2003 210 Ballast recommendations

[03SANTE]

Old topic but looking for current opinions. 2003 SANTE 210 with all factory tanks and pumps working. Trying to decide between doing Wakemakers 550 tankbuster upgrade into current plumbing or wondering if Fly High 400lb wedge sacks will sit nicely on top of factory tanks. That would get me 660 per side and with the new Tsunami manual pump that is way faster than stock pumps I could fill the two extra bags well within the time my factory tanks are filling.

I know what I will get if I do the tankbuster upgrade so mainly asking if anyone is running the wedge bags on top of the factory tanks and if there are any issues with that.
Thanks for any advice!

[Phil8uga]

IMO the best thing about the tank buster upgrade is the extra space. The only downside to the OG210 is not having enough space. Other than the OG210 has to be one of the best boats Nautique ever made.


Sent from my iPhone using PLT Nautique

[glassywaters]

Pull the tanks and add Sumo 900s...otherwise 750s or Sumo 800 trapezoid. Those hard tanks take up so much space. Wakemakers offers a nice tank buster option to plug into factory and add bags. Only thing is you have to watch for us the bag siphoning. If you surf a lot sumo 900s help the surf wake.

[03SANTE]

Thanks! Space isn't a priority since we usually just take what we need for the trip out and we do like the tanks and gauges for wakeboarding. I mainly want to see if anyone else has tried laying the wedge sacks on top of the wedge tanks. I'm guessing they were made for that but not sure about what years it works with. With the new Tsunami Supa pump I figure we can fill a 400 pounder in a few minutes.

[core-rider]

I ran Wedge sacs to top of the wedge tanks for years and it works, but honestly there are much better ways! Remove the tanks if you want more than factory ballast... replace with sacs of your choice, but 750 seems to be the best fitting IMHO. I replaced the rear tanks with 750 sacs plumbed to the factory pumps. Slower to fill, but I'm not looking to fill in 3 minutes anyway. 1000# triangle sac in front and you instantly have 2500# of ballast that make the wakeboard wake as good as it gets for similar sized boats.

I don't really wakesurf much, but a wakeshaper is really the only way to get a truly decent wake with this hull and ballast.

Here is a link to a small write up I did when I replaced mine... https://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/f...allast-upgrade

[Beach-TJ]

I run the 440lbs fly high wedge sacks on top of the factory wedge tanks. Works well. I kept the hards tanks as we mainly wakeboard with my boat and factory ballast is all my crew needs or wants. If you will always use the sacs then your probably better off pulling the tanks and using 750s.

And yes, the wedge sacks are 440lbs, not 400 or 260 lbs as you will see on various sites, including fly highs.

Also, 750s, don't know why Wakemakers doesn't fix that. The 550s are for pre 2003, or is it pre 2002...

Edit: if you plan to manually fill the wedge sacks then they should work as well as pulling the tanks and using 750s.

[Beach-TJ]

Edit: Just realized you were not looking to piggyback the fill/drain to the hard tanks. What i talk about below only applies if you piggyback.

Issues, there are some running the wedge sacks.

I use plugs, cheap $1 corks, to plug the rear drain and overflow holes when filling and in use, otherwise the sacks will not fill completely and will empty as you ride. You could use valves instead.

When emptying You have to watch the the sacks don't collapse and block air flow and cause the tanks to collapse.

These are the reasons pulling the tanks can be a good idea if you only surf, or wakeboard slammed.

[03SANTE]

So I settled on the Fly High wedge sacs and now we are surfing! TJ was correct as the box stated 440 so we are at 700 a side with factory tanks. Also picked up a fat brick for another easy to move 155. Last part a mission delta and some riders in the bow and it's very respectable. Pretty easy to fill too and we still had some space for life jackets and the Tsunami pump on top. I also feel that going this way eliminates the need to reinforce the engine dividers as the sacs are rock solid on top of the tanks.
Thanks for all of the different ideas!

If I did tie them in with the overflow lines, how would they empty? Saw a lot of different info on PN but seemed like emptying was tricky.

[Beach-TJ]

I pull the corks from the overflow and drain ports ( see above for why there there ) and hit the empty buttons for the rear tanks.
Just have to watch when the sacks get empty that they don't create a vacuum and collapse the tanks. For that reason i have quick connects to the sacks and i disconnect the overflow line between the sack and tank when the sack is empty, then the tank will continue to empty without worry.
For wakeboarding i have a short line i use, with the quick disconnects, to bypass the sacks so i don't have to worry about anything.

[03SANTE]

Thanks. So do you fill to the opening on top of the thick end of the wedge sack? I'm thinking if you filled at the upper thin end you wouldn't get much draining. Also which opening do you vent from on the bag? I was so intent on manually filling then we hit the water and I started thinking...

[Beach-TJ]

First pic is bypassed. Stern is to the left of pic.


Second is ready to fill and drain.


Third pic, This port goes to the bow connection on the bag.


Last pic, This port is connected to the stock hose that goes to the overflow port in the hull.

[Beach-TJ]

Believe it or not, the bags will completely empty.

[03SANTE]

Wow...thanks for the details! I'm not with my boat during the week, do you happen to know the hose size of the original vent line and tank/thru hull fittings? I'm assuming you just used that size for all of your plumbing, correct? And do you have the same 2 pump/tank system as the 03's?

[Beach-TJ]

3/4 inch.
And yes, i used that size for all of it. Did not see a reason to go larger as both ends will be 3/4 inch no matter what i did.
2 pumps per side, one fill, one empty. Total of 4 pumps for the rear.

[03SANTE]

Great instructions! I'm guessing to be on the safe side you could just bypass the bags as soon as they are empty to not have to worry about the tanks collapsing as they empty. Pretty cool system.