?

i had that happen on my supra and it fixed itself somehow?

Matt - I have an 02 XStar and have always had that problem. I pulled my rear tanks and replaced them with 550# bags and it takes FOREVER to fill all the ballast. I've got all brand new impellers and that didn't solve the problem.

I had some electrical relays built for the pumps as I was told the wiring to the pumps was entirely too small. They work great now but I still have the same problem - the pumps will outsuck the single manifold on the bottom of the boat so I still have to fill one at a time.

I'm interested to see what anyone can find out.

I had that problem too at forst,and then I would fill them one by one and it wouldn't be a problem.I found out that having all your pumps at one drains alot of power and they don't seem to work properly.Ever seens I got my charging system upgraded and got total of 5 batteies in my boat....I can fill them all at the same time it doesn't matter at all.

Is your battery old?

A few times it happend that they don't want to empty but just work the switch back and forth and it starts working.For example if the don't want to empty...Flip the switch to fill and wait till it starts spilling out the sides and then just put the same switch on empty and that usually does it.same if it doesn't want to fill.

i will try and check the battery. its probably a season and a half old or maybe even 2 so that might be the problem. as for the batteries, i have 2 (not 5). i guess the unfortunate fix is either buy new batteries or let them fill slowly (one at a time)

zack... i have had #600 sacs back there for a year and a half and never had this problem. so i am wondering if it has just caught up with the fact that i have the sacs, or something else like the battery situation mentioned.

on a side note, ed...how is that new alternator working for you with the new system and batteries? working well? with the NVS's hooked up, i have only been out once, but i did notice i was only running at 11 volts.

I don't think it's the batteries. I have 2 brand new Optima Blue Tops in mine and they didn't make any difference. The electrical relays I installed to the pumps are run directly off of the starter and they pump a lot faster.

I actually still have the stock alternator installed. I'm only running 2 amps in the system and considering that 98% of the time the system is on we're riding I didn't think I need a bigger alternator. My voltage rides somewhere in the 12-13V range.

Zack ~ 12-13v not bad but a little low.If it isn't the problem,then I guess it just fixed itself,but it did fix itself when I got more juice ,plus everything on my boat works better these days!!

Matt ~ I got to say...so far so good or I should say AWSOME.I developed another little problem but I figure when you run so many watts and pull so many amps,everything needs to be perfect,otherwise any little problem is a big problem!

zack - my boat is actually at the shop right now and i asked them to put a new battery in it to see if it helps. i will let you know any answers i find out.

ed - back in february you said you were planning on 2-3 blue tops running. where the heck did 5 come into play and why? i am just asking because like i said, i have the same boat and pretty much the same setup as you and trying to figure out what kind of problems i can look forward to. this weekend will be the first real weekend out with everything, so i guess i will find out soon. whats the "new little/big problem"?

Matt ~ I was meaning to add 2 to 3 blue tops and I already had 2 battery set-up.Correction I have 4 blue tops,added 2.
The new little\big problem..I posted it under boats and accessories.the stereo problem!!

i just talked to the mechanic at the boat center and he said that when he put a new battery in there, both rear pumps worked at the same time. i am gonna go buy 2 new batteries and i will see how it works this weekend. i will keep yall informed.

ed - i sent you an email.

Hopefully that fixes your problem!

Glad to see I'm not the only one w/ the problem -- I am on my 3rd version of impellers. This set has been working pretty well. I generally fill the front and rear separately, and I do it while under way to keep a good flow of water in the pipe.

The explanation I got was that the impellers were too big, and would bind in the fitting. Cycling the pump forward/backward would generally free the vanes so they would spin. Quite often, the strain was too much, and the pump would overheat and blow the breaker. I'd wait a few minutes and try again. All of this stopped when I got rev 3 of the impellers.

I doubt it is your battery - especially if you are trying to fill while the engine is running. Good luck - that is a VERY frustrating problem.

Jason, is there a special part number for "Rev 3" of your impellers? I am also in the ballast acting up club...

well, it wasnt the battery. i think i forgot to mention this, but when i turn on both of the rear pumps, you can hear both of them running. however, water only comes in on one side. so, the problem isnt only one pump can be on at the same time, its that both pumps run but only one fills.

Matt - that's the exact same problem that I have with mine.

"i think i forgot to mention this, but when i turn on both of the rear pumps, you can hear both of them running. however, water only comes in on one side."

I was told by a friend that a boat he's helping install a system on has the same issue. They think it's because one pump has a higher draw over the other. Why??? Got me, but they are putting in a dedicated thru hull to aleviate the problem.

WOW where the heck are you guys stuffing 4 batteries. I've got an X-9 and by the time my family/friends gets on with all the extra crap I'm filled to the brim with towels and coolers and boards ;-) No but really, did you create a new battery box bracket up in the ski locker under the spotter seat or what?

zack - did you take it in to your dealer? did they suggest anything? did they try anything that didnt work? if so, let me know what they tried so i can let my dealer know what doesnt work. right now, i think we are all stumped.

paul - i will mention what your friend said and see what happens. i am up for any other suggestions.

jon - i only have 2 batteries and they are both under the passenger seat in my xstar (x2)

I have no idea how to tell what rev there is on the impeller. My dealer (as well as Zacks) is just a kick a$$ guy and handed them to me along w/ the explanation.

FWIW, I generally fill the front sac first, then the 2 rears and it takes about 15 minutes. So, from the time I hit the water, to the time we get to our riding spot, I'm full. An X2/Xstar has 1 inlet - right in front of the water intake for the motor, on the starboard side basically just behind the front sac pump.

The wiring is way too small for load generated by the pumps. After trying several sets of smaller impellers, my dealer installed relays back in 02 and I have not had a single problem since.