Fed up with ballast bags.

[chpprpilot]

First off, I love my LSV. It's been a fantastic boat and I've put 60 hours on it since I bought her in March. That said, these ballast bags are absolute crap. They've spit the fittings out from day one. They're tricky to fill right, and you have to burp them or they fill unevenly, and you can't even burp the center bag because there's no plug access!
So I've had to put Loctite plastic thread sealer on them to keep them working on a semi regular basis, forget about setting them up differently for each rider. It's almost like I'm back in the old hose pump fill-up days without a ballast "system" at all because I have to watch them so closely and play with them so much to get them right. Now I've upgraded to 750lb. sacs and the fittings won't come out of the old bags. What a pain in the ass. My next boat will have tanks. No more bag B.S.

chpprpilot

[cab13367]

First off, I love my LSV. It's been a fantastic boat and I've put 60 hours on it since I bought her in March. That said, these ballast bags are absolute crap. They've spit the fittings out from day one. They're tricky to fill right, and you have to burp them or they fill unevenly, and you can't even burp the center bag because there's no plug access!
So I've had to put Loctite plastic thread sealer on them to keep them working on a semi regular basis, forget about setting them up differently for each rider. It's almost like I'm back in the old hose pump fill-up days without a ballast "system" at all because I have to watch them so closely and play with them so much to get them right. Now I've upgraded to 750lb. sacs and the fittings won't come out of the old bags. What a pain in the ass. My next boat will have tanks. No more bag B.S.

chpprpilot

If the bags are spitting the fittings, there's something not right with ur set up. Is the hose not long enough? My fittings are just screwed in - no glue or loctite, just Teflon tape and I've never had a fitting pop off a bag even when it's so full that water is coming out the drain line.

And I completely drain, remove, and fold the bags after a day on the water so I have no issues with air in the bags. Are u trailering with the hoses hooked up on ur front bag? If so, that's why ur getting air in it.

When set up right and used properly, the bags work fine.

Did u try heating the base of the fitting with a hair dryer to remove them? That worked for me.

[you da man]

I have two 1100 sacs, 1180 sac, two 400 sacs, and 650 sac. I've had no issues with fittings. All my sacs are vented so I don't need to burp them, even the center 1180. Any sac you get from Flyhigh has two top fittings and one bottom so you can have a fill, vent, and drain. The sacs you get with the boat usually do not have the third fitting for venting...that's your frustration. Solid tanks are never big enough. You'll see that anyone with tanks that want/need a big wake will use sacs in conjunction with the tanks. Do you have the Jabsco pumps or just the one Rule pump?

[zegm]

Wow I decided I love my plastic tank in our Mobius LS!

[you da man]

Wow I decided I love my plastic tank in our Mobius LS!

If that suits your needs but there's no way I can fit tanks to hold 2,500-3,000lbs of surf ballast.

[sailing217]

I have two 1100 sacs, 1180 sac, two 400 sacs, and 650 sac. I've had no issues with fittings. All my sacs are vented so I don't need to burp them, even the center 1180. Any sac you get from Flyhigh has two top fittings and one bottom so you can have a fill, vent, and drain. The sacs you get with the boat usually do not have the third fitting for venting...that's your frustration. Solid tanks are never big enough. You'll see that anyone with tanks that want/need a big wake will use sacs in conjunction with the tanks. Do you have the Jabsco pumps or just the one Rule pump?

yep. removed my tanks from my centurion and went to FH sacs that are vented. I have both drain and fill pumps. At one point my surf setup was 2500lbs one-side under the seats. Now just the 1100lb and 440lb. I don't mess with anything, other than waiting 10+ minutes while the kids swim.

[zegm]

If that suits your needs but there's no way I can fit tanks to hold 2,500-3,000lbs of surf ballast.

Yes we are able to surf behind our LS but I have been behind the LSV with bags and yes the wake is bigger.
Now there is a large tank under the rear seat and this means there is no storage in that area. You can find plastic tanks of all sizes and you do have the room for them if they match the size of the inflated bags you are using now and the volume will be the same. The issue is right now you can have the weight and then in a few minutes the storage area, do you want to NOT compromise and eliminate this storage area?
I also understand this issue as a former owner of a MasterCraft 19ft enclosed bow ski boat we decided to compromise our slalom course ski wake for the ability to carry more than 3 people when we go boating. I remember this everytime I go down the ski course and I get a little air while crossing the bigger wake.
Right now we have decided not to get a bag for the LS as we aren't willing to compromise the storage space we have now since we can surf behind the LS as it is. It boils down to this, when the bags are full where you puttin all your stuff? If you are good with the bags full and you don't have any storage issues then yeah you could put plastic tanks in the boat in place of the inflatable ones.
PS I heard cinder blocks are not a good idea!

[chpprpilot]

Yep, I've tried thread tape and loctite plastic thread sealer that's supposed to seal the threads without permanently making a bond. The system is STILL spitting out fittings and flooding the back of my boat. Soaked carpet and mold soon follow unless I spend the time removing, cleaning, and drying the bags, carpet, I still don't understand why carpet is installed in the storage areas, it just soaks up water and promotes mold when wet. Major frustration. It's pretty difficult to hook the bags up improperly. The hose fittings on the boat side are zip tied and screwed to the hull. The bags still shift during use and they STILL spit their fittings out. Been that way from day one. I've finally glued the fittings in place but have had to sacrifice the flexibility of changing the fittings to other bags. It's an extra $20 for the fittings but it works. Just a very painful system. There has to be a better way...

chpprpilot

[you da man]

I would call Jason at Wakemakers and seek his advice and/or take some pics and email them to him of the fittings that are not staying in or connected...he'll probably call you back.

[sailing217]

It boils down to this, when the bags are full where you puttin all your stuff?

PITA when I had a bunch of sacs under the seats. I changed from an Enzo sac and 750 which took up the entire side of the boat to just the locker 1100 and a 440. Free'ed up the bench seat storage and it's perfect.I also got another wake/surf rack that usually holds the kids kneeboard.

For your LS I'm sure it's worse. Z5 cargo would help. Monster towers makes a knockoff of the Z5 now.