Gravity III ballast system sprinkler valves?

[zroutt]

I am thinking that my sprinkler valves are not functioning properly. When I turn on any one of my three switches for left, right, or front ballasts, they all fill up. Not necessarily a bad thing but it would be nice to just fill up the center and left for surfing which is what we are doing most of the time.

My question is are the sprinkler valves serviceable or should I just replace them? If replace them do I go back to Moomba and get the oem valves or should I look at a whole new setup?

Also does the water pump ever need servicing, new impeller, cleaning? Seems very slow to fill but then again I do have 2600#'s of ballast. It just sucks because I have to fill all three and then dump the right ballast bag for surfing. Takes about a half an hour total time.

[kaneboats]

The sprinkler valves have a switch on them. It's black and right on top. Try using the other position and see if it prevents them all from filling at once. Also, the best bang for the buck mod you can do is to add a T and a second Rule (or other like Tsunami) pump. Here's a pic. I also built a new manifold with an extra inlet for the line from the second pump.

[zroutt]

Ok I will hook up my fake a lake today and try out those switches. I had see those on their before, and should have thought of using them on the lake this past weekend. I assume the Rule pump is the factory pump on there? Do they get worn out? Do they ever need replaced?

[kaneboats]

I've never heard of one being replaced. The RULE 2000 (really only 1200 gph) is the stock fill pump. I had two extras I bought over the winter a couple of years ago that I used to throw over the side for my Outback's bags. I put one on the TEE and the other one is sitting in a box waiting for my next mod. I might make it the drain pump for the 750 bag.

[zroutt]

If I am going to do a mod to this setup would it be worth while to get two more pumps and just dedicate a pump to each bag? Or should I look your way of doing a tee off the hull intake and fix the sprinkler valves?

[kaneboats]

It's been done both ways on here. I usually only fill my surf side 750 and the front/center bag for surfing so the two pumps gets me full in about 8 min. We usually fill only the center bag for wakeboarding. If you are going to fill two 750's in the rear and a 400 in the center then you should consider a pump dedicated to each bag. You will probably need to drill a few more holes in the bottom of the hull. Not for the faint of heart but can certainly be done. You just have to decide. Wakemakers can give you some serious help with finding your intakes, equipment, etc. for the switchover.

[zroutt]

I am not one for drilling into the hull of my boat. Have a hard enough time drilling in the glove box let alone through the hull.

I like your mod of the two pumps off the one intake into the manifold. Might have to look at that this winter. For now I will try the little manual switch on the valve and see if that helps fill the center and surf vlocker bags faster.

Are these valves serviceable? I mean can I take them apart and clean them. My gut tells me that the guys I bought the boat from only used it for skiing and filled the ballasts twice when they owned the boat. So I am assuming they might be stuck open or something and hopefully taking them apart will fix it. If they can be taken apart and put back together safely.

[mmandley]

Yes you can disasemble the sprinkler valves and cleam them. Also you can buy them at Home Depot in the irrigation section. There have been some mods to replace the factory sprinler valves with Iritoll valves as these have better flow rates as well.

I have to upgrade my ballast system this winter, not sure what route but theres a good chance im drilling holes in my boat. Nothing new for me as i have drilled a lot of holes in my baby LOL.

[kaneboats]

You can try to clean them out. They do come apart. If you decide to replace them they are about $16 at Home Depot. But, you are way better off replacing with Irritrol 700 series valves-- they have more flow because when open they do not obstruct the flow at all. I put one on my surf bag for better flow.

[zroutt]

Might be taking them out tonight and going to the hardware store. I looked at the Irrotrol 700's and they are 24v. Is that ok running on a 12v system?

[mmandley]

Yes they run fine on a 12v system as well.

[zroutt]

Sweet, probably time to upgrade.

[zroutt]

I don't think I am going to find Irritrol around here. Is RainBird and Orbit all the same? I see they have similar setups to the Irritrol as I look at Lowes.com which is our major hardware store in my town.

[bergermaister]

Slightly off topic, but I'd still like to see how well that new 1180 of yours fits in the basement...

[zroutt]

Posted in my "First Surf" thread. Last post on there right now are some pix of the 750's and the 1180 almost filled all the way up. Still plenty of room to put the walkthrough down and they storage up front as you will see in one of the pix still isn't bad either. The very bow of the bag won't fill all the way up under the playpen.

https://forum.moomba.com/showthread.php?16179-First-Surf/page2

[bergermaister]

Thanks! Missed that one somehow. Man, that is tighter than I thought it would be. Your rear compartments fit great, but that front one is sure bunched up under the playpen. Maybe I'll just leave well enough alone with the 750 in there on mine.

[zroutt]

That isn't filled up all the way either, if that makes a difference. Tell you what, I will take new pix once I get these valves all figured out and can just pump one bag at a time and share that with ya. Then you could make a more informed decision.

