Hippo ballast system "Fixing slow fill time"

Spyplane8 · Outlaw Joined: 10 Feb 2003 Posts: 228

Has anyone heard of a good replacement manifold for the hippo ballast system. I have a 02 launch SSV with 10 hours on it. The ballast system fills the front bag really slow. I figured this was from not enough water through the three way manifold. I am not sure what to do to speed it up. Anyone have the golden answer.

w$r az style · Soul Rider Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 384 City: Arizona

it takes me about 8-10mins on my hipo system in my 02'mob v if it takes longer than that there is sometihng worng. get it checked out or replace it. hope this helps.

ohsix · Posted: Mar 26, 2003 1:27 pm Post subject:

i dont have any experience with supra ballast systems but i can think of a few reasons that the front sack may fill slower.

1) the front sack is at a higher elevation than the rear sacs so the rear fills first.
2) the water line going to the front sac isnt as big as the rear sacs or there is some other restriction along the way.
3) if you are driving the boat while you are filling the sacs the water is being forced toward the back of the boat.
4) your pump isnt pumping enough water.

does the front sac begin to fill more quickly after the rear sacs are full? if not then your problem is probably #2. if they do fill quicker after the rear sacs are full then it's probably #1 or #3.

tbarrett · Newbie Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 1

The bad news is you are doing the best you can do with the Hippo system. You can only push a little water thru a one pump manifold with sprinkler valves to direct it. I had a Hippo system last year and it was hard to prime and slow to fill. Our company is introducing a system that uses a manifold with 1000 gph pumps to fill and 1000 gph pumps to empty. It is fully automated with a full flow 1.5" blade valve to isolate the system so over pressure does not occur while driving. If you want to email me I will send you a schematic and system description. The system is called the DownLoad Ballast System by Rival Industries. Terry

Spyplane8 · Outlaw Joined: 10 Feb 2003 Posts: 228

My supra dealer said that he is going to replace it with a new T Valve and any other hardware needed from an 03 SSV to make it fill faster. He is going to do this for nothing.

Cyclonecj · Soul Rider Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 338 City: Atlanta

Make sure that the Rule 1100 supply pump is not sucking flat the inlet hose, and that it is not otherwise obstructed. They use cheap hose in those systems.

C-Stone · Posted: Mar 27, 2003 9:49 pm Post subject:

Try calling Hippo to help Laughing

jlembas · Newbie Joined: 28 Mar 2003 Posts: 13 City: AZ

Thought I would pipe in here to help a few people. This info might not help the original poster since his boat is new, but many people out there may benefit from this info. If your hippo system has slowed over time this is probably the source of the problem. Debris from the water tends to clog the solenoid valves. This will cause slowing and also prevent the valves from fully closing as well. We've seen plenty of boats with this problem (especially here in AZ were the lake levels fluctuate causing the water to get dirty). If you system is just slow, then there could be a million reasons which I am not going to get into here. Check the picture....hope this helps someone.