Custom ballast manifold question

[byronkoz]

Jesse, have you tried seing if multiple pumps would fit? I ask because I took out the sprinkler valves and allready bought 3 more Tsunami pumps and am puting togeather a manifold for them next week. I looked and didnt thing id have any problem squeezing them in down by the floor going accross the same direction as the springler valves?

[JesseC]

Jesse, have you tried seing if multiple pumps would fit? I ask because I took out the sprinkler valves and allready bought 3 more Tsunami pumps and am puting togeather a manifold for them next week. I looked and didnt thing id have any problem squeezing them in down by the floor going accross the same direction as the springler valves?

I actually built a 3 pump Tsunami setup and tried it out in my boat. My valves were mounted on top of the v-drive and when I put the manifold with the three Tsunamis up there, I had issues with cavitation. I then cut the manifold down to just one pump and put it at the bottom of the bilge and it worked fine there, but I did not have enough room for all three. With the setup I have put together and tested in the driveway (Boat is still in Hibernation), I achieved results that I deemed acceptable. Look into the "How To" section and check out my manifold build, you will see the reason I started building a new manifold. The old one worked fine, just needed to add to it.

[Fman]

As to skiers choice having problems with the sprinkler valves, that is an incorrect statement. I have never heard of a "problem". I have heard complaints of them not filling as fast as some people would want them to or having to flip a switch that was left in the wrong position, but they have always worked without failing or bags filling on their own. The only place they had an issue was with the size and flow of them.

In my boat an older LSV model there is not enough room for multiple pumps, the bilge area is fairly small and already packed full. A multiple pump setup will not work for me so that is why I went the route of the valves. The only way to get multiple pumps to work would be to mount them higher and fight cavitation issues. So far my tests using 5 gallon buckets show a huge improvement over my old valve setup. I would like to hear some of the options that you speak of and would GLADLY entertain building one of them and testing it.

I must have been one of the unlucky ones, I had many priming problems, and bags filling when they were not supposed to. This happened on multiple occassions, this is why I re-did my system on my '08 22V. There were other owners on the Supra site that also had these problems, along with the stated extremely slow fill times. My belief is the engine compartment area is just to hot and gets way to much vibration/jolting from driving the boat which causes these valves to fail.

I personally believe, if they were that great of a design every other wakeboard boat manufacturer would have them in there boat. I have yet to see ANY other manufacturers putting them in there boat.

Just my .02.... I hope it works out well for you, but I would also encourage you to look at other proven options that are working very well (ie: Tsunami's, or JABSCO pumps).

[Fman]

I actually built a 3 pump Tsunami setup and tried it out in my boat. My valves were mounted on top of the v-drive and when I put the manifold with the three Tsunamis up there, I had issues with cavitation. I then cut the manifold down to just one pump and put it at the bottom of the bilge and it worked fine there, but I did not have enough room for all three. With the setup I have put together and tested in the driveway (Boat is still in Hibernation), I achieved results that I deemed acceptable. Look into the "How To" section and check out my manifold build, you will see the reason I started building a new manifold. The old one worked fine, just needed to add to it.

That is correct, if you do not mount the Tsunamis below the draft line in the boat they will not prime properly. The lower they are in the boat, the better they perform.

[JesseC]

Trust me, I would have LOVED to have gone the route of the Jabscos, but they were way too expensive of an option. I was looking for a way to upgrade the ballast with a low cost of install and be the least evasive to the boat itself. To install the Jabsco setup, you have to cut two more holes in the hull and add a lot of plumbing. I agree with you that the valves and single pump are not the best setup that you can install, but they are one of the most simple and least amount of cutting on the boat. My old setup was running three valves that I changed to a better flowing brand, again you are correct, the ones Skiers Choice chose were less than optimal. My old setup was using 3/4 valves of a different design and the flow times were impressive...to me anyway. Now I have a 4 valve setup using all 1" connections and a much larger pump. I wanted as few conections as possible to eliminate failure so I only have one hole in the boat and very few moving parts. I would have also like to have used the three Tsunamis, but the flow times on the manifold that I would have had to use were much slower than 4 valves and a Rule 3800.

Thanks for the other suggestions, I am sure that peolpe with newer versions of the LSV that have more room may find the three tsunami setup to work better for them. In my case if one of those pumps dies, it would be next to impossible to change one in that tiny space.

[2007 Outback V]

jesseC - I totally agree with you, very little room to mount pumps around the V-drive in the Outback and older LSVs'. It was quite a task to build a manifold that would fit. I choose to go with Simer reversible pumps and a manifold. https://forum.moomba.com/showthread.php?t=10003

I have not water tested the system yet. Since you have some experience with testing different systems, I was wondering if you could offer up some advice? In theory my system should work, what do you think? I would hate to have completely over looked something and find a critical flaw in the start of the season.

Thanks

[byronkoz]

Just went out to the boat with my tsunami pumps and space wont be an issue. Looks like there should be plenty of room to get them down the side of the motor on the bottom of the hull. Not sure they'd fit accross the front under the v-drive though.

[JesseC]

jesseC - I totally agree with you, very little room to mount pumps around the V-drive in the Outback and older LSVs'. It was quite a task to build a manifold that would fit. I choose to go with Simer reversible pumps and a manifold. https://forum.moomba.com/showthread.php?t=10003

I have not water tested the system yet. Since you have some experience with testing different systems, I was wondering if you could offer up some advice? In theory my system should work, what do you think? I would hate to have completely over looked something and find a critical flaw in the start of the season.

Thanks

On those pumps, have you researched how far they can draw suction from a water source. What I mean is some pumps will not cavitate, but can run on suction and prime themselves. I believe that the type of pumps you have should prime themselves. I just had good luck with the valves and large pump below the water line. Here is my super sketchy testing setup from last year where I installed the 3/4" valves. I did not take pics of the new setup being tested, but it was pretty much the same test. The results below are from a Rule 2000gph pump, three 3/4" valves and 3/4" lines.

[JesseC]

Just went out to the boat with my tsunami pumps and space wont be an issue. Looks like there should be plenty of room to get them down the side of the motor on the bottom of the hull. Not sure they'd fit accross the front under the v-drive though.

Excellent!!! Go with the Tsunamis if you can fit them. Check with some of the others to see if you need to run the vented loops. With the Tsunami setup I was worried about the scupper putting too much pressure on the pumps and forcing water past the pumps and filling the bags while driving. Let me know how your fill times and how it works out for you. Where and how do you plan on getting power to the pumps?

[you da man]

Where and how do you plan on getting power to the pumps?

If you have the GGIII system with the stock sprinkler valves the 3 Tsunami 800 pumps most are using are direct wire from the sprinkler valve wires once you remove the valves.