Thru Hulls for ballast intake

[ers906]

I am building my ballast system currently and I ordered 1 1/4" Groco Bronze thru-hull scoop strainers for the intakes, but have since started to have second thoughts. I am using Jabsco ballast puppies as my pumps and am worried that if I face the scoop towards the bow I will ruing the impellars by forcing water through them when I am not running the pumps. If I face the scoop towards the transom, I will creat a bubble effect and not be able to fill while under power. Does anyone have any experience with these thru hulls? My other option is the Groco flush bronze thru-hull fitting but I am worried about debris getting sucked through the intake. Any suggestions?

Also, what approaches did people use to increase the diameter of the intake outflow of the jabsco pump from 1/2" to 1"? I have a set up in mind but was looking for other tried and true suggestions

Thanks

Eric

[bowvan]

You should definitely use the mushroom intakes with your reversable pumps. They will allow you to fill and empty while under way. The scoop intakes are only benificial to the centrifugal (aerator) style pumps.

As far as debris, I wouldn't be too concerned. I've used a ballast system with unprotected mushroom intakes for several years on a previous boat, with zero issues. Most of the debris that has any potential to enter through the intake is floating debris. Your intakes are well below the water line. I would be more concerned filling in shallow water. You run the risk of sucking up distrupted sediment, which wouldn't be protected by a screen anyway. Not that big of a deal for your ballast impellers, but has the potential to damage a raw water impeller.

[wake_fun]

I am building my ballast system currently and I ordered 1 1/4" Groco Bronze thru-hull scoop strainers for the intakes, but have since started to have second thoughts. I am using Jabsco ballast puppies as my pumps and am worried that if I face the scoop towards the bow I will ruing the impellars by forcing water through them when I am not running the pumps. If I face the scoop towards the transom, I will creat a bubble effect and not be able to fill while under power. Does anyone have any experience with these thru hulls? My other option is the Groco flush bronze thru-hull fitting but I am worried about debris getting sucked through the intake. Any suggestions?

Also, what approaches did people use to increase the diameter of the intake outflow of the jabsco pump from 1/2" to 1"? I have a set up in mind but was looking for other tried and true suggestions

Thanks

Eric

I've been using that for years and it works fine. It will not ruin the impellers. I still have the originals in my pumps. You can see my two threads in my signature.

[drteach]

Ballast

I am exploring the same idea for my 2004 super sport. I'd love to see pictures where the tanks are actually installed, Any photos available?

[ers906]

I can send you some of my setup tomorrow when I get the boat out to work on it tomorrow. It is pretty much taken apart so there is a lot of room to show how the set up works.