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Just bought a beuatiful 2000 Air Nautique with factory ballast tanks. This is my first Nautique with ballast tanks. Dealer siid I could fill/empty the tanks in 1 of 2 ways. Sitting idle open the seacocks by the drivers seats, hit the Fill button and 10 minutes later they should be filled. Or open the seaccocks and by the time I run across the lake they'd be filled. Niether of the methods work. I can hear the pumps running but the tanks are not filling? I can see some water in the tanks already, but when I hit the EMPTY button no water dumps out of the overflow. Am I missing a step or somthing. Thanks
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Open sea **** under motor, open both valves by driver seat, press fill button, tanks are filled when pumping out of rear of boat, shut all 3 valves. To empty open all three valves and press empty and then shut all 3. You can hear both pumps running fill and empty.This boat actually fills and empties through the bottom of the boat. -
Pretty much what ^^89^^ said. The ball (valve) in the bilge (under the motor) is the only valve that will truly stop water from flowing in or out as it shuts off the water supply/return line adjacent to the intake. The dials next to the helm need to also be opened to fill/drain, these I believe are air valves, although they are supposed to keep water from coming in/out when closed are known to only slow the flow down, not stop it completely. If all valves are open tanks should fill as you where told, when full you should see water coming out the overflow. You should also have separate pumps for supply and return.Comment
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Ha! ha! This stupid forum software blocks out Seac*o*c*k. Hilarious.
Anyway, it's the valve under the engine like everyone else already said. On my 99 Air I have to kinda "prime" the pumps for them to work sometimes. In other words, if I put the boat in the water and just sit there, the pump sometimes will spin but not actually move any water.
Since I figured that out I head to our ski spot with the valves open so the tanks will fill under way. If they're not full by the time we get there, I turn the pump on just as I drop off plane.
Also, when you're headed back home you can't empty while under way, pump or otherwise. The pump sends the water back out the bottom of the boat and it can't overcome the incoming pressure when you're zooming across the lake.
Yea, I know. Not the greatest design but 98-2000 was kinda the first generation of ballast tanks.Comment
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