Upgrade to 6 ballast pumps

[PuraVida]

I was toying with the idea of disconnecting one of my existing pumps and splitting one of the other pump feeds to connect it to for a quick test without having to order new pumps. Sadly this didn't get done before the boat was stored for winter. The test wouldn't guarantee the system would work with 6 pumps but it would be a start.


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[dakota4ce]

I was toying with the idea of disconnecting one of my existing pumps and splitting one of the other pump feeds to connect it to for a quick test without having to order new pumps. Sadly this didn't get done before the boat was stored for winter. The test wouldn't guarantee the system would work with 6 pumps but it would be a start.


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I think on the feed side this is fine. They can and do share through hull fittings.


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[gregski]

Following.... I did a bit of research on my 16.
Looks like each pump needs 20 amps of fuse and uses 11.5 amps. Currently the controller pictured below is fused to 60 amps. In an ideal situation I could just bump my fuse to 120 and split each pump wiring to feed 6 total pumps, but I doubt it is that easy.

No, you can never "just bump the fuse" to increase capacity without doing a proper analysis. Also, do you see on that fuse housing "42 Volts DC max"? This is safety margin and also allows for inrush currents (same as the pumps 20V vs. 11.5V). The Carling rocker switches are rated to 20A so definitely no option to run 2 pumps in parallel.

6 pumps is doable but it ain't gonna be cheap. Cost vs. benefit starts to fall apart real quick.

[dakota4ce]

What about putting the extra pumps on the vacant ACC switches and having a manual setup for the auxiliary pumps...


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[MLA]

Id probably check the price and availability of the ballast PDM prior to wiring a 2nd pump to one of the output circuits as a test.

[KnoxMojo]

I think that it is pretty cool that Skiers Choice has gone to a 6 pump system to fill and drain faster. That being said, even running enzos or #1100s, the fill times aren't so bad that after you drop in, you begin to fill, and by the time you're ready to ride, the ballast should be full. If you are turning your boats off to fill and drain, I'm pretty sure the pumps run a bit faster if the boat is running. So for my humble opinion, rewiring a boat, adding pumps, relays, switches, isn't worth the few minutes extra you may save while out enjoying the sunshine and your friends and family.

[dakota4ce]

My new customs are gonna be 1280#. I might be 3 sheets by the time I can ride


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[mattsask]

+1 on that. My enzos are in the 14 minute range. Our cottage is in a shallow cove, so I can't start filling until I idle out 100 yards. By that point we are all settled in and ready to ride, except we have to wait 14 min for the bags to fill. We then have to do the opposite on the way in. We almost always ride morning and evening, so I'm burning an hour of sunlight daily, just filling bags. No wonder the cooler is always empty...

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[jmvotto]

I think that it is pretty cool that Skiers Choice has gone to a 6 pump system to fill and drain faster. That being said, even running enzos or #1100s, the fill times aren't so bad that after you drop in, you begin to fill, and by the time you're ready to ride, the ballast should be full. If you are turning your boats off to fill and drain, I'm pretty sure the pumps run a bit faster if the boat is running. So for my humble opinion, rewiring a boat, adding pumps, relays, switches, isn't worth the few minutes extra you may save while out enjoying the sunshine and your friends and family.

We are full with 4 k by the time we troll out from the dock and we start in about 3.5 feet of water center of our lake is about 15ft at our end then prgrosses to 125ft avg after that. Nver really thought it was an issue on 15 min wait times

[trayson]

+1 on that. My enzos are in the 14 minute range. Our cottage is in a shallow cove, so I can't start filling until I idle out 100 yards. By that point we are all settled in and ready to ride, except we have to wait 14 min for the bags to fill. We then have to do the opposite on the way in. We almost always ride morning and evening, so I'm burning an hour of sunlight daily, just filling bags. No wonder the cooler is always empty...

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I'm with ya. It sounds like most people must only surf.

Personally, I have to motor 15 minutes to our ride spot. But I'm not filling surf ballast while we're motoring. Furthermore, if the water's smooth enough, we're DEFINITELY going to start with a slalom or wakeboard run with either zero or 1180 ballast respectively. So when it's time to surf, we're having to burn ride time. And like yourself, when we're riding after work in the evenings, that time is precious.

I'd love to half my fill/empty times! But I'd have to do a cost/benefit on that one. Definitely not on this boat.

I'm sure a lot of other people have normal scenarios where halving the fill/empty times doesn't make sense. I think that multi-sport users would benefit the most from quicker changeovers.