2016 240 Ballast Setup Question: Valves?

[swatski]

Holy crap, just got the knukonceptz wire this morning - and am beyond impressed!
This premium OFC 4 gauge weights about as much as a 0 awg from a big box store. Nice! And very soft, almost flowing. And not too expensive either, especially considering the quality.
Thanks @Mainah for the recommendation - I will never use anything else and will be replacing several other wires with knu, now that I have it all opened up.


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[Mainah]

You should see their 0 awg. Just make sure you have something to cut it with. A cutoff wheel works if you don't have large half moon style dykes. As for crimping end connectors I used a heavy duty pair of linesman pliers with the center pinch ground crimp inside the jaws and a pair of large box and open end wrenches for leverage.

 

[KXCam22]

You can buy some pretty cheap plastic battery boxes in all kinds of configurations. Might be cheaper than building one. I think century plastic, sold by allbattery.com. Cam.

 

[swatski]

You can buy some pretty cheap plastic battery boxes in all kinds of configurations. Might be cheaper than building one. I think century plastic, sold by allbattery.com. Cam.

Thanks for another good link! I have to look at the exact sizes, I know that the usual battery boxes will not fit the way I want but those from "All Battery" are pretty tight fit.

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[KXCam22]

There are a lot of other makers too with different configs. I wanted one for my TT but they are $50US or $500CAD. Hmmm. Not sure thats a deal. Cam.

 

[swatski]

Wow, that timer thingy is YUGE. I did not expect it, looks nice though!


Here it is next to the thru hull 3" mushroom


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[swatski]

Finished the battery compartment rearrangement, I think it worked out quite well.
I ended up manufacturing an enclosure - space is so limited, I figured that was the best option. Need all the room I can get for the big bag.




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[Mainah]

@swatski - Very nice. I am going to be reviewing this thread when I add bags. Looks like a bunch of work to relocate the hoses but very worth it.

Edit - Forgot to say love the custom battery compartment.

 

[swatski]

I'm making progress, but it is a LOT of work.
I will start a new thread when I'm a bit more advanced and when I know it's working.

I finished what I think was probably one of the most taxing and stressful jobs I have ever done on any boat (and that includes transom rebuilds). I installed the intakes/drains. Very happy with the results, I will fill in the details - there is a lot to it.
Here is just a quick pic or two of the finished product:
(outside - right over the "rudder")




(inside - I'm gonna need a chiropractor, lol)


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[swatski]

Finally - I think I have all the components of my ballast system! Got the pumps and the harnesses today. I ended up getting 4 pumps, which are Wakemakers branded Johnson (Sweden) variety, looking very sturdy and bigger and heavier than I had them pictured.


I also ended up throwing in the towel and getting the custom harnesses built by the Wakemakers, complete with switches, battery/pump extensions, and timers. Really glad I did, actually. Those seem extremely well made, the connectors are very solid. It was an expensive option, but I figured it will save me a lot of grief and simplify any potential troubleshooting.

Here is one set of 4 (all a bit different), this one is for the rear port side bag - 10' battery harness (I'm running power wires to the helm, so 3 out of 4 "battery" harnesses do not need to be very long - going from the power/distribution block to the switch) and then the 30' pump harness to the timer/pump in the port wet compartment:


Hope I will have time to work on it this weekend!

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[swatski]

Made a lot of progress today. But don't see the end, yet...
This is a tough project, but I am so glad I decided to tackle it myself. I go slow, and can stop and rethink layouts etc. Tends to happen a lot.

So glad I converted the wet compartments into pump houses! That is the way to go for sure. I will elaborate.
(I'm just licking my wounds, pretty much encrusted myself in fiberglass).

 

[Britboater]

Don't you ever stop @swatski loving this mod, your AR must be the most modified boat out there!

 

[swatski]

I am so ready to be done... I will say - whatever Wakemakers charge for those installs, they are undercharging, lol.
Dry run tested all electric and plumbing today - all seems to be working! Now just need to connect all the bags, loom all the wiring and clean everything up, it is going to take forever...
Hopefully water testing next weekend.

 

[swatski]

The bags are in! Pics are crappy as I ran out of light.
Center locker, rear strbd, and port (all 800lbs SUMOs):



The switches are incorporated into the dash, I forgot to take a pic. For the auxiliary pump switch (with the quick connect port in the stern/cap), I made a "wand" about 7ft long and stow-able in the wet compartment, along side the aux hose. I can operate the aux switch anywhere in the back of the boat, stern/swim deck. Should be quite handy - until I figure out where to mount the switch permanently:


Cleaned up the electric everywhere, too:

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[KXCam22]

In worst case you can drain the bags into the bilge and use the bilge pump. My first water test was only half successful. Cam.

 

[KXCam22]

Swatski,
Are the hoses at the top of the bags the fill lines? Hard to tell from the pics and I am assuming no vents. You may have trouble draining unless the line is attached at the bottom of the bag. Usually there are top and bottom connections on the bag. The bottom connection is optimum for fill/drain. Glad to see that you are almost done. Cam.

 

[swatski]

Swatski,
Are the hoses at the top of the bags the fill lines? Hard to tell from the pics and I am assuming no vents. You may have trouble draining unless the line is attached at the bottom of the bag. Usually there are top and bottom connections on the bag. The bottom connection is optimum for fill/drain. Glad to see that you are almost done. Cam.

Correct, those are fill/drain, and yes - no vents.

So far only conducted dry runs/testing (with glycerol lubed impellers, only ran those for few seconds at the time, long breaks between reversing flow direction), the plumbing/bags seem to pressurize and hold vacuum as expected. I figured out the flow direction for all the pumps (in my mounting configs) correctly based on watching vids, Wakemakers were not very helpful with that, but all it takes if wrong is to flip the switch body, really.

I have zero valves and no vents in the system, at least so far, so hopefully I am not up for any surprises. Not sure what would it be, but there is always something, isn't that true!? But hopefully I will not need to rely on the bilge pump!

Those new SL bags have ports everywhere, 5 total I think, so I can swap those hose attachments around as needed based on testing. My primary concern is to be able to fill to max capacity, ideally without manual intervention. The port side rear bag is most limited for expansion space available.

Again, thank you for invaluable feedback!

Did you see my heavy duty DIY distribution block, lol? Actually works best, I could not find anything that would work as well.

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[KXCam22]

I liked your distribution blocks. A great way to do it. Cam.

 

[swatski]

Swatski,
Are the hoses at the top of the bags the fill lines? Hard to tell from the pics and I am assuming no vents. You may have trouble draining unless the line is attached at the bottom of the bag. Usually there are top and bottom connections on the bag. The bottom connection is optimum for fill/drain. Glad to see that you are almost done. Cam.

Today was the first fill. Everything went surprisingly well, but I think I will switch the intake/drain ports attachment sites to the bottom in my bags, just like you said. These pumps suck hard, but it was a mixture of water and air at the end when draining.
Fill/ drain times are great, I think, a little over 5min for each 800lbs bag - ski locker and rear strbd, little shorter for the port locker as the batteries prevent complete expansion. I was filling one bag at a time, while drifting with engines on/idling, voltage dropped from 14.3 to 13.5V or so.

Love it so far. Thanks for all the pointers!




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[KXCam22]

Excellent fill times! That shows a well designed system. I also idle the engines as the pumps chew up a fair bit of amphours and the engines are weak on charging. Cam.