ballast manifold idea

It seems as though there are alot of people doing water ballast projects (myself included) and while looking through the latest northern tool catolog I came across this:
http://www2.northerntool.com/product-1/200040424.htm


not sure if it would work for anyones app., but it is cheap and easy.
(i would be concerned about the flow rate)

Nice find! I like that it's all brass. This is something that could definitely be integrated into a system. I like it.

That, my friend, is a find! The only problem would be getting enough pressure to make them all fill efficiently.

my first idea was to:
run a thru hull fitting to a pump.
pump to the T.
then once the T has water pressure just turn on the ports (bags) that you want to fill.
you could maybe even use a "ballast puppy" pump and reverse it to empty.

it would not be the quickest, but it would be an easy, cheap set up.



another thought was.
if you notice the outlet ports are square. does that mean that the valves are a "cartirage" type, that you could unscew/take out and have a better flow rate? you would lose the ablity to turn the valves off, but you could control that with multiple pumps and have it all controled from a set switches (versus opening the compartment to manually turn the valves)


Doh!
if I was not so deep into the system that I already have started, i would give this a try.

Little tip~ you don't need another hole in your boat 4 ballast, just cut the intake hose and t off that to your pump. works just like the shower and you don't have to drill your hull. PS that is an awesome find i spent ~$50 and 2 Hours just building a 3 way splitter that would fit in my cooler this looks like its worth at least that let alone 14.

The only thing you guys might want to watch is the ID of that manifold. Those usually have a small ID and it restricts the water flow quite a bit. You are going to be waiting for your ballast to fill a lot longer than if you would run your system with all 3/4" or 1" ID hose and connectors.