Details of Ballast System in 2006 SV211

[TechBeer]

Attached is a write up I did (with pictures) detailing the ballast system in the SV211 that would likely apply to other Nautiques of this era. Included are ways to bypass the Ballast Control system allowing you to empty your tanks even when there is an issue. Hope this helps someone and let me know if you have any questions. I did not go through every last bit of wiring in my boat so I had to make a few "educated" assumptions. Please feel free to correct any errors or omissions. Ballast System in 2006 Nautique SV211.pdf

[MTRBTR]

Very nice thanks!

[MTRBTR]

So if you do the bypass #3 your gauges wont work and will always read "full" correct? Not a big deal. Just trying to understand. My sending unit went bad on my belly tank this weekend and bypassing them all seems like a good idea.

[wakefan]

Wow! Nice work. I have a somewhat related question for you since you seem incredibly smart on the subject. On my 2009 230, my ballast gauges will initially stay at zero upon turning the ballast pumps on. If I cycle them, they will indicate whatever is in the tank for the rest of the day. But for that initial power up, they show zero until power is cycled. My friend's 2008 220 seems to do the same thing as well. Any idea why? Thanks!

[Robman]

Hey guys new to the site - great content for a rookie like me. I need to replace the drain ballast pump on the belly tank of a 2003 SANTE, can someone post a pic. Being the rookie that I am I did not take a pic before removed the old unit. A pic of the tank installed and the electrical connector would be much appreciated.

[jkallen21]

This is a super great guide. Wow I wish I had had this when I was struggling with this earlier this summer. I made a video showing what I had learned. It's here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDaHGbA97ug
At 1:36 in the video, I show how to create a jumper wire for each ballast. I'm curious if there was a reason you didn't opt for this over building the jumper box? It just seems simpler so I'm wondering if there is an electrical reason to not do it this way?

Thanks!

[MTRBTR]

JK. I have seen your videos also and they are very helpful.
One thing about the jumper box is that you could keep one in your glove box and then if you have problems on the water, quickly plug it in and you are done. No opening the hatch or floor and messing around with pumps and such. I plan on making a couple and keeping them for that purpose. Also alot cheaper than buying new sending units all the time! Might just leave it in the next time.

[MTRBTR]

Made a plug last night and it worked perfectly.

[TechBeer]

Sorry but I was offline for a few days. To answer what I think are the questions above.
1. The bypass plug simply bypasses the "ballast controller", also referred to as "run dry module" in some other posts. It does NOT affect the operation of the analog ballast gauges in any way. If you look closely at the wiring diagram you'll see that the ballast controller is actually "downstream" of the gauges. So, if your gauges worked before they will work after installing the bypass plug. In my case: Belly gauge works, Starboard sort of works/intermittent (bad sender), and Port does not work at all (sender wiring?). But I can fill and empty them no problem.
2. Wakefan - Not sure what is going on there. When the ignition is off the gauges will not work because there is no power to them. If you disconnect one of the senders at the tank, that particular gauge will read below empty because the resistance is infinite (open wire). If the sender fails the gauge will stay at empty. Hope that helps. BTW, you may have a different system than mine since you have a 2008/2009 boat.
3. Jkallen21 - Excellent Video, I wish I had watched that before taking my boat apart :-) I searched high and low for material on this subject and didn't find a heck of a lot. Jumpering the sender unit as a debug technique is actually very smart. What this does is make the resistance of that sender essentially zero which would give you a "full tank" reading. Actually likely above full reading but I did not try this. If you read my document ~65 ohms is about full, so anything lower is really full. Anyway, one option if you only had 1 sender bad would be to create plug that jumpered the 2 contacts together. Or if you wanted to get cute you could put a 65 ohm resistor between the contacts which would emulate a full tank. However, the ballast controller is still in play. It just seems to me if you are going to bypass 1 tank you might as well bypass them all. The bypass plug I describe is pretty easy to construct and is a permanent solution.

[sfrasernz]

The link to the PDF isn't working anymore. Are any of the mods to assist in tracking this down please? I have a SV211 and sounds like a document I should keep on file. Thanks

[NautiqueJeff]

The link works fine for me. It downloaded the file right to my computer.

[TechBeer]

It worked for me as well. If you still can't get it let me know and I can post to Google Doc or something.

[MTRBTR]

Pm me also if you need it. I have it downloaded

[MN Ryan]

As I wallow in self-pity (we saw snow in MN today), I'm daydreaming of warmer weather already. I've unsuccessfully asked TechBeer and NautiqueJeff about this: I have an '07 SV-211TE. Can anyone confirm that the '07 has the same run-dry ballast control module that TechBeer has pictured in his guide (from '06)? Mine is tucked away for the winter.

[MTRBTR]

Nope the 2006 system was a one year wonder.