ballast pump question high temp rating

[yearround]

as part of the checks we have to go through for zebra mussels, if there is any water in the boat, bilge, ballast, etc.. we may need to go to decontamination.

the decontamination is supposed to be pumping hot water of at least 165 deg in the wet areas. one easy way to do this for the ballast would be to pump the hot water through the pump and fill the bags, drain the bags.

they have said that the ballast pumps may not be rated for the required temperature (up to 180). does anyone know what the temp rating of the stock pumps is? or where would i look for this info?

thanks

[aintskeered]

Yearround, I got a pretty good going threw at powell, they told me 140 was all the hotter it had to be and a dwell time of 4-5 minutes. The inspector was a real nice guy. He did warn me about the pumps and the hot water melting some... I had alread ran a 5% solution of bleach and hot water through my boat before going and you could still smell some of the bleach even after flushing it. Had a good visit with him.

He told me we "boaters using ballest" need to get our Manfacturers involved because they "some authoritys" are talking about some lakes in , Co, UT, Az banning any boat with ballest. He Said Tommys in Denver is working on fighting this and MC has been fighting this movment. Just a Heads up on this SC. Please get involved if you hear something?

[yearround]

i must have met the same nice guy. he gave me a paper that had some stuff from CO regarding their mussel inspection, which listed the water temps. he said it taked about the ballast ban, but it did not. i also got in trouble for not going directly to the check in station. i set up camp etc cuz it was too windy to put the boat on.

[aintskeered]

oops. the guard shack radios down to the inspection station the color/make ect of your boat and vehicle when you go threw. They are honestly waiting for you to show up for your inspection! But I was suprised how nice they were about it!

[sandm]

man, glad this hasn't hit us yet that we know of..
sounds like a real pita..

hope if you are only using local lakes that any sort of inspection will be unnecessary.

[aintskeered]

I will bet you it is coming! Our little local lake even has inspections on the weekends. They are doing a tag in tag out thing there but it is just for individual lakes. if they tag you out, and the seal is not broken when you drop back in then no inspection is needed. but if you change lakes it may not work for the other lake.... depends on the Manager if they are accepting tags from other lakes.

More Info http://www.100thmeridian.org/

[sandm]

hopefully our $10 mussell permit is all that we do in the short term.

[yearround]

the concept of the tag is ok, you get a tag going out of the lake, if the lake is known to be clean, then the unbroken bow tag should state that you have been on a lake that was clean. i understand that most lakes here accept tags from other lakes. i go to the same lake 2-3x week, and rarely other places.

however, if you go to a lake that is contaminated, i don't know what they do to you when you leave, or how they would know if you go to another lake afterward and simply say you have not been any where.

at LP, i could have said that i have not been on the water for 30 days and then i would have been cleared without any question, or going through the decon process. but i choose to be honest.

so, any clue on the temp rating of the pumps?

[zabooda]

sandm,
You got a station this summer at Lewiston for all boats locals and out-of-staters on Hwy 95 and Hwy 12. I missed it traveling to Dworshak and the Ranger at the State Park told me next year not to miss it or I would be sent back. In traveling back through, I still didn't see the sign. I would expect all states to do the same thing eventually.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/eyepiece/story/821095.html

[sandm]

yearround: I know that this probably doesn't answer the specific question, but on the attwood ballast pump site, they list the top temp at 130deg.. I would bet that there's some room for error in that and they are stating the temp at which every pump is known not to fail. I am sure that some % of them will run to 140 and not have an issue. I would suspect that 130 is probably a good number to feel safe with.
http://www.attwoodmarine.com/faqs

zabooda: as long as they stay up in lewiston, I'm fine :)