Relocation of GIII Ballast Pumps

[KSmith]

Okay... so for some elusive reason the GIII ballast pumps in my 2010 NG OBV are in the Port locker between the transom and a divider wall...

As this is the locker MOST people fill with ballast for surfing, wouldn't it have been nice to have the pumps mounted on the Starboard side to allow as much room as possible in th ePort locker for ballast?

Seems kinda straight forward, but then again so does having the cooler on the Starboard side, which of course mine is not... dagnabbit...

Anyway, I want to move my GIII ballast pumps to the starboard locker for reasons stated above.

Does anyone know of any reason this wouldn't work that I am overlooking?

I'll have to rework the suppply/drain lines. Vent lines remain the same, and I will need to extend the main power lines to the starboard side. I expect that the main switch wiring harness can just be moved as the switches are already on the starboard side so it should be plenty long enough already.

So, what am I overlooking or not taking into account?

[bergermaister]

Fuel filler Lines and vent on the starboard side...

[KSmith]

Fuel filler Lines and vent on the starboard side...

True but those aren't anywhere near the transom and these pumps are marine rated, hence no sparks to ignite fumes.

[bergermaister]

Gotcha - I was thinking the forward wall of the compartment, not the transom. As long as you have clearance around the alternator and any other moving parts on that side go for it!

[KSmith]

I think it's going to work. I pulled out the rear bags, then the divider wall between the pumps and locker, then disconnected all the water lines and electrical, removed the ballast pump panel with pumps & trimers, removed the rear and main engine compartment divider walls. Some of the water lines ran along the transom, a couple looped up by the 3 transom vents. Cut off a gazillion zip ties on the water lines and electrical, pulled all the water lines and electrical over to the Starboard locker. I am re-routing the center lines to they do not have to run along the transom and have such a high rise to them but now the cross over to the Starboard side just behind the transmission. Same for the main power lines for the pumps/timers. Got dark on me before I was ready but it looks like I need to shorten several water lines that had routed from the starboard to the port side. I think there is only one water line I am going to have to lengthen and I'll have plenty of water line I just need a 1 to 1 inch connector, which just happens I have one in transit from wakemakers. Once that arrives I need to mount the pump board into the Starboard locker at the transom, connect all teh water lines (extend one) then hook up the electrial and run tests. If all is well I need to zip tie the crap out of all the water lines and electrical. Then I need to either build a new divider wall to cover the pumps from th elocker, or maybe if I am lucky I can reverse the existing divider wall from the port locker and just cover the back with carpet. At that point I can reassembe the remaining engine/locker divider walls and then glue a chunk of carpet to the port locker transom wall to finish it off. Looks like total cost will be a coule bucks for a 1 to 1 inch connector, about 6 square feet of cheap gray carpet and a bit of carpet adhesive... pretty cheap mod really :-)

Oh, and a big shout out to SC for making the wiring harness and most of the water lines long enough to make the swap easy and cheap. That was real thoughtful of you guys ;-)

[DOCDRS]

This is a most excellent idea for port side surfers:)

[NCSUmoomba]

I recall that some other manufacturers install their pumps in the center of the boat, behind the engine. The problem would be void then. Altough it is pretty tight back there, depending on which boat it is.

[KSmith]

I recall that some other manufacturers install their pumps in the center of the boat, behind the engine. The problem would be void then. Altough it is pretty tight back there, depending on which boat it is.

That would be ideal, but on my boat there really is no room there... barely enough room behind and above the muffler to teh transom to allow the bilge vent blower hoses to be run.

[KSmith]

This is a most excellent idea for starboard side surfers:)

Okay Doc I'll bite, why is it good for starboard side surfers? The idea is to make more room on my port side to allow the ballast to sit back further and fill better

[DOCDRS]

Oops my faux pas.....I meat port side....... was out in the sun doing some slave labour and it must have fried my noggin for a touch.....thanks for catchin that. thanks for the laugh at myself

[KSmith]

Ah perfectly understandable. Fried noggins must be properly cooled and cared for :-)

[jmvotto]

Captn Kraig, you know the drill on mods.. pics or it never happened...LOL

[KSmith]

Captn Kraig, you know the drill on mods.. pics or it never happened...LOL

Roger that. I'll snap a few of the devastation tonight. We are going to go out on the boat tonight, no boarding, just a ride and swimming, which is good as I have no ballast sysytem currently LOL. Oh, good reminder, I need to shut off the valves to my thru hulls for the ballast before launching! Bluub Bluub Bluub... boat's sitting awfully low in the water ain't it LOL

[KSmith]

Still waiting on parts from WakeMakers, should be here Monday, until then no ballast.

Here is the port locker with divider wall and ballast pumps & mounting board removed and the port ballast fill/drain line run over to the starboard locker
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This one is the Starboard locker with all of the lines pulled into it
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This shows two water lines and the two power lines above the valve that I redirected to starboard rather than run them behind the muffler at the transom
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This one shows how there isn't really any room between the muffler and transom
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[KSmith]

Making progess. Need to modify the pump & locker divider wall, basically reverse the panel & mounts but it doesn't quite fit the starboard locker so tear off existing carpet, trim to size, notch bottom for starboard side ballast fill/drain.

I also need to order some OEM carpet , about 2 by 6 feet is all to wrap divider wall once reveresed & trimmed and then to glue to the port side transom where I have a non OEM piece of carpet stuck back there for now.

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