Upgraded ballasts don't empty right

[louismblais]

Once again fishing in the PN knowledge tank!

I installed upgraded ballasts in my 236. Two 400's in the back and one 650 in the belly all hooked-up to the stock ballasts and pumps. Everything fills up and overflows just fine but when comes time to empty everything the bags get sucked right down and out of air making it impossible for the hard ballasts to empty. The negative pressure gets high enough that the hard tanks cave in. I've actually bent the water gauge shaft in the rear ballasts that way.

Has anyone had that problem and how can it be fixed?

Thanks for your help everyone

P. S. The wake is unbelievable now !!!

[tdc_worm]

insert 1" pvc in the sacks that run from end to end in order to keep the sacs from vaccuum locking...

[louismblais]

insert 1" pvc in the sacks that run from end to end in order to keep the sacs from vaccuum locking...

you mean just a loose piece of pvc to sort of keep the sals propped up? I guess it could be that simple!

[JWAT]

It is probably doing this because the overflow lines going from your sacs out the side of the boat are too long. If they are too long, the hole in the bag that the overflow line is hooked to will suction to the bottom of the bag. You need to make the overflow lines shorter so they slightly pull the bag up off of the stock tank. This will keep them from suctioning down and will allow them to empty properly.

[JWAT]

P.S.
I have had my 2008 210 set up like this all summer and have not had any problems at all.

[seanxtreme3000]

Jwat
do you have sacks on top of your stock tanks, if so how do you have it plumbed do you have any pics thanks sean

P.S.
I have had my 2008 210 set up like this all summer and have not had any problems at all.

[xrichard]

this will happen if the vent on the sack gets closed off (either sucked down by the vacuum created when emptying the sack or just pressed down by the weight of jackets/gear in the locker). Some have had good luck with PVC pipes...I tried and they helped but didn't solve the problem. Shortening the vent hose will help by keeping the vent opening off the bottom of the bag. I didn't want to do that because I often put a lot of gear in the rear lockers. Another option that worked for me is to use both vents on the top of the bag--you can use one vent hose but connect it to both outlets on the top...the chances of both getting closed off at the same time is minimal. Since I made that change, I haven't had a problem.

[JWAT]

Jwat
do you have sacks on top of your stock tanks, if so how do you have it plumbed do you have any pics thanks sean

Yes, I have 400's on top of the stock tanks in back, a ski locker sack in the floor ski locker and the open bow sac under the seats in the bow.

In the back, I have the overflow line cut close to the stock tank. I then hooked the overflow line from the stock tank into the bag on top of it. I then used the rest of the original overflow line and hooked it to the top of the bag and ran it out the side of the boat (overflow). Again, I made sure the overflow line going from the back has just the right length so it lifts the top of the bag slightly off of the hard tank.

I have the original overlow line from the front hard tank cut and ran into the bottom of the ski locker sac. Then I have a line running from the top of the skil locker sack into the under bow sack. Finally, I have a line running from the top of the under bow sac to the overflow out the side of the boat. Once again, I made sure all of the lines running to the sacs were just the right length so they would pull up on the top of the sacs a little bit.

Unfortunately I do not have any pics, but all of my ballast fills and empties perfectly with the switches on the dash. I usually have to push the buttons for the back tanks/sacs twice to get them full and the front usually takes about three pushes.