Ballast Tubing suggestions?

[brit_hunsicker]

Looking for what everyone's favorite tuning to use is when redoing the ballast system? I have an 01' SAN210 and will be removing tanks this winter and redoing the ballast lines. The ones on it now are original and rotted away, found that out when winterizing the ballast system today. If you followed my project last year I replumbed my 98' Air Nautique and used bilge hose which I was not a fan of and said I'd never use that again. Reasons being that the hose was plastic and the hose clamps would pierce the plastic and leak drip by drip. Also this hose was corrugated and had 1 foot increments. So you could only cut the hose every one foot, meaning more times than not you had to have slack in your hose. When I redid that boat I upped the pump to 2000gph, and also upped the lines to 1-1/8". Not doing that this time, just want to simply replace the 3/4" ballast hose. So long story short, just trying to find out what you all have had the best luck with! Thanks!


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[aZ`]

I like to use suction hose from an industrial supplier. You will be able to find all sizes, choose from colors including transparent, it seals well and as all ballast hose should, doesn't collapse under vacuum. I use a product like this with good results.


But if you have some really tight bends you may want to go with the thinner walled corrugated stuff, but in my experience it doesn't last as long or seal as well.

[nautiques4life]

WakeMAKERS.com great stuff. Good people to work with. Great clamps and fittings too. I would stick to the plain black having used it and the transparent... Can't REALLY see through the transparent in the bottom of the boat very well anyways- having used both, I wouldn't use the transparent if I did it again... Not worth the axditional cost. My 2cents.

[swatguy]

Az's stuff is the most pliable.

Wakemakers.com has all the tubing and parts in a one stop shopping place. If you're gonna gut it go with 1inch hose ( 1/ 1/8). Way more flow than the standard 3/4 and worth the extra $$ for the flow rate advantage. But that means you will need new through hull fittings too.

Just route your hoses away from the manifolds as they get pretty hot and can cause the ballast house to get warm flimsy over time.

[aZ`]

. Can't REALLY see through the transparent in the bottom of the boat very well anyways- .

Agreed, If i did it again I would use the exact same stuff but in black, however my supplier charges the same price for transparent or black, the black just looks a little smarter IMO.

edit: I didn't realize the wakemakers stuff is exactly the same, just go there. Not being in the USA I always have to source things from their origin rather than have the convenience of a shop like that.

[swankster]

When I did my 2010 230 I used the black pipe from Wakemakers but didn't order enough and had to use some braided PVC from the local DYI store. Both worked well but the Wakemakers was less expensive.

[Kenv]

Yes....don't tube with your ballast full....lol. Happy Thankschristmas.....

[brit_hunsicker]

Okay so I'm trying to order all of the parts I need for my ballast project. In tearing out, I broke one of the fittings just on the inside of the thru hull fitting where the overflow goes out of the boat. It's a 90 degree fitting that is 3/4" barb on one end and either 3/4" or 1" male thread on the other end I believe. I forgot to take a closer look at it to check the size and so forth before leaving the boat. The thru hull fittings are the factory ones. Anybody know for sure what size that fitting is? Also broke one my fittings just on the back side of the vent knobs. These fittings look like they are molded into the small vent tubing. Also a 90 degree fitting if I remember right. Anybody done this same thing and found an easy solution? Thanks!


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[Tallredrider]

Az's stuff is the most pliable.

Wakemakers.com has all the tubing and parts in a one stop shopping place. If you're gonna gut it go with 1inch hose ( 1/ 1/8). Way more flow than the standard 3/4 and worth the extra $$ for the flow rate advantage. But that means you will need new through hull fittings too.

Just route your hoses away from the manifolds as they get pretty hot and can cause the ballast house to get warm flimsy over time.

I have seen comparisons, and at the flow rates that we are talking about with typical ballast pumps, I would not say 'way' faster. Maybe 10% faster, but not a whole lot more than that. Especially if your through hull and tank inlets are still stuck at the same diameter. I swapped out the hose in my malibu for 1 inch hose and it was not 'way' faster.

Having said all that....If I were replacing it, I would go 1 inch. HAHAHA. But I just caution you about expecting miracle flow rates.

[MLA]

Upgrading hose from .75 to 1.0 only works if you can upgrade the fittings on each end. Thats the true bottleneck. Also, you will not be able to compress 1.0 coil reinforced hose down onto a .75 fitting. So you will need to upgrade the fittings, if you up the hose size.

I would not suggest the woven mesh reinforced vinyl hose from the hardware stores. it will collapse eventually.

That overflow fitting is sized based on the hose it accepts. In your case, you broke a 3/4 90* thru-hull. Just note though, between all the different manufacturers, there is no standard for the required hole. You may find some that are smaller then your current one, larger, or just right.

[brit_hunsicker]

I'm not at all interested in upping the size of my lines. I did that on my last boat and it was not fun, mainly because I bought stupid large pumps that I had to find room for. Just not looking for the extra hassle with this one since my hard tanks already fill 3 times faster than it takes me to fill all my extra sacs. I'm only replacing hoses because they are rotting.
So MLA, are you telling me that I will need to replace my whole fitting that goes thru the hull, like the outter ring and all? I'd hope I don't have to do that as it probably wouldn't perfectly match my others and then I would need to replace all the others to calm my boat OCD


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[MLA]

Its a good chance that what you have is a 1 piece thru-hull fitting. if so, you will be replacing the entire fitting.

[brit_hunsicker]

Good call. I better take a closer look this weekend. Thanks for the insight. Any suggestions on the fittings behind the vent knobs?


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[swatguy]

I have seen comparisons, and at the flow rates that we are talking about with typical ballast pumps, I would not say 'way' faster. Maybe 10% faster, but not a whole lot more than that. Especially if your through hull and tank inlets are still stuck at the same diameter. I swapped out the hose in my malibu for 1 inch hose and it was not 'way' faster.

Having said all that....If I were replacing it, I would go 1 inch. HAHAHA. But I just caution you about expecting miracle flow rates.

I just re read the ops original post. I missed the part about him keeping the original factory pumps. You are correct he would not see much flow increase at all. I assumed he was yanking what was in there........out. In this case obviously save the cash and stay w standard 3/4.

As MLA stated there is no constant in those above the waterline overflow fittings. You could put (3) 3/4 fittings from different vendors next to each other and that outside diameter chrome ring could vary quite a bit. Personally if it were me and I couldn't get one from Nautique as a direct match I would order however many are already there on the side that broke to match and keep the non-broken one as a spare for the other side. Just me and my ocd tho

[a0128]

I've used both the premium ballast hose (p/n 31002) and the regular ballast hose (p/n 31001) from Wakemakers and I'd recommend the regular over the premium. The premium was very stiff and difficult to work with.

Wakemakers also has plastic (p/n 36001) and stainless (p/n 36002) thru-hull fittings in 3/4" sizes. Don't forget your 3M 4000 Marine Adhesive too.