MC 07 X1 - Factory Rear Ballast Question

Just finished the break in process and went to fill the two rear factory ballast tanks. Turn on both switches and in a couple of minutes, water pours out of overflow on port side (indicating full) so shut that pump off. The starboard side continues to pump but only gets 80% full then lights start to flash on the switch (assuming it is an auto shut off function to keep pump from burning up). Shut it down and restart in a minute or two and light flashes again. Bottom line, can never get it more than 80% full.

What is strange is that it fills up to 80% fine each time AND empties with no problem. Looked for kinks in supply lines but cannot find any.

Each time I have run them both at the same time. Have not tried filling each independently - I think they share the same intake so maybe the port side is sucking up most of the water while starving the starboard side pump.

Also - do this at idle while engine is running.

Any suggestions other than trying to fill independently? Taking her out this weekend and want to try any suggestions you may have.

HI Bob...I just finished the break in period on the exact same boat, so maybe we can help each other going forward. I've not had any trouble with the rear tanks not filling to the point of overflow, but I've only filled them separately. This is because we've been wakesurfing before boarding. So I fill the starboard side and at the same time fill (or partial fill) the center...then, later I'll fill port if we board. I've been emptying the rears at the same time and then center separately just to keep from running all three simultaneously. I like the blinking lights for emptying because it lets me know when to shut'em down. I don't think I've seen them start blinking while filling.

I still don't know an accurate weight for the stock ballast...it seems to range between 225 and 275 on the rears and 300 to 400 on the center. I have learned that an additional 200 in sand in the starboard rear locker plus the starboard stock tank plus the center is enough to surf....this with only a driver.

So far we're extremely happy with the boat and I hope you feel the same. If it turns out to be a problem I hope MC takes care of you. Keep me posted, peace.

Oh yeah, I'll be out this weekend and I'll run both rear tanks and see if they both fill to overflow. I'll let you know what happens.

The obvious thing may be to check the ballast pump impeller to make sure all of the vanes are there. I had 2 or 3 blow off on our '02 MC and that might increase your fill time over the auto shut off time. On top of that, maybe you are not waiting long enough to retarts the cycle?

I run 4 pumps at once on my custom install, but each pump is on it's own thru hull so I don't have to worry about 'sharing' water.

One thing I do is bump the RPMS up to about 1000rpm when running all pumps at one time. This give more power to the pumps and makes sure your electrical system is still creating enough power to run everything, rather than draining the system.

Good luck and have fun with your new boats! It's a great hull!

Paul

(Message edited by P-hat in Cincy on May 16, 2007)

Thanks guys. I am going to try to fill them one at a time and see if that helps. If not, I will pull the impeller on the one causing the trouble.

So far, we love the boat and the kids (20, 15 and 11) love the wake - I am old and a novice wakeboarder.