Tank Buster ballast upgrade question

[casmith71]

Seems the extra pressure from the bags being full is indeed the issue with the bags trying to drain. Closing the valves on the vents also appears to stop it from happening. For you guys that have the tank buster bags 800-900lbs do you have the same issue? If so what did you do to stop them from leaking out the drain line? Simply replace the empty pumps to solve the problem or something else? I don't want to have to close the vent lines each time if I can help it.

I have 750's and haven't had this issue. if you still have them, you could put the sprinkler valves in the drain line and wire to the drain pump. or put the check valves from wakemakers inline https://www.wakemakers.com/marine-check-valve.html

[slidin_out]

I'm not sure check valves would work as water isn't coming in the drain line from outside. May have to look at the sprinkler valves for this problem. Figured I would be unique in the problem. Nothing seems to be easy lol.

[swatguy]

The valves area know issue. Just swap to the electric ones and never worry again. They splice right into the pumps power. When pump turns on valve opens. When you flip switch to off valve closes.
The check valves casmith recommended also solve the issue. It's a one way "flapper" style check valve. It will allow water in to the pump line to fill, but the back pressure from the water on the fill side will push back and seal it. My only issue is those flapper style valves wear out ocassionally. But they are very easy to come by at any hardware store or marine store and are a breeze to splice in.


There are a lot of threads on this , but here is one with solenoid option
http://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/fo...ht=ball+valves

Here is one w sprinkler option
http://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/fo...for-a-02-sante

[slidin_out]

It's not a problem with water escaping through the fill line. I replaced the Flo-Wrongs with the TH Marine valves and took care of that problem. My problem is bag completely full of water is pushing the water out of the drain line and it's pouring a slow steady stream out of the drain port on the side of the boat. Closing the valve on the vent line seems to stop it from further draining. I'm not losing water through the fill line. Seems like your first link there covers it thanks! I searched the site well I thought but somehow missed that one. Will just wire some of those in I guess at some point soon.

[swatguy]

Sorry about confusing that. That standard flapper valve will do nothing to help your cause there. I would think that solenoid would work on the empty line too. Place it after the pump on the empty line. Then the gate stays in place and seals it when filling and it stays full. When you flip to empty it opens and away you go. Can't say I have any experience with it mounted that way,but I would think the principles are exactly the same and would do exactly what you're looking for. Having it closed won't hurt anything while filling because you have a dedicated vent line that will allow the bag/tank to burp while filling.

[slidin_out]

Thanks I have a friend at an industrial parts supply place getting me 3 of the 1" and 3 of the 3/4" ones for the low low. I'll just swap them all and be done with it for good. I don't like messing with stuff like this for long. I want it done, done right, and over with. Next two weekends here should be nice so we can get some riding done. Don't want to waste any more time fooling with this stuff.

[slidin_out]

Well my buddy let me down and didn't find any affordable ones. The ones from Home Depot said 24V on the box. Will they still function correctly off of 12V? I found some 12V versions online but would rather pick them up local now.

Also by closing the vent lines with the valves I installed it does stop the water from escaping through the empty lines. So that does solve the problem it's just a manual solution. I still want to put these sprinkler valves in so i don't have to twist that valve closed each time.

On wiring these sprinkler valves in does it matter how I wire the two leads from the valve? Is one specifically for the hot wire on the pump and one for the ground? Or is it simply one has to be connected to the hot and one the ground in either order? Make sense what I'm asking? There wasn't a wiring diagram on the manufacturer's website for them.

[casmith71]

Well my buddy let me down and didn't find any affordable ones. The ones from Home Depot said 24V on the box. Will they still function correctly off of 12V? I found some 12V versions online but would rather pick them up local now.

Also by closing the vent lines with the valves I installed it does stop the water from escaping through the empty lines. So that does solve the problem it's just a manual solution. I still want to put these sprinkler valves in so i don't have to twist that valve closed each time.

On wiring these sprinkler valves in does it matter how I wire the two leads from the valve? Is one specifically for the hot wire on the pump and one for the ground? Or is it simply one has to be connected to the hot and one the ground in either order? Make sense what I'm asking? There wasn't a wiring diagram on the manufacturer's website for them.

yes they will work on 12v. if you want to be sure touch them to the battery and feel/listen for a "click" that is the solenoid opening.

if you are thinking of putting these in the vent line, DON'T. they need the water pressure from the empty pump to open

there is no primary +/- either wire from the valve can go to + or -

[slidin_out]

if you are thinking of putting these in the vent line, DON'T. they need the water pressure from the empty pump to open

No these are for the empty lines and probably go ahead and do the the fill lines as well while I'm at it. Thanks for verifying they will work on 12V. I tested one on a battery and heard the click. Just wanted to make sure that was enough of a click I guess you could say.

