212x Ballast not filling

[dansshin]

It seems my ballast system isn't quite working as only small amount of water is getting in on driver side and nothing on the other side.

Any thought on how to troubleshoot? I've tried with both engine on and off.

 

[dansshin]

I can hear the pump running but I'm seeing very little water being sucked in. Where is the outside of the intake hose located at? It looks like it's going below the driver side engine towards the back some where.

Do I need to manually open something?

 

[dansshin]

I think I found the valve to open the intake.

 

[buckbuck]

On my 212X there is no valve to open. The water come in from the screened thru hull to the pump and then to the bags. You can see the water being pumped in the clear-ish hoses. Did you get your issue resolved?

 

[dansshin]

@buckbuck Kind of. I got some water filled but it seems like I have room for more but I can't get it to fill more. I see the Ballast light blinking 6 times after little bit of running the pump.

It seems this is not functioning properly. I had my wife turn on and off the ballast while I had my hand in the intake hole and zi felt the water come out and in so not sure why it won't take more.

 

[dansshin]

I ran it throughout the day to get the bags pretty full. I just had to run it few times to get the thing filled and it's slower than I expected. I still think it's not working totally right but I'm not sure what exactly may be the issue as pump runs and I can feel the water go in and out the hole by the driver side jet. Emptying seems to work as expected though.

Any how something that my whole family discovered today was that no one seem to be able to get up on the wake board with ballasts full. It was strange as all of the sudden no one could get up out of the water. I just thought everyone was having a bad day until I tried and I couldn't get up either. Normally I get up every time. My wife suggested we empty the ballasts and sure enough I was able to get up.

Good news is I did feel like boat with both stock ballasts full created bigger wake in the back so may be enough for wake surfing for us. Won't know for sure until I get a surf board and we give it a try. I'm pretty sure though if it isn't convenient for us to get things setup we won't stick with it for long.

 

[itsdgm]

@dansshin, I don't have a ballast setup in my boat "yet". But doesn't the factory setup have different fill levels. Kind of like, push the button once and get 1/2 full, push it twice and get 3/4, etc? Would that explain your issue?

Again, I'm just throwing out an idea, I really have no knowledge how it was intended to work.

Hope you figure it out soon

 

[jcyamaharider]

Your ballast pump impeller may be bad. You only fill your ballast when you are not moving right? You cannot fill your ballast while moving( too fast ) because your intake would be out of the water.

 

[buckbuck]

The ballast system on our boats does indeed have a means of filling it more by turning the switch off and then on again. Read the manual to get specific info on how to operate. And pull the cup holder in the rear corner to check how full the tanks are. It is possible to overfill them.

 

[spatty99]

Total guess, but I think I remember reading that the intake has a shut off valve, but it is in the clean out tray compartment, so you wouldn't see it unless you pulled things apart a bit. Logic was that some regulation required a shut off for through hull fittings, and Yamaha picked a bad spot for it.

 

[buckbuck]

Hmmm...can't say I have combed every inch of the fill line but I've been under the waterbox hatch several times and don't recall seeing any valves. Do you think they are doing that on the newer models?