2000 Air Ballast upgrade

[wcherashore]

I have been using this site for roughly 6 months and credit it to educating me about my families boat. In the past six months I have returned home from college and used our boat a tremendous amount (80 hours) and this site has helped me become more familiar with the technical aspects of the boat which I want to learn more about. The reason I mention it is because I have been interested in adding an upgrated ballast system and have learned a ton from reading past and current threads on the topic. Now that I have become fairly educated about this I think I know what I want and understand what is required of the install, etc, etc

I am about ready to pull the trigger and am hoping your comments will help me determine what to do. There is a wealth of experience with similar projects on this site and hope you will share it with me. As mentioned, the boat is a 2000 Air Nautique and I am currently considering the following system:

ripping out the stock hard tanks (I have finally resolved to do this after reading many past threads and learning they have to come out to replace my steering cable anyway)
replacing them with a larger bag and more likely a two bag system in the trunk space replacing the hard tanks (600-1000lbs)
in addition, I will add a sack in the ski locker (rear seat sack bag will fill out the space best maybe 400-500lbs?)

I plan on venting the ski locker bag using the drain/ thru hull on the gunnel for the glove compartment/ cooler and venting the rear bags using the factory thru hulls for the stock hard tanks (perk of ripping out)

I had thought that each bag (if I desired completely independent control) or at least the ski locker and trunk sacks would require seperate thru hulls, but have since learned that this may not be the case if impeller pumps are used (can three pumps feed off a 1" scoop style thru hull)? However, aerators would require at least two one for filling and emptying. I plan on using the factory thru hull and possibly another one or two if needed

regarding pumps.... at this point I exclusively wakeboard and do not wakesurf. This is important because I had thought I would have a single pump that tees to two seperate bags in the trunk and possibly add a second pump if I decided to since I would not be independently controlling the rear bags often (I could use a manual switch).

my options for pumps are of course aerator v. impeller and also as mentioned, whether to have dedicated pumps and possibly thru hulls to each bag. Clearly for aerators I will require double the amount of pumps as a similar impeller system (one for filling one for draining) but consider my options are either:

A:Locker and trunk run independently and trunk sacks share a pump
B: all sacks have dedicated pumps

I also use my boat in salt so I am wondering if either pump style is more durable in this application.

This is a long post so I will sum up my questions:
1.can multiple pumps be effectively fed by a single thru hull
2. aerator v. impeller
3. dedicated pumps in the trunk v. shared pump and teed plumbing
4. durability of pump styles in salt

any and all advice is greatly appreciated

[Chexi]

I have a 99 Air direct drive. I use a 10x16x70 Fly High Pro sack in my locker and it fits perfectly. I do not have an auto ballast system yet for the ski locker, so when I say fits perfectly, that is without a pump in the locker. With a pump in the locker, you would probably lose a little bit of its max weight potential for that sack. That said, I do not plan to change sacks when I convert to an auto system.

Post pictures of your install, including the demolition part.

[WakeSlayer]

wcherashore,

1. Wake_Fun does this with a single intake and says it works fine. If you dig up his thread, I believe he shows the attachment he made. Personally, I prefer separate intakes.
2. impeller, the ONLY downside is the initial cost.
3. dedicated so you can modify your weight as needed to balance your wake. You may even try surfing at some point.
4. Assuming you flush your motor after each use, just flush the system out. This would be a good reason to install new thru hulls, under the swim deck. I do not have to flush, but it makes it a breeze to winterize them in the fall.
I have threaded thru hulls with thread on stainless screen caps, like for livewells.

Just my opinions. Best of luck with your install !!

[mcbridek]

I have a 99 Sport , NDT, Single Pro X bag. I use a 1600 GPH aerartor inbound and 1200 GPH out (side of hull), Currently have a single bag in the rear. I also use a 1" thru hull/cut-off and pipe. If I was to re-do this setup, first I agree,design the setup you have 2 bags in the rear. I would use the Pro-X bags and I would call them and have the bag made to order (not that much more $). The problem is your trunk locker is 17 inchs wide - and I do not think you will find a bag that fits. When you measure the trunk you will find that about 17x35/bag fits (2) - they can tell you the heiight depending on how much weight you want in each bag. I would use the impeller pumps if you can afford, everyone on this site says they work better and are reverable to flow out the same pipe. There is no way you can use the existing 3/4 thru hull and pipe and feed multiple pumps running at the same time.

[wcherashore]

Chexi,
what is the exact bag you are using for the ski locker? I was thinking of using the Fly High rear seat sack which is 62"x26"x12" certainly not a perfect fit, but it seems to be the best option of what I've been looking at....

WakeSlayer,
Could you touch on the benefits of seperate intakes? I imagine that it gives you more independent control being able to fill and drain different bags at the same time.

Also, thanks for the flushing suggestion and if I add additional intakes that may be an option. However, I was planning on making use of the stock intake regardless of whether or not I added additional thru hulls. If I were to added a dedicated thru hull for each bag I would use the factory scoop thru hull (I believe 1") to feed the locker bag and add thru hulls for the bags in the trunk. The reason I mention it is because I'm not sure that flushing the scoop intake would be possible?