[slidin_out]

Rear empty and fill lines have those sprinkler valves installed now. Took the cutting board idea to fill the void where the drain pump is located. Hope to water test it Tuesday or Wednesday. If all works well I'll do the write up. Thanks again for answering all my questions! Man I hope this works the way it should so everything will be automated except filling the bag in the bow.

[slidin_out]

Tested everything out yesterday. Once full the bags no longer leaked out through the empty lines so that problem went away. However now the fill time is much slower. I'm assuming most likely the fill pumps don't have enough pressure to fully open the sprinkler valve so it's not quite getting full flow. Also had trouble with the port side getting primed to start pumping. I had to disconnect the sprinkler valve from the pump side of the line to get it to prime and start filling. No big deal that will likely go away. But the slower fill times I need to resolve. Do you think it's simply the pumps are 13 years old and need replacing?

Another issue noted was when we went to empty the bags. It was only a trickle of water. So again is it possible the empty pumps need replacing again? To get them to empty faster I had to twist the small manual open knob on the sprinkler valve to get the diaphragm in there to open up and then they started dumping at the normal rate.

So on both I basically had very slow fill and empty with the sprinkler valves operating like they should. Water flow only increased on the empty side when I manually fully opened the valves. I'm wondering if I should leave the manual knob open and see if that allows the valve to still fully close and lock with the solenoid. Or should I just replace all four pumps in the rear and that would take care of it. Going to leave manual knobs open tomorrow and try it out I guess since that is a free fix to try. Any of you who used these sprinkler valves have these low flow issues when you did your installs? I ready to get the kinks worked out of this before summer really hits. Don't want to fool with it any longer I just want it working.

On a good note with both 800s full in the rear, belly tank full, and another 800lbs of bags up front the wake was crisp and fat yesterday and getting on plane wasn't bad.

[casmith71]

did you go with hunter or rain bird? the hunters I have do not have a manual valve only the flow adjustment. mine are all the way open and are rated for something crazy like 50k gph or something. the rainbirds do not have the flow adjustment and I have herd of ppl having slow fill times with them.
I doubt you need to replace your pumps

[slidin_out]

I used the Hunters. http://www.hunterindustries.com/site...nGuide_Web.pdf (Product Manual)

There is knob right in the middle of valve and opposite side of the solenoid. The only way I can get decent flow through the Hunters is turn the smaller knob opposite side of the solenoid which is per the two page instructions a manual control of the valve. When turning it more than a 1/4 turn it starts letting some water flow out through the knob which I have to live with for now and turn on the bilge every 15 minutes. So by having to turn those manual open knobs I'm gradually leaking water through the valve. This makes it hard to tell if I am losing or gaining water and know whether the valves are working as they should which I don't think they are since I'm turning on a manual release so to speak. With that knob closed the water flow in and out isn't much more than that first good piss after drinking a six pack. Can't find on Hunter's website or the instruction book what the middle knob is for. Anyone know?

Ok for you guys running these Hunter sprinkler when your emptying the bags does the water shoot out of the side of the boat or just kind of pour out? By comparison my bilge will shoot about 2' out of the side of the boat. The ballast emptying just kind of pours out. Can't remember what it did before I installed Hunters on the drain lines.

All in all it's working well enough we can ride and keep the bags about where we want them. But having to turn the bilge on fairly often is annoying and I want it to simply work exactly the way it should so we can fill it where we want it and it stays there.

[slidin_out]

Appears that knob in the middle is the flow control and needs adjusting. Specs say Flow: .2 to 120 GPM. I would definitely say it is set on .2 GPM right now. Maybe just maybe that is the issue. Tired of fooling with this lol. So for the PGV-101G Hunter valve the knob on the intake side is the bleed valve which makes sense why water flows out of it when open. The knob in the middle is the flow control and the solenoid is on the out flow side. I pray I just need to open the flow and all is well.

[SAN210Pat]

Been doing a ton of research on this, I'll be upgrading my 02 SAN. Everything I have seen and read suggests going with 750's as it will fill to capacity and fits correctly.


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