Rookie ballast operation question on my 2005 SANTE

[ViSoR]

Hi guys,

just wanted to confirm a few things about the stock ballast in my boat.
So in my 2005 SANTE there are some valves under the dash. In the manual it says to open those valves to fill the ballasts and press the dashboard button corresponding to the ballast you want to fill. The light will stay on when filling.

That part seems ok as I did get the ballasts full. I'm having more of a problem with the emptying part. The process seems the same, open the valve and press the button but this time it should flash when emptying? The button doesn't flash on the dash but there is water coming out the back. After about 10-15 minutes of water coming out my gauge still indicated it was full??

Am I doing this right? Is there an order of things I'm not doing properly?

Also does it have to do with the ballast kind of lever thingys in the front of the engine compartment? Should those be set to open all the time? when should they be in the closed position?

Thanks!

[Beach-TJ]

ViSoR, I have an 04 SANTE, but I believe the operation of the ballast is the same between our boats.

It sounds like you are only doing one thing wrong to empty your tanks. It's in the operation of the fill/empty button. As you have figured out you do a quick press of the button to fill the take and you do another quick press of the button to stop filling the tanks. In order to empty the tank the pump needs to be off, the light in the button not on. Do a long press of the button (several seconds) and the light in the button will start flashing and the tank will start to empty.

You should open the valves under the dash when emptying the tank as a safety precaution. If your vent hose is clogged, as mine has done, and you run the empty pump with the valve closed the pump can actually start to collapse the hard tank. Having the valve under the dash open will allow the pump to pull water from the lake instead of collapsing the tank. While the tank will not empty, at least it will not be damaged.

I always leave the valves in the engine compartment open, note there should also be one in the ski locker area as well. I would only close those if there was some kind of leak in the ballast system after them. They are there as a safety measure.

I have no idea why you would have watter coming out of the back of your boat if the tanks are not emptying (light not flashing). Is it from your bilge pump? If so, maybe you have a loose connection on one of your tanks allowing the ballast pump to pump watter into your bilge.

Good luck and enjoy your boat,
Bryan

[ViSoR]

Thanks TJ, I knew it had to be some small detail! I'll check it out this weekend.
I wasn't too stressed about it because with the amount of fatsacs I have I just left both rear tanks full while surfing and the wave was still really good.

I also don't understard why there was water coming out if the light wasn't flashing, I'll look into the bilge pump possibilty as well.

[shonuff]

Was the ballast light on solid when you thought you were emptying? Sounds like it was just the overflow spilling out from the tanks.

[ViSoR]

Was the ballast light on solid when you thought you were emptying? Sounds like it was just the overflow spilling out from the tanks.

yes it was, that might be it then, thanks!!

Stupid question, can I fill/empty both rear tanks at the same time?

[cedarcreek216]

Yes, you can empty and fill all of them at the same time, assuming you have 3 pumps.

[Shooter]

I disagree with opening to helm valves to empty....

to fill, open helm valves and press fill buttons once (solid light) when it pisses out the side, your full.....

To empty, close helm valve and press and hold the pump buttons till the light flashes (gauges should show when empty)

My tanks will fill with the valves open while driving without the fill pumps even on...some older recalled valves will allow the tanks to fill even when they are closed.

[shonuff]

I disagree with opening to helm valves to empty....

to fill, open helm valves and press fill buttons once (solid light) when it pisses out the side, your full.....

To empty, close helm valve and press and hold the pump buttons till the light flashes (gauges should show when empty)

My tanks will fill with the valves open while driving without the fill pumps even on...some older recalled valves will allow the tanks to fill even when they are closed.

This is what I do too but I will say the manual says to open the valves for emptying. I keep the valves closed for emptying because I like to empty while driving. If the valves were open I'd have to sit still while they empty.

[Beach-TJ]

shonuff, good point, I do leave the valves under the dash closed if I'm going to be emptying the tanks while under way.

ViSoR, not only can you fill or empty both tanks, but you can fill one while emptying the other. This is what I often do when switching sides for wake-surfing.

You can also search this site for pluming your extra fat sacks into the stock system. I have extra wedge sacs (440 lbs each) on top of the rear hard tanks, they are plumbed into the stock system so that they fill and empty using the same pumps as the hard tanks. Takes maybe 15 min per side to hook it all up.

[ViSoR]

Thanks for the help guys, I had a great weekend on the lake. Well actually I had as much fun as usual except now I know my boat better! lol

shonuff, good point, I do leave the valves under the dash closed if I'm going to be emptying the tanks while under way.

ViSoR, not only can you fill or empty both tanks, but you can fill one while emptying the other. This is what I often do when switching sides for wake-surfing.

You can also search this site for pluming your extra fat sacks into the stock system. I have extra wedge sacs (440 lbs each) on top of the rear hard tanks, they are plumbed into the stock system so that they fill and empty using the same pumps as the hard tanks. Takes maybe 15 min per side to hook it all up.

I would love to do that. I have those wedge sacs also but I just fill them with a tsunami pump. I thought I read that the factory pumps for our boat years we're not suited for plumbing extra sacs to the factory ballasts. I did a quick search but couldn't find it, do you know what the thread was called?

Thanks again!!