Aerator pumps vs. Ballast Puppies

[mnovstel]

Hey forum,

I'm wanting to do a few ballast changes in my '02 SANTE and was wondering everyone's opinion on the pumps. I've never really had too much trouble with my current Aerator pumps. Sometimes the port locker has trouble priming, but that's about it. I want to change the ballast around so I can get the boat setup for surfing a little easier and quicker. I was going to add a bag under the bow seats (650) and then switch the hard tanks out for bags. I have two 400's at the moment, but would want to put a 750 in the surf side locker. I want to do a dedicated pump/s for the bow bag and rewire the factory pumps so I can control everything separately from the dash.

Is it worth switching all the pumps over to Ballast Puppies or just add on to the factory pumps?

What are the pro's and con's everyone has experienced over the years?

The puppies are rated at a lower flow, but is that truly the case?

Thanks,

Clark

[Mikeski]

Aerators:
Positive - low current draw, ok to run when dry (don't burn up), quiet, inexpensive, fast when plumbed correctly
Negative - don't prime easily, let water in/out when off, only pump water in one direction, require valving in most configurations

Impeller:
Positive - single pump and plumbing for fill and empty, no valving required (self blocking), easy priming, no siphoning, still pump even if they get a brief air bubble in the line
Negative - high current draw usually requires relay or high current switch, larger wire required, suffer locked rotor when impellers stick to housing or sometimes during reversal, noisy, run battery down, burn up impellers if they run dry, more expensive, heavier requiring mounting on a hard surface, typically slower than impellers

No clear winner. I utilize impeller pumps on the fill side and aerators on the drain side. The aerators are the factory pumps, I installed the impellers. Eliminating my factory valves and keeping the aerators on the drains has made my system foolproof and easy to operate for the past 4 years.

[Miljack]

On my previous boat I built my own ballast system utilizing 6 Aerator pumps, 1100 Tsnunamis fill, and 800 for empty. For my setup I enlarged the stock through hull to a 1 1/4" from a 3/4". Our new boat is an '08 230 with the factory ballast impeller pumps.
Old boat had custom bags all around, 2 rear Supra "Gravity Games" sacks @ 565# (rated), custom front of ~550# (rated). The system filled pretty quickly, and did better if I was idling out to ride. My manifold wasn't big enough for 3 of those 1100's, so I would say if you're going aerators, setup seperate through hulls for each fill pump. FWIW, this is how Malibu sets up their boats. Emptying this system was a little tougher, primarily on the ski locker because I really could get any drop from the sac to the empty pump. It still would prime to start the emptying process, that pump would take awhile to empty the sack. The rears were better because I was able to package the pumps under the "floor" where the rear trunk is.
New boat is factory impeller system, it's more "consistent" ie. they always prime or empty (as long as the impellers themselves are in good condition), for speed of fill or empty I would say the aerators are faster.

I agree with Mike's assessment re: wiring and plumbing concerns. FWIW, I know somebody who "bench" tested all of the pumps, and they were all VERY close in transfer time.

Conclusion: if you add ballast puppies, you'll need more power/wiring or relays to handle them, plus through hulls for each. Aerators on the fill side mean either a "gate" valve, or some way of cutting the water off to the fill pumps. The original valves CC used don't really work very well...

[thedude]

I have installed Johnson Impeller pumps on a 2002, my 2003, and a 2004 SANs. All used the 750lb sacs in the rear, 600lb sac in the bow, and 600 or so in the ski locker. Each person including myself has no complaints about that set-up what so ever. On the '03 and '04 the pumps are run off the factory push buttons using relays. However you can do it without using relays and a rocker switch, which is how I did the 2002 set-up for simplicity. I used the factory thru-hull fittings on each boat, but had to add a thru-hull on the 2002. Each pump has its own thru-hull fitting. I'd say these pumps are just as quick if not quicker than the factory pumps. I would say the only down side is your factory gauges for the ballast tanks won't work anymore. And it would cost about $1200 for the bags, pumps, fuses, hose, switches, and everything you need for the install. Check out wakemakers.com...they have decent prices and you can get everything from a single source.

[s_kelley2000]

^^^Did you have 4 total bags(2 rear, center and bow) in those SANs? If so did you run 4 pumps or run a T off one of the pumps?

[thedude]

Yes I had 4 bags total in each setup with 3 pumps. I ran the overflow from the ski locker bag to the bow bag. I put a "T" fitting in that line so the bow bag would fill from both sides and drain from both sides. This set up works pretty well. When filling, the ski locker bag will fill to capacity then fill the bow bag. While emptying, the opposite happens and gravity helps pull the water from the bow bag to the ski locker bag.

The bow bag is vented, the ski locker bag is not. This essentially creates one large bag.

If you have 2 batteries you will be fine filling/emptying with the boat turned off. If you have 1 battery I'd make sure you have a good charge before attempting this to avoid draining the single battery, or just fill with the boat engine running for your first set of the day.

[s_kelley2000]

Thanks so much, that is great information. I don't want to further jack this thread so I started my own with a few questions http://www.planetnautique.com/vb3/sh...allast-puppies

As for the OP, it's a tough call. The ballast puppies are definitely more reliable and eliminate the need to use the valves which seem to cause a lot of problems over time and was likely a big part of the reason Nautique and most others made the switch. Being that you already have the aerator pumps there is definitely a case to be made to stick with them if your valves are all still working well. The ballast puppies will be a more expensive route to go but once they are installed the only thing you will need to worry about is periodically putting in new impellers.

[mnovstel]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Great info. Still haven't totally decided what I'm going to do..... I'll update as I get the project rolling. I'm going to talk to wake makers and see what they might have say as well.

Thanks again