Port ballast not draining

[Leirhiht]

Went out this weekend on my 08 mobius lsv. went the fill the other side and empty the port. Halfway through fill the starboard side I noticed no water was draining from my port side. I tried turning it on and off, turning the engine off and on, stepping in the bag has worked in the past. Not today. I fortunately had my spare pump on the boat and drained that way. I noticed it would very slowly trickle out of the hole but never a steady stream and the trickle would eventually slow to no water draining. I could hear a noise from the rear when I hit the switch to drain so I assume the pump is working...
Any ideas?

Also are the any upgrades to the system is could make to have the bags fill faster and drain faster?

Thanks for reading!

[kaneboats]

If your empty pump was running that's a very good sign. Probably just lost prime somehow. Usually won't happen when emptying a full bag. You can pull the line loose and then pop it back on, letting air out in the process. That will usually get a bubble out.

As for upgrades-- there are a million of them. The first one I'd recommend is putting a T on your fill pump's thru hull intake and adding a second pump. That will knock about 1/3 of your fill time off. Here's what one looks like:

[Leirhiht]

If your empty pump was running that's a very good sign. Probably just lost prime somehow. Usually won't happen when emptying a full bag. You can pull the line loose and then pop it back on, letting air out in the process. That will usually get a bubble out.

As for upgrades-- there are a million of them. The first one I'd recommend is putting a T on your fill pump's thru hull intake and adding a second pump. That will knock about 1/3 of your fill time off. Here's what one looks like:

I thought about that but didn't want to get water all in the locker. I just took the air release on top of the bag off and drained it with a pump. I left a little bit of water in it so I could see if it would drain when I start to head back to the dock. Unfortunately no water drained. Hopefully it will work next time I go out.

Your attached file did not work. Can you try again? Sounds like a good setup


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[mmandley]

Ive had that happen a few times when I had my 08 LSV, pretty frustrating, I used to just stand on the bag and it would push the air pocket through the drain pump and it would start working. Normally only happens at the start of the season.

[Leirhiht]

Ive had that happen a few times when I had my 08 LSV, pretty frustrating, I used to just stand on the bag and it would push the air pocket through the drain pump and it would start working. Normally only happens at the start of the season.

Wow that make me feel alot better, especially since you had the same model and year. I thought about standing on it but was worried Id bust it open or something. Thanks alot!

[kaneboats]

Let's try again on that 2 pump pic:

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You may have to rebuild your manifold or modify it to allow a second inlet. Or, you can dedicate one pump specifically to a surf bag. Here's modified manifold pics:

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[kaneboats]

BTW, I think I have my homemade manifold lying around somewhere. You can have it if you want.

[Leirhiht]

Let's try again on that 2 pump pic:

24223

You may have to rebuild your manifold or modify it to allow a second inlet. Or, you can dedicate one pump specifically to a surf bag. Here's modified manifold pics:

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Worked that time. That's pretty cool. I just need to locate mine and figure what pump to buy. Is it recommended to use the same pump that's already on it?

[Leirhiht]

BTW, I think I have my homemade manifold lying around somewhere. You can have it if you want.

Still a bit of a noob to this. Why would I need to modify my manifold?

[kaneboats]

When you double up the pumps you will have two outlet hoses: one coming off each pump. If you take a look at your manifold, it only has a single inlet and three outlets. The one I made in the pics has two inlets and the same three outlets.

[kaneboats]

Just as an FYI, I have done more mods and presently have two pumps feeding a manifold with two valves that only fill my front/center locker bag and my mini IBS along with my right side bag that has been moved to under the port side seats where the cooler used to be. I drilled two new thru hulls on the opposite (port) side of the motor. Each of these has a dedicated pump that works with a check valve to fill a single 750 rear bag on the surf (port) side. So, I can fill everything I have in under 5 min.

Since I built my surf gate I have been manually filling a rear bag in the starboard locker. I'm about to add a dedicated fill line for that side -- probably with it's own thru hull and pump along with a check valve.

Ultimately, you may find that the manifold ends up obstructing the flow a little bit and complicates the system. It is easier to run a dedicated pump or pump off the ballast switch and use check valves instead of the sprinkler valves. You have to figure out what works for you based on what you want to achieve.