Filling 4 bags with 3 ballast puppies

[s_kelley2000]

Hi guys I am in the process of planning out the build for the ballast system on my 1999 Super Sport. I have already read through a lot of great threads on other builds on this site but I wanted a little more information on running a 4 bag system with 3 pumps. This boat did not come from the factory with a ballast system so I will be starting from scratch. I already have 750s in the rear lockers that I fill partially for wakeboarding, rear seat sack in the belly locker and the bow bag under the bow seats. I was filling all of those bags manually this past summer. I know the best solution would be to add 4 pumps so each bag could be filled and emptied independently but in an effort to save some money and install time I was thinking of going with 3 pumps for the 4 bags but I am not totally against adding 4 pumps. My plan was to add 3 through hulls on the bottom for each pump, add two new vent lines for the rear bags and mirror the through hulls for the bilge outlets on the port side. For the belly and bow bags I was thinking of putting in a switchable Y fitting so I could divert the water to/from the bow or belly depending on which one I wanted to fill/empty. For the vent line I was planning to use the "cooler" drain for at least one of the front bags and I was wondering if it would be possible to tie the vent lines together since these bags would be filling and emptying at separate times? If not, where is the belly vent outlet located on the later SS/SANs that came with belly ballast as I would like to keep it looking as close to factory as possible even though belly ballast was not offered in 1999.

I know another option is to have the belly sac overflow into the bow bag and I would only need 1 vent line but I am thinking I would like to be able to fill and empty these bags independently. But the more I think about it the more that doesn’t seem necessary as I can’t think of any scenarios where I would want the belly less full than the bow but I can think of a few where I would want the bow empty but some water in the belly which would still be easily doable with the overflow setup whether filling or emptying. Any thoughts on these issues would be appreciated. I’m still a couple months away from pulling out the hole saw but just trying to get my plan in order ahead of time so I can start ordering parts.

[Chexi]

You can do it with cheap parts. I think I got this garden hose splitter from Home Depot... it was there or Lowes. It has larger than normal diameter pipe, so it does not cut down much if at all on flow. It has worked great for my surf setup and allows me to use 2 bags off 1 pump. I actually have it set up so I can fill 5 different bags with 3 pumps, but only 4 bags can be hooked up at a time. I don't need my off-surf side bag filled when surfing, so I designed a quick connect setup that allows me to disconnect the off-side rear bag and hook up the Y splitter instead to lines that run to the bow and the main cabin area (can use the same lines for surfing either side). It works great.

I had to add the hose barb fittings of course.

For an alternative setup that I did on my last boat, you can look up my 99 Air Install thread and see my ballast install albums.

[mnwakerider]

I have the exact same 4 bags as you with only three Ballast Puppies. I was going to do the valve cut-off system that you are thinking of, but for simplicity sake I decide to not. I have one pump go straight into the center belly and then overflow into a 'T' that then goes to each side of the front /^\ bag and that has a vent from the front.

My thought was that I was going to keep the three pump system simpler to start and if I feel a need to have the front and not the belly I could add it later on. I have yet to want the front without the belly. That boat loves weight on the front half. I feel like I have full control of the wake when it is just me and my wife (full rear 750s) or a boat full of people (half 750s). Either way if we ride, the front and belly are full. Also, I can only speak to the filling/draining of my system, but it works awesomely. The front bag is always dry and fills nicely. Doing this way it takes about 9-11 minutes to pop up the front seats cause the /^\ bag is so full. Draining is more like 7-8 min with the one pump.

Good luck!

[s_kelley2000]

Thanks guys, this is great information. I still haven't decided which route I will go but I am leaning towards the overflow method at this point I think. I may also add in a switchable valve like Chexi so I can fill/empty auxiliary bags or I may just stick with the tsunami for that. Since it is about 15 degrees outside right now I still have quite a bit of time to think this through

[Chexi]

I tried the overflow method on my 99 Air and was always a bit worried about just how tight the belly bag was getting (afraid it would burst). Obviously that hasn't happened to mnwakerider. What I did to allay my fear was to instead put in a T with a ball valve on the end going to the belly bag. I could then vary the rate the belly bag filled and shut it off if I had to. Ultimately, it only took a few trips to find the sweet spot (about half open) which resulted in the belly bag filling up completely about 10 seconds after the bow bag started venting out the side. I never had to touch the valve again, but it was there just in case.

On my SAN, I just ride with 400 lbs of pop bags in the nose and do not use a nose sac unless I surf. My nose sac is just an old straightline sac I had from years ago (has a nice check valve on it fur burping). I actually put it on top of the seats when surfing, which allows me to put the whole bag basically on the surf side. I have the quick connect line running down the port gunnel under the bow seats. I can open up either of the 2 bow side seats and pull the line through to connect to the bow bag on the opposite side. Because my bag has a check valve on it (where I connect it), thanks to wakemakers adapter, I can unhook the feeder line when I am done and tuck it back under the seat (running the pump in reverse for a few seconds just to drain the line). My system does require a little messing around, but it is far more flexible than my old system in my 99 Air for surfing. In that setup, I always still needed to use 1 portable pump for the in the cabin surf sac.

If you use an under the seats bag, you will either get equal ballast weight on both sides, or you will need to add some shut-off valves after the T in mnwakerider's setup.

[perry386]

In my 2008 230 I just used the factory ballast to overflow into some sacks. IMO the overflow is the best system bc you can out a valve handle on there to allow it to either fill just the belly when its closed, or the belly and the bow when its open.