AutoBallast System Install w/Pictures

tommyadrian5 · Addict Joined: 16 Sep 2003 Posts: 907

After seeing Jeff Lind's post on the ballast system he put in his boat, which is very similar to mine, I decided to go ahead and try to put an autoballast system in my boat. My subjective and objective goals were, 1,800 lbs in less than 10 minutes (i'll explain this later), no more messing with shitty pumps and getting water all over the boat, being able to control where water went, for if i ever take up surfing, having everything (not the sacs, but the plumbing) hidden, not drilling a hole in my hull (for now, might do it if this thing works well), and being able to control it with a flip of the switch on the bow.

Thanks to Jeff Lind's innovative thinking, I too had a bracked made by a metal fabricator to mount the pump to my ski pylon bracket, which also gives it a great feed from the T i put in my raw water hose. I know i will only be able to fill it with the boat at idle, but that's fine because where we ride 90% of the time we go through 2 looonngggg 6 mph zones under bridges to get to, and i plan on filling it while we're going through those. It won't be the fastest system, but i wasn't looking for that as much for simplicity, ease of use, cost (around $400 total), and flexibility.

As of now it has an outlet hose in the trunk, 1 on each side of the engine, and one in the bow. I plan on running a 550 in the trunk, 2 550's on the engine sides, and a 350 plus 200 in lead in the bow. If i have alot of people i can easily disconnect the side sacs, remove them, and hide their hoses out of sight for more people room. I figure i'll only use the side sacs if we are lacking in people.

I ran the hose for the side sacs and trunk sac out the vent in the engine cover. Depending on how well this thing works i may drill a hole in the floor under the rear seat for this but wanted to makes sure everything worked alright before doing anythign permanent.

There are ball valves on every sac hose so i can shut off any section of the system i'm not using or to put more in one section than another.

I used a Jabsco Ballast Puppy, so it is a positive displacement sealed system, meaning once the bags are burped once i wont have to do it again, and the system fills and empties through the same lines. The dash switch fit right into one of my unused accessory switch holes. Couldn't try it out yesterday, weather was terrible, but next weekend looks nice so i'll be able to at least throw it in the water and check out the system for leaks and functionality, as well as my new PPass WB Pro, which i finished on saturday. Here are some pictures, i'm glad to answer and questions and look forward to any comments.

tommyadrian5 · Addict Joined: 16 Sep 2003 Posts: 907

more pics

matticus · Newbie Joined: 08 Aug 2003 Posts: 25 City: Vancouver

The system looks awesome! I'm actually looking to do something very similar.

What kind of boat do you have? I love the idea of having a sac in the trunk on a DD, but i have a 197 and apparently the weight is too much... Still trying to figure out a way around that.

Will the system turn off when the sacs are full, or does it require constant monitoring?

tommyadrian5 · Addict Joined: 16 Sep 2003 Posts: 907

I have a 99 Sportstar, which is the same boat as the 98 Prostar 195 Open Bow.

I put a BG 550 LB sac in the trunk an fill it until it is tight in there, there isn't enough room to fill it completely, i'd guess it adds about 400 or 450 lbs.

How is it too much weight? Unless you mean pushing on the gas tank, that's why i don't fill mine all the way. I was thinking about having a custom sac made by boarders paradise, but we'll see.

The system requires monitoring, due to its setup each bag will not fill evenly. But once a bag is getting full it should be enough pressure that most of the water flow is directed at whichever sac is not full. I can also adjust the ball valves to restrict flow so the bags fill up more evenly and can shut them off when a bag is full. It does require monitoring.

In addition, i think i'm going to try to get some sort of switch cover so the system can't accidentally be turned on and over fill the system (like the covers for "self destruct" switches in movies). The pump is loud so if you are idling you would hear it, but i don't want to starve the engine of water while its cruising.

actiondcpd · Posted: Apr 12, 2004 8:48 am Post subject:

Looks pretty sweet. Where did you get that baller-style tubing? Is it 3/4"??

tommyadrian5 · Addict Joined: 16 Sep 2003 Posts: 907

1" inner diameter hose, i believe they call it vacuum hose because its reinforced so it can't collapse on itself under pressure. Got it at west marine.

matticus · Newbie Joined: 08 Aug 2003 Posts: 25 City: Vancouver

Yeah, the weight issue has to do with placing pressure on the gas tank. I want to throw a sac in the trunk, but I don't know if I'll do damage. Do you know how much weight can go in there before it damages the tank?

tommyadrian5 · Addict Joined: 16 Sep 2003 Posts: 907

I just fill mine up until it gets sort of hard, the good thing is that i have coverless sacs that slide under the back seat (i removed the divider) when they fill, so there is never too much pressure on the gas tank.