Mcbridek,
I have not looked into this too much, and am looking for suggestions for trunk sacks, but I saw a thread here for a 99 air that used two x-2 sacks in the trunk that seemed to work nicely.

Thanks to everyone for their comments thus far.

[WakeSlayer]

Seperate intakes is just my personal preference. Logically, I think it makes more sense too. But there are guys out there that have a single intake, and state that you can fill one side and drain the other at the same time. I guess it works, but I cannot see how it is not somewhat limited as far as throughput. I do not even use my stock intake. If I plumbed my belly bag to the system, I would use it, but I leave it full all season. It offsets the additional weight of my big motor sitting on the lift, and in the rare event that I trailer is centerweights my boat better. Having them below the swim deck is another preference. I don't care if I can fill underway as the impeller pumps are fast enough sitting. I do prefer to be able to drain underway to level the rider's wake, or more often, fine tune the surf wake while the rider is out there. You cannot do that with scoop intakes, nor with aerator pumps.

I feel you need to figure out a flushing solution either way you do it. Not sure what salt water guys do about that. I cannot imagine salt doesn't have an adverse effect.

[Chexi]

Chexi,
what is the exact bag you are using for the ski locker? I was thinking of using the Fly High rear seat sack which is 62"x26"x12" certainly not a perfect fit, but it seems to be the best option of what I've been looking at....

I got mine from MaxWakeMaxFun on ebay. Just contact him and give him my dimensions. Or you could go with the slightly smaller 10x16x62 at the link below and then have plenty of room for your ballast puppy.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fly-High-ProX-Se...item563724130c

[wcherashore]

Seperate intakes is just my personal preference. Logically, I think it makes more sense too. But there are guys out there that have a single intake, and state that you can fill one side and drain the other at the same time. I guess it works, but I cannot see how it is not somewhat limited as far as throughput. I do not even use my stock intake. If I plumbed my belly bag to the system, I would use it, but I leave it full all season. It offsets the additional weight of my big motor sitting on the lift, and in the rare event that I trailer is centerweights my boat better. Having them below the swim deck is another preference. I don't care if I can fill underway as the impeller pumps are fast enough sitting. I do prefer to be able to drain underway to level the rider's wake, or more often, fine tune the surf wake while the rider is out there. You cannot do that with scoop intakes, nor with aerator pumps.

I feel you need to figure out a flushing solution either way you do it. Not sure what salt water guys do about that. I cannot imagine salt doesn't have an adverse effect.

I wish I had the same "problem" that you have with your v-drive. Unfortunately, I have an Air not a SAN (I wish) and do not have an issue with centering the weight in my boat and will plumb in the center sack for this reason and thought the existing scoop would be something I could use. Perhaps I could put a tee in the line similar to the engine flush that I could hook up on the interior of the boat, but forward of the pump so I could clean it out?

I had similar concerns regarding using a single output, and as you pointed out, I will not be able to flush using the scoop thru hull. That being said, it will be a pain in the *** to flush 3 thru hulls. Could you touch more on the thru-hulls you utilized that would allow me to flush the system? I think this would eliminate any corrosion issues caused by salt if I just ran fresh water in and out of the pumps quickly.

Thanks.

[wcherashore]

Chexi,

the bag you are currently using is the tube sack which I also considered for the space. However, the tube sack will not fill out the locker space at only 16" wide (the locker is 21"W) so I think I will opt for the bigger rear seat sack which will more than fill out the space at 62"x26"x12"

Thanks again for all your help. When the time comes, I will be sure to contact you about the new trunk floor you created after pulling your hard tanks out. I'd also like to hear about how you weight the boat (how much you have in the trunk) and what if anything you have in the bow. I suspect you have this dialed in....

[Chexi]

Well... let me know how it fits. I swear my locker sack fills up the entire space, but I'll check again tomorrow morning as I will be down by the boat pulling off the engine cover to get it re-covered.

[WakeSlayer]

Defnintely use your existing scoop. No reason not to. I was just stating my situation and what I have done, and why.

Here are the thru hulls I have under my deck

http://www.marineengine.com/products...php?in=1143886

Here are the screens that I got to replace the plastic cap style ones that come with the above thru hulls.

http://www.outdoorsuperstore.com/pro...MESH+STRAINERS


I have my complete bill of materials I can email you if you want. It is not exactly what you need for your application, but will give you a good starting point. You would have to simply adjust qty's and such.

PM me if you want it.

Mike

[mhaaland]

WakeSlayer, i'm interested in your bill of materials. i tried to PM you but it said your inbox was full or something.

[wcherashore]

I would love to get a hold of your materials list...

regarding the scoop, would you recommend using it for the locker sack and adding two thru hulls like your own to supply the trunk sacks?

[WakeSlayer]

wcherashore,

I think that is a great plan, that is that I would do for a plumbed belly sac.


Salt water riders, do you flush your ballast systems after use when you do your motor?

[wcherashore]

what particular puppies does everyone recommend?