[deafgoose]

I don't think I am going to find Irritrol around here. Is RainBird and Orbit all the same? I see they have similar setups to the Irritrol as I look at Lowes.com which is our major hardware store in my town.

Order them online.

Ever since I upgraded to Irritrol valves, I haven't experienced a single issue. Total piece of mind.

[cab13367]

If I am going to do a mod to this setup would it be worth while to get two more pumps and just dedicate a pump to each bag? Or should I look your way of doing a tee off the hull intake and fix the sprinkler valves?

Honestly, I wouldn't spend any money on different sprinkler valves. With as much ballast as you are using, you should really look into getting rid of the sprinkler valves altogether and going with a separate fill pump for each bag which is what many of us have done. But you have to address autofilling and autodraining issues. Best thing to do is talk to wakemakers.com to find out what your options are.

[zroutt]

Well that was an interesting and somewhat education evening in the world of ballast controls and sprinkler valves.

So it turns out that I have one bad solenoid on the starboard side vdrive bag. The other two solenoids are fine and operational. The issue came down to this. When I first got the boat home a couple of weeks ago, the previous owner never used the bags or he says twice. The two vdrive bags had holes in them and leaked like the hoover dam. But in my figuring all this out, I turned the three valves to manual on. DOH!!!! That is why all three bags would fill up at the same time. I remember doing so because I couldn't get the starboard side bag to fill, so I hit the manual override to on, on all three valves thinking that was the issue.

So now knowing how these valves work and don't work. I have one bad valve/solenoid, and two valves that are in pretty bad shape. I went to my local hardware store lastnight and got three new valves ready to drop in.

But before I go and do that I look at the web for Irritrol valves, to get a cost based analysis if I should go that route. Cheapest I could find is $54bucks a piece. I am all for ordering those, if they will improve my fill times enough to justify.

So I ask those on this forum, is it worth it to go to Irritrol, or do I just stick with what I have purchased? I am also going to call wakemakers today and talk to them about the possibility, and setup of a three pump system.

[cab13367]

Well that was an interesting and somewhat education evening in the world of ballast controls and sprinkler valves.

So it turns out that I have one bad solenoid on the starboard side vdrive bag. The other two solenoids are fine and operational. The issue came down to this. When I first got the boat home a couple of weeks ago, the previous owner never used the bags or he says twice. The two vdrive bags had holes in them and leaked like the hoover dam. But in my figuring all this out, I turned the three valves to manual on. DOH!!!! That is why all three bags would fill up at the same time. I remember doing so because I couldn't get the starboard side bag to fill, so I hit the manual override to on, on all three valves thinking that was the issue.

So now knowing how these valves work and don't work. I have one bad valve/solenoid, and two valves that are in pretty bad shape. I went to my local hardware store lastnight and got three new valves ready to drop in.

But before I go and do that I look at the web for Irritrol valves, to get a cost based analysis if I should go that route. Cheapest I could find is $54bucks a piece. I am all for ordering those, if they will improve my fill times enough to justify.

So I ask those on this forum, is it worth it to go to Irritrol, or do I just stick with what I have purchased? I am also going to call wakemakers today and talk to them about the possibility, and setup of a three pump system.

I think someone here did some tests with the Irritrol vs stock and if I remember correctly, there wasn't enough improvement to justify the cost. Might try doin a search on Irritrol and see if that thread comes up.

[mnpracing]

The Irritrol 700's in 3/4" are $20 something. The $54 should be the cost of the 1" 700 series valves. Go to www.sprinklerwarehouse.com and the prices should be close to this. Are you running 1" lines?

[cab13367]

I think someone here did some tests with the Irritrol vs stock and if I remember correctly, there wasn't enough improvement to justify the cost. Might try doin a search on Irritrol and see if that thread comes up.

Here is that thread with the test results.
https://forum.moomba.com/showthread.php?12754-Upgraded-Orbit-valves-to-Irritrol-700-**Results**&highlight=Irritrol

[zroutt]

mnpracing You are correct, I was looking at the same site and the 1" valves. I need the 3/4" valves. Well played man. But after looking at the fill times, I may be better with my funds to add a T to the brass valve, add another pump and another intake on the manifold. That will probably be a winter project. For now I think i will use the RainBird valves I got an Menards to replace the worn out valves that are in there currently. Especially the one with a broken solenoid.

[kaneboats]

I noticed reduced fill time with my 750 bag after I replaced the stock valve with the Irritrol. But, I would have two pumps running just to fill that bag through a single valve as soon as the center is filled.

[deafgoose]

I was disappointed when I realized there was no improvement over stock with the Irritrol valves but after living with them for a while, I would still do it again.

I always encountered issues with the stock valves.