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Last week I had the pleasure of skiing with some friends behind their new 2006 Team 216 up at Lake Shuswap near Kamloops about 3 hours northeast of Vancouver BC, Canada. The boat had only 3.5 hours on the clock when I arrived, they had only had it out once, so we might as well consider it the maiden voyage. In the past I have expressed my dissatisfaction with Correct Craft's choice to use impeller pumps in the 2006 ballast systems. I may have been a bit too quick to judge.
This team edition boat was equipped with the Port and Starboard rear ballast tanks complete with helm gauges and electronic controls from the dashpod. The system worked fine the first day but one gauge quit working and they would not empty on day two. As a Planet Nautique regular I had expected to have these issues since I have read where others have had these troubles. Before my buddy became too irritated with his new boat, I had located the gauge wires that had pulled loose at their connections and the blown fuse. A quick call to the dealer confirmed my plan to fix the issues.
It seems that the fuses near the pumps blow before the circuit breakers at the helm, possibly a design oversight. So, to fix the problem we replaced the fuses at the rear of the boat with larger fuses as recommended by the dealer, the blown 20A AGC fuses came out and new 30A fuses went in (if the boat was not 1100 miles from my home I would have tried 25A fuses first). The dealer said that the circuit breakers should protect the wiring so the upsize fuses should be OK. Next, I replaced the poorly attached factory quick disconnects with some blue bullet quick disconnects sourced from the local auto parts store. The system was back up and running.
The new systems have a run-dry protection feature that shuts off the pumps when the gauge reads empty. This is good as long as it's correctly calibrated. It appeared that this 216's port tank was operating as designed. The Starboard tank seemed to be empty before the gauge read empty thus eliminating this run-dry feature. This feature can also prevent the tanks from emptying if a gauge wire comes loose.
After a few more days I learned to like the new ballast system, it seemed to operate quite well. It was nice just dealing with switches instead of valves and switches as I do on my 2005. Would I convert my boat over to the new system? No. But I don't think it's worth converting the new systems back to aerator pumps either. Both systems have their advantages/dis-advantages but I would say they are equal once you make a the few tweaks required.
Tips for operating 2006 ballast systems:
DO - become familiar with the fuse location at the pumps
DO - keep spare fuses on board
DO - check the gauge wiring for lose connections by pulling on the wires at the plugs
DO - start the engine to raise the voltage (reduce the amperage) before running the pumps
DO - watch the gauges when emptying the tanks/become familiar with thier reading and when the tanks are truly empty
DO- learn to listen to the pumps when they SOUND like they are running out of water (emptying tanks)
DO NOT - start all pumps at the same moment (wait a few seconds then start the second/third pumps)
DO NOT - run the pumps with the engine off
DO NOT - allow the pumps to run dry
Ideally you could ignore all these tips and have your system operate correctly but it's likely you will experience a failure at sometime somewhere in the system. Unfortunately these systems are still not perfected so these few guidelines may help to keep you enjoying your boat on the water and less time at the dealer or wrenching on it yourself.
This team edition boat was equipped with the Port and Starboard rear ballast tanks complete with helm gauges and electronic controls from the dashpod. The system worked fine the first day but one gauge quit working and they would not empty on day two. As a Planet Nautique regular I had expected to have these issues since I have read where others have had these troubles. Before my buddy became too irritated with his new boat, I had located the gauge wires that had pulled loose at their connections and the blown fuse. A quick call to the dealer confirmed my plan to fix the issues.
It seems that the fuses near the pumps blow before the circuit breakers at the helm, possibly a design oversight. So, to fix the problem we replaced the fuses at the rear of the boat with larger fuses as recommended by the dealer, the blown 20A AGC fuses came out and new 30A fuses went in (if the boat was not 1100 miles from my home I would have tried 25A fuses first). The dealer said that the circuit breakers should protect the wiring so the upsize fuses should be OK. Next, I replaced the poorly attached factory quick disconnects with some blue bullet quick disconnects sourced from the local auto parts store. The system was back up and running.
The new systems have a run-dry protection feature that shuts off the pumps when the gauge reads empty. This is good as long as it's correctly calibrated. It appeared that this 216's port tank was operating as designed. The Starboard tank seemed to be empty before the gauge read empty thus eliminating this run-dry feature. This feature can also prevent the tanks from emptying if a gauge wire comes loose.
After a few more days I learned to like the new ballast system, it seemed to operate quite well. It was nice just dealing with switches instead of valves and switches as I do on my 2005. Would I convert my boat over to the new system? No. But I don't think it's worth converting the new systems back to aerator pumps either. Both systems have their advantages/dis-advantages but I would say they are equal once you make a the few tweaks required.
Tips for operating 2006 ballast systems:
DO - become familiar with the fuse location at the pumps
DO - keep spare fuses on board
DO - check the gauge wiring for lose connections by pulling on the wires at the plugs
DO - start the engine to raise the voltage (reduce the amperage) before running the pumps
DO - watch the gauges when emptying the tanks/become familiar with thier reading and when the tanks are truly empty
DO- learn to listen to the pumps when they SOUND like they are running out of water (emptying tanks)
DO NOT - start all pumps at the same moment (wait a few seconds then start the second/third pumps)
DO NOT - run the pumps with the engine off
DO NOT - allow the pumps to run dry
Ideally you could ignore all these tips and have your system operate correctly but it's likely you will experience a failure at sometime somewhere in the system. Unfortunately these systems are still not perfected so these few guidelines may help to keep you enjoying your boat on the water and less time at the dealer or wrenching on it yourself.
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