Ballast System needs HELP - Can anyone help???

Hey guys (and gals) -

Took the boat to Lake Chelan (Central Washington area) for the week. It was moored all week. The boat ran great and we all surfed and boarded all week long. However, my problem will is the ballast system and the length it takes to fill my sacs. I have 2 of the BI ProX Fat Sacs (750lbs ea.) in the rear storage lockers and a custom BI ProX sac in the ski locker (400lbs.) In the spring, I did some changes to the ballast system which included:

1) changing the output hoses to 1" diameter from the .75" diameter ones that came stock.
2) inverted the center and port ballast puppy pumps so the impeller was below the motor - same configuration the starboard side pump is mounted from the factory.
3) routed the fill/drain hoses to fill and drain from the top of the sac rather than from the bottom.

Here are my problems.

1) fill times are still around 30 minutes - unacceptable to me.
2) draining from the top takes for ever

Does anyone have any thoughts?

I am thinking of getting rid of the manifold and connect the hoses directly to each pump. I believe the manifold is not able to feed the pumps with enough water. In fact, I can only fill one rear sac at a time because the two pumps "fight" over the water from the manifold.

The boat is a 2002 X30 with the L-18 engine.

Tom,
I only have one ballast puppy pump and it fills my 2 750# bags and two 220# hard tanks in less than 15 minutes. I only have .75" diameter hoses. I think that you are correct about the manifold not feeding the pumps with enough water.

Tom, I have 2 750# that I fill with a tsunami pump and even filling and draining from the top only take about 10 - 15 minutes. I would agree with austin that it must not be getting enough water.

I was in chelan last week. I just love that water compared to Lake Wa. The only bad part was all the logs in the water.

See if the shut off valve before the manifold is closed partially, then check for clogs in the hose that feeds the manifold.

750# is 90 gals. These pumps do about 10 gals a min. Jabso flow rates are at 12v so if the engine is running they will pump even faster. So if its taking any more then 10min you have a problem. If i was you i would take out Mastercrafts funky ballast diverter manifold and pump it like mastercraft does in the 07's. In and out the bottom. Fill and empty with one hose from the bottom. Vent out from the top. Just watch the bags so you'll when they are full and empty. The diverter manifolds are just extra resistance in the system. If you are interested in buying a prebuilt manifold the 07 MC one is pretty slick. Its a 12" x 4" x 3" piece of plastic that has one inlet (i think 1 1/2") and three outlets 1" all threaded. With mounting holes drilles through. Or you can build it out of brass fittings.

(Message edited by masonwakerider on July 08, 2007)