2003 210 Ballast recommendations

[03SANTE]

Thoughts on this? For tank use only, divert 3 way valve as normal vent. To fill and drain the bag after the tank starts to spill out, divert the valve to the bag and open the air release plug. Once bag is empty divert back to normal vent line. Would eliminate the need to put corks in the vent line.


https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/it...0666&catid=438

[Beach-TJ]

That might work. Let us know how it goes if you try it. I'm always looking for improvements.

[03SANTE]

I don't see any issues with fill and I'm hoping it will empty the same as yours. That valve has a middle position that locks both directions so I'm thinking it might solve any unwanted emptying while riding, either through the empty line or the vent line. I'll report back if I go through with it.

[Beach-TJ]

The only issue i can see will be keeping a good eye on it while emptying the sack. The pump can collapse the tank without the vent line letting air in. Other than that it looks like a winner.

Can't wait to see how it works out.

[03SANTE]

Edit:

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.

This is the one thing I am not getting...why does water come out the drain hose of the tank? I haven't noticed this when my wedge sacks are manually filled and I would think if it was due to the weight of the bag it could only lose the small amount that the tank would flex. If I use my three way valve I would think after isolating the filled up bag from the tank I wouldn't need to plug either hole. I think I will end up with a full or mostly full bag sitting on a normally vented tank at that point.

[Beach-TJ]

I agree.
I am not sure why water comes out the drain with my setup, but it does. It starts coming out when the sack is less than half full.
I'm fairly certain that the weight of the sack has nothing to do with it. I think it has something to do with how high the water level is with the sack piggybacked.
It will be interesting too see how your setup works. Maybe it won't be an issue.

[Beach-TJ]

I plug the drain hole when i start filling the sack. I don't plug the overflow until the sack is full. I even let the pump run a little bit after the plug is in to completely fill the sack.
You also need to close the fill valve or water will leak out the fill circuit while you ride.

[03SANTE]

I plug the drain hole when i start filling the sack. I don't plug the overflow until the sack is full. I even let the pump run a little bit after the plug is in to completely fill the sack.
You also need to close the fill valve or water will leak out the fill circuit while you ride.

Now I get it. Haven't tied in sacks yet, and yesterday I filled the tanks and sure enough when the factory tanks are close to full the water starts going out the empty hole on its own. As water starts to go through the overflow it is almost a 50/50 split between empty and overflow. So no getting around the corks in the empty line. Do you use an actual cork or an expansion freeze plug? Looking for simple. Will probably just go with your system since I found out that valve constricts flow to under 1/2 inch through the ball valve.

[Beach-TJ]

Cork, cheap and floats.

Just remember it's not a wine bottle, you want to get then out without a Cork screw.

Sorry to hear the valve doesn't work.

This is my setup.

[glassywaters]

Sometimes simple is better. I love my sumo 900s. I bought a couple rubber plugs on amazon and takes 60 seconds to pop them in. I pulled the hard tanks and dropped in the sacs and used the aerators. No issues with drain or fill and it’s plenty fast and works from the dash.


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[homer12]

I think I might know why your bags start to drain back through the drain pump/port when they get to a certain level. I just recently pulled tanks and added bags in my SV211. I noticed the bags wouldn't get full or they'd drain down to a certain level. If the water level in the sac gets to be above the through-hull hole for draining the water level will equalize by draining down to that point. I've made some hose extensions to do a loop from my drain pump up to the top of the gunnel and back down around to the through-hull hole. I hope this makes sense. I'll let you know after this weeknd how it works out.

[homer12]

Didn’t get a chance to check mine this weekend but made the plumbing changes. Did drain hose loops higher than top of bags when full. Looking forward to trying out later


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[03SANTE]

Cork, cheap and floats.

Just remember it's not a wine bottle, you want to get then out without a Cork screw.

Sorry to hear the valve doesn't work.

This is my setup.

No need to mess with your system. It works great! The bags have never been so full and its nice not having water spill out when hooking and unhooking the manual pump. Thanks again for all of the tips and pics to explain it. Finding the corks was the only tricky part but I ordered them from a company called Widgetco.
Now if I can just get off of the rope like my kids...