Rear wet storage stability?

[BigAbe75]

@swatski there was a post I read recently of your ballast pump install. It showed 2 ballast pumps mounted to the sidewall inside your rear wet storage compartment (starboard?).

How stable is that sidewall? How did you mount those? Length of screws?

I’m considering that location for my airhead high volume air inflator for the tube and floating island. It creates a fair amount of vibration, I imagine.

I would also look at inside the engine bay, but someone mentioned that the motor on the air pump could create spark? I guess that would not be desirable inside the engine bay.

Thoughts?

(Tagging @Mainah and @buckbuck for general mounting stuff and electrical experience).

 

[Mainah]

Does it surprise you that I have been there done that? I used the high aft wall of the starboard compartment. Ballast hose worked great to eliminate kinking. I never used the shower and was putting in ballast anyway so I yanked the shower kit and used the hose outlet/cover to store the hose in. I also hooked a relay up to the shower circuit and turn on the pump from the connext with the shower button. The airhead high volume draws some serious amps and I recommend 10 awg.

 

[swatski]

@swatski there was a post I read recently of your ballast pump install. It showed 2 ballast pumps mounted to the sidewall inside your rear wet storage compartment (starboard?).

How stable is that sidewall? How did you mount those? Length of screws?

I’m considering that location for my airhead high volume air inflator for the tube and floating island. It creates a fair amount of vibration, I imagine.

I would also look at inside the engine bay, but someone mentioned that the motor on the air pump could create spark? I guess that would not be desirable inside the engine bay.

Thoughts?

(Tagging @Mainah and @buckbuck for general mounting stuff and electrical experience).

I considered reinforcing that double wall, but after drilling in it decided that that is absolutely not necessary, I have two big @ss Johnson style ballast pumps on each side and they work wonderfully there. Absolutely no concerns as far as structural rigidity and a perfect place for a pump. You could mount a sump pump there without additional enforcement, that’s how strong I feel that inside wall is.
Just make sure you drill in the inside of the double, not the hull side, LOL.

I guess @Mainah beat me to it, but that compartment is vastly under utilized in our boats, in my opinion.

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[swatski]

Does it surprise you that I have been there done that? I used the high aft wall of the starboard compartment. Ballast hose worked great to eliminate kinking. I never used the shower and was putting in ballast anyway so I yanked the shower kit and used the hose outlet/cover to store the hose in. I also hooked a relay up to the shower circuit and turn on the pump from the connext with the shower button. The airhead high volume draws some serious amps and I recommend 10 awg.

View attachment 94667View attachment 94668View attachment 94669

Is this the shower door in the side? OEM?
I need something like that for my aux pump hose - that would be perfect. Otherwise I snake it under the wet comp door but I don’t like that.

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[Mainah]

Is this the shower door in the side? OEM?
I need something like that for my aux pump hose - that would be perfect. Otherwise I snake it under the wet comp door but I don’t like that.

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Yes, OEM for 242 LS. Here is a comparable part as standalone. Baoblaze Marine Boat Transom Wash Down Shower 316 Stainless Steel Lid Cup 97014DSSP Amazon.com: Baoblaze Marine Boat Transom Wash Down Shower 316 Stainless Steel Lid Cup 97014DSSP: Automotive

 

[buckbuck]

@BigAbe75 I used the same air pump as @Mainah for our means of inflating things. The first attempt was mounted in an area where other things were stored. That caused the air intake to be blocked and melted the blower from the heat generated. The one we have now is mounted inside a cheap tool box which breathes easily. It protects the intake and suppresses some of the noise. Like @Mainah said they draw a lot of amps and you will want to design thoughtfully.

 

[RampRage]

Yes, OEM for 242 LS. Here is a comparable part as standalone. Baoblaze Marine Boat Transom Wash Down Shower 316 Stainless Steel Lid Cup 97014DSSP Amazon.com: Baoblaze Marine Boat Transom Wash Down Shower 316 Stainless Steel Lid Cup 97014DSSP: Automotive

Thanks for posting this link. I wanted to run a ballast hose to the rear deck I think this will work perfect.

 

[BigAbe75]

Great! Thanks all for the info.

@Mainah how the heck did you get those 4 screws in, especially the top 2?

I’m going to have to recruit my wife for parts of this project. Lol

 

[Mainah]

Great! Thanks all for the info.

@Mainah how the heck did you get those 4 screws in, especially the top 2?

I’m going to have to recruit my wife for parts of this project. Lol

I am 42 and have a slimmer build. Broad shoulders don’t help but wrestling with my son from time to time has helped me contort them (painfully at times). The screws are actually bolts that are through bolted which was quite the trick. I used a cardboard template to mark where the holes needed to be and taped it on. There may have been some choice words involved.

 

[BigAbe75]

I am 42 and have a slimmer build. Broad shoulders don’t help but wrestling with my son from time to time has helped me contort them (painfully at times). The screws are actually bolts that are through bolted which was quite the trick. I used a cardboard template to mark where the holes needed to be and taped it on. There may have been some choice words involved.

Hmm... How do you reach the back side? Through the speaker hole, I guess??

Thanks for all the info! I’m looking forward to giving this a try.

 

[Mike & Lilly]

I wonder if you could T both bilge pumps to the same drain?

 

[Mainah]

Hmm... How do you reach the back side? Through the speaker hole, I guess??

Thanks for all the info! I’m looking forward to giving this a try.

Yep speaker hole.

 

[swatski]

I wonder if you could T both bilge pumps to the same drain?

Wouldn’t be the greatest setup without valves, which would then provide possible failure points (most of them are kind of cheap) and obstruct the flow anyway.
Aerator style pumps don’t act as valves, unlike reversible ones.
I would keep the bilge pumps circuits fully independent for redundancy.

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[BigAbe75]

Ok, this is in progress. Some pics in no particular order.

This is the connector for my Aux button on the helm. How the heck do these work? I see no metal pins inside for crimping or anything?


Here’s what I’m using. I’ll attach air hose here using a garden hose fitting.


Wife drilling the holes for me. Made a template from cutting board and will use that to mount pump to add a little reinforcement.




Another pic of quick connector.

 

[BigAbe75]

Making progress. Ran out of time last night to tackle the wiring. But, it’s mounted and plumbed.

Good news! The stock cables reach all the way to the battery, so I can still use the pump this weekend.

Shoot! Just realized it was dark when I finished and I didn’t take a pic of it buttoned back up.





I think I did decide on a location for the switch, though. I’m going to put it the starboard wall right behind the captains chair (below the cup holders). Was trying to have it out of the way, but still easy to access for the helper (kids) to turn on/off for me.

 

[swatski]

Making progress. Ran out of time last night to tackle the wiring. But, it’s mounted and plumbed.

Good news! The stock cables reach all the way to the battery, so I can still use the pump this weekend.

Shoot! Just realized it was dark when I finished and I didn’t take a pic of it buttoned back up.

View attachment 96880

View attachment 96881

I think I did decide on a location for the switch, though. I’m going to put it the starboard wall right behind the captains chair (below the cup holders). Was trying to have it out of the way, but still easy to access for the helper (kids) to turn on/off for me.

I like the idea for the switch location.
I’ve been looking for one for my auxiliary ballast pump switch (have it in a “wand” now) and this I did not consider.
Can post pics when you mount it?

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[BigAbe75]

I like the idea for the switch location.
I’ve been looking for one for my auxiliary ballast pump switch (have it in a “wand” now) and this I did not consider.
Can post pics when you mount it?

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You bet. Probably be next week, unless we get some downtime this weekend.