Ballast Tank fills continuously

[KINGCOBRA]

I have an '07 LSV with stock triple ballast tanks. The front ballast bag continues to fill/ over fill even with the pump switch off, I'm guessing that there is some debris in the valve preventing it from closing properly. Any suggestions on how to correct this? Thanks

[moombadaze]

remove the valve and then open it up and clean it out. very simple actually.

[KSmith]

remove the valve and then open it up and clean it out. very simple actually.

It might be best to do this in the driveway rather than on the lake... just sayin... ;-)

[KINGCOBRA]

Thanks, it is in storage now so I can fix it while it's not being used. Plus, it'll give me a reason to hang out on it a while. Sounds easy enough, this is my 1st boat with a ballast system and hoped it would be a simple fix.

[newty]

Check the little black lever on the side of the valve. It should be pointing away from the valve. Thats the valve by-pass and if its open it could do what your talking about.

[kaneboats]

Yup, and if it continues to give you trouble this is a cheap upgrade (Irritrol 700 series). I swapped this one for the one on my surf bag and it flows a little better with my 2 pump system (I hope this is the right one):

http://www.sprinklerwarehouse.com/Irritrol-Sprinkler-Irrigation-Valve-p/ir-700b-75.htm

[KINGCOBRA]

Thanks for the tips, I cleaned the valve and the lever is in the proper position. We took it out on Sunday and the bag still fills on it's own. I'm checking into your link kane and at $22 and some added flow it sounds like a cheap fix and improvement.

[usaski1]

Or, do what I did... remove the sprinkler valve altogether and strainer, and put in a manual ball valve... ;-) Sure, not as neat, not as convenient, but its fool proof.

[Dubwake21]

Please let us know if the replacement fixes the problem. I am having the same issue this year.

[kayjayfech]

If the black switches are all in the OFF position, then you might have bad valves....go to Home Depot and replace them....about 13 bucks each....takes a couple minutes.

[Dubwake21]

For my issue, it is only the left side bag that fills, so that should single out the left side valve, right? Although I will probably replace all three valves while I am at it.

[KINGCOBRA]

At the thought of replacing them, I went ahead and took one completely apart and found that there was more to clean than I had done at first.Knowing that I could easily replace it removed fear of messing it up, anyway got all the parts cleaned out this time. There was a tiny white plastic filter that was nasty. I'm hoping to get out this weekend and test it out, I'll post my results as soon as I get them.

[Dubwake21]

Replaced mine for $13 from Lowes irrigation section as most have said and it fixed me right up. I am happy to help anyone with this same issue.

[viking]

I cleaned mine more than a few times as the problems continued to arise. Then replaced with new from Lowes and again issues reared their head. I replaced a couple years ago with the irritrol 700 valves listed in post #6 by Kaneboats. Problem solved.

[KINGCOBRA]

Just got back from lake and everything worked like new, but if this becomes a frequent problem I will follow Kaneboats fix. One more question to the ones that have done that, have you removed the strainer as well?

[kaneboats]

It ain't my fix. I think Jesse was the first one to use these valves around here.