Removing SV211 hard tanks - need advice

[dfoster]

Ok, so I spent part of the day disconnecting my hard tanks to set up for the full tank buster setup.

Getting the Starboard one out was "easy"... but the port one seems impossible.

I can't move it onto its side enough to even disconnect the drain pump. And tilted around with the pump on, I can't seem to get them angled right to get the tank out of the walkthru so that I can get at the pump.

I know a couple of folks here have done it, so I know it is possible. Any advice? Is there some trick to it?

What else do I need to remove to make the space?

Doug

[Mark56]

Doug
Have you removed the side boards that protect motor compartment as that will make
It easier

[dfoster]

yes, I removed the side boards, but it seems that you would have to twist the tank onto its side to get it out the hole for the walk thru. But when I do that, it seems to be catching on something in the back area, like the pump is getting stuck in the little well or something.

I was wondering last night if I need to remove all of the side vent hoses or some of the aluminum engine brace to give it more room to get sideways.

I wasn't able to get it at an angle where I could remove the drain hose or drain pipe, so I am thinking it is getting caught on something as I try to rotate the tank.

[Mikeski]

To get mine out I had to pull both the fill line from the pump and drain line from the through hull. When I changed my pumps I just cut both hoses since I was replacing them anyway. The vent hose can also get in the way, I pulled it and off the outlet and pushed it out of the way so the tank could be lifted high enough for the pump to clear the pump well edge. You should also pop the walkthrough top off by pulling the hinge.

[Mikeski]

Dfoster,

did you get your hard tanks out? did you install soft sacks? I am thinking about removing the hard tanks and replacing them with sacks.

[dfoster]

Mikeski,

Yes, I got the tanks out. To get the walkthrough one out I had to remove all the hoses and pull the battery box out. That gave me enough room to flip it and get the drain pump off and then it was no problem. These things are like a puzzle where you try to figure out the order that Nautique used to build it.

The result is great with some room for improvement.
1. The wakemakers kit has a small hose between the drain pump and the sac to adapt the two. Mine got kinked and it wouldn't drain properly (very slow as the hose was kinked). I need to shorten that hose so it really just connects the two fittings and doesn't have any space in between to kink if the pump is pushed down by the sac.
2. The 750s don't fill fully. Basically they fill up to the height of the vent hole on the side of the boat and then they start to drain. That said, I is probably at least 600lbs a side, which is a big difference. The surf wake with just that side and the belly tank was pretty good, and if I just fill them to that point, there is still room for some junk on top of them, especially on the port side. I'm not going to worry about this yet, but I have heard you can put check valves in that can force it to fill fully, but I really want to get rid of valves, not add more.
3. The starboard engine wall does not seem strong enough to hold the weight back. So the top part that is "split" into two pieces can pop apart and then get pushed up against the hot exhaust manifold. You can mess around and get it back, but if you hit a wave or something it seems to give again. I'm planning on putting in a small piece of aluminum u-channel or something in there that will brace it, but be easy to remove when I need to get at the engine.

But other than the struggle to get the sacs out it was pretty easy. I also had mistakenly re-wired the pumps on the starboard side backwards, so was complaining that it wouldn't fill... then tried to "drain" it and wow, it filled up... I think that was a couple beers into the project.

Seems like a no-brainer project to me now that I have done it.

Doug

[jonsquatch]

As long as you can find a high spot to get the vent above the through hull fitting you could probably add one of these anti-siphon loops so you can get it to fill further.

http://www.wakemakers.com/vented-loop-anti-siphon.html

On my 210 I used a 1" aluminum square tube to support the side wall, I just used a good bi-metal hole saw to open it up big enough that I could put a washer and nut inside and then used an allen head bolt from inside the locker so there are no sharp edges. Works pretty well an I haven't had to remove it to work on the engine at all I can get around it pretty easy, I mounted it just about the mid point on the 750.