X-Star Ballast drain and timers issues..

I have a few annoying ballast issues going on with my XStar. It has done both of these things since it was new but I would love to fix the issues.

!st issue....I get my ballast (stock and pro tour bags) all set up perfectly before my 1st set and then it drains out as I am riding. The wake slowly gets smaller and smaller. I put the new green impellers in and it seemed to help a little bit but it still drains out.

Does anyone have any ideas of how to remedy this? I was thinking about trying to find a lock off to install on the drain out hose. Not sure if I can get to it through the seats. Any other ideas?

l also have a promblem with the ballast timers. They pump for a while and then get to a point where they stop pumping because of the timers. Does anyone know how to program them to run longer or better yet set them to not shut off until I turn them off?


Thanks!!!

Do you have the fly high ballast valves or are you running tank overflow/vent to bags. I'm betting overflow to bags

I htought the green impellers were supposed to fix the siphoning issue. A cutoff on the fill/drain line would work, but would probably be a hassle to get to. I would probably just run the pumps for a little while every time the rider falls.

What year is your xstar? Up to 2007 or 2008, I think the max time on the timers is 5 minutes. From 2008 or 2009 on the timers could be programmed to run for up to 20 minutes. You could also remove the timers and wire in some relays so that the pumps will stay on until you turn them off. This thread should have all of the timer info you need.
http://www.mastercraft.com/teamtalk/...T+TIMER&page=2

Definitely ditch the timers if you have the 5 minute max ones. It's not worth spending the money on the newer timers. The above link is good but the OP didn't really know what he was doing with the relays. You only need 2 relays per pump. Did it at the end of last season on my friend's '07 X2. If you want your switch LEDs to light up you need to replace the SPDT switches with DPDT ones. I can elaborate further if you're interested in de-timering.

For the siphoning issue you could route your fill/drain hoses and your vent hoses up as high as you can get them in the gunwales. So, route a loop of slack up as high as you can which will make it harder for a siphon to start since it would have to overcome gravity first. You might need to get some more hose from WakeMakers to accomplish this.

Also, I would check to make sure you're not loosing it out of your vents vs. it draining back out through the pumps. Not sure where the factory vent locations are on your X-Star but if they are below the tops of your bags and the hose just goes straight to them then you're likely to get a siphon started when you decelerate then they would just sit there and drain until an air pocket gets into the hose. If it is all coming out through the vents you could try try making the hose go "up hill" prior to getting to the vent thru hull. If they still start a siphon you could put a vented loop on the vent hoses. Don't put those on your drain/fill hoses though or you will never be able to drain the bags.

Yeah what Jeff said. If you have the 6 minute timers found on the 2007 MC's you can eliminate them pretty easily. If you have an 08 or newer just reprogram them.

Make that water travel up hill. I wouldn't waste money on the vented loops as they won't really prevent the draining issue. Use more hose if you are getting passive draining through the vents. I am not sure how it would sneak past the green impellers unless the pumps are loose and allowing the shaft to spin.

my buddy has this problem on the timers. yuck. how do we find which wires to mess with? where do i get relays and which ones?

John. You are going to have to PM Jeff or start hitting the MC forums. There is a ton of information and luckily the problem has been solved a couple different ways.

Great info and advice. My boat is a 2009 so 20 min timers should already be installed. It fills OK upon startup but then after that I get the short spurts of water when I try to refill. I might need to shut off the battery switch to reset the system after the 1st full fill up. How long do you have to wait after you turn of the batteries for it to reset? Do you think I should totally disconnect the batteries at home to reset the entire timers system?

I had asked the dealership to set them to run as long as possible. Maybe they messed them up and set them to run shorter rather than longer? The KGB is the worst. Will a full battery disconnect reset everything?


As far as the siphoning issue goes, I will take a look at the drain hose routing. Maybe a raised bump in the line is all I need.

One other quick thing.. I have broken the ballast toggle switches a few times. Does anyone know where I could order some spares? It seems to be a Carlingswitch 0819R.

Thanks again. You guys are a big help!

I think I found the toggle switches. $20 a pop.

http://www.waterskis.com/502260-p/ma..._red_3_pos.htm

That's actually the switch you'd use for your tower/nav lights. I think you'd need this for your ballast with the timers.
http://www.waterskis.com/502259-p/ma...gle_rd_259.htm