Ballast Upgrade on a Budget

[stretch55]

Al, Did you have to dill to make the hole bigger when you did this or was it big enough for the 1 inch intake?

Jester, it is a 1" intake hole and the intake/scupper is reduced to 3/4".

[cab13367]

I think I'm with you on this being that it's the smallest bag and fills very quickly anyway. Can you tell me what kind of "irrigation place" you purchased this from?

It's called Horizon. I went to Irritrol's website and searched distributors in my area.

Al, Did you have to dill to make the hole bigger when you did this or was it big enough for the 1 inch intake?

No, as stretch said, the hole is already 1".

[kaneboats]

Duh! Thanks! There's 5 of them in town.

[cab13367]

So I thought I would close the book on this upgrade. On the rear sacs, I used brass swing check valves mounted on an angle as shown below. I have no auto fill and no auto draining issues with this setup. Note that one valve is larger than the other as I am using the stock Rule with 1" fill hose to the port locker and a T-800 with the stock 3/4" fill hose to the starboard locker.



On the front sac, I went with a 3/4" Irritrol 700 Series Ultra Flow valve which I mounted where the stock sprinkler manifold used to be. This fixed the auto drain and autofill issues I was previously having. With the Irritrol valve, I no longer have any auto drain or auto fill issues. One thing about the Irritrol is that with the manual lever in the "Off" position, meaning that the valve is opened and closed with the switch activated solenoid, the valve would only allow water to pass thru for a few seconds then would shut off. I think this is because the solenoid is 24V and so it is unable to hold the valve open. However, with the switch in the "On" position, meaning the valve is always in the open position, there is just enough resistance in the valve mechanism to prevent auto filling and since it's a one way valve, it does not allow water to auto drain from the bag. So basically, it's acting like a check valve. I didn't even need to hook up the electrical to the solenoid and it would have worked just fine.

I did some testing and the Irritrol did reduce the flow from 409 gph to 329 gph when compared to straight hose. But I can live with that since the front bag is the smallest of the three and still fills before the starboard rear bag (the port rear bag bag fills first since it's being fed by the stock Rule 1200 gph thru 1" hose).

[jester]

Al, Looks great. Good to hear your issues are solved. Where did you get all of your parts from?

[cab13367]

Al, Looks great. Good to hear your issues are solved. Where did you get all of your parts from?

Thanks. Got the parts at a number of places - the pumps, thru hull intake, and 1" quick connects from wakemakers (they are local to me), the swing check valves from a local plumbing store, the shut off valves and the rest of the brass and plastic fittings and the 3M marine sealant from Home Depot and Lowes.

[jester]

Al,

Was the 1" thru haul fiting the link below? If it was what did you do about the old screw holes? Also you can no longer drive to push water into the pumps so how do you prime the pumps or is this a non issue?

http://www.wakemakers.com/bronze-thr...-intake-1.html

[cab13367]

Al,

Was the 1" thru haul fiting the link below? If it was what did you do about the old screw holes? Also you can no longer drive to push water into the pumps so how do you prime the pumps or is this a non issue?

http://www.wakemakers.com/bronze-thr...-intake-1.html

That's the one although mine didn't have the set screw. Make sure its combination thread.

I don't have any problems priming the pumps. I mounted them as low as possible and well below water line so water is forced up through the fittings and into the pumps before u ever turn the switch on.

I filled the screw holes with the 3m sealant I used for the thru hull then put the screws back in.

[jester]

Al,

One more question and I think I will be done. with the T800 pump the inlet thread is much shorter then the ones i just got from Wakemakers. Did you take a saw and cut it down?

[Aquaholic]

Does anyone know if the Chrome thru hulls that are 3/4 will work for the 1 inch hose?