Ballast Bags Leaking

[Zog]

I consistently run with about 3 inches in my Bilge around the center plug. Suspect leaking ballast. How do I determine which bag is leaking. 2016 Moomba MoJo

Just see which bag takes additional water after you notice the water in the bilge. We have a leak on the inlet to one of our bags and it consistently required an additional minute or so of filling every 20 minutes.

[KI Welker]

Great advice. I will do that today!

[Wdavid]

I can almost guarantee you and bet real money it is the bow bag air releases, fittings, and/or hoses.

My 2015 had the same issues. I tightened the plugs, replace hose clamps on the hoses, and made sure I had tight connection on the quick disconnects to the bags. My rears are solid and do not leak at all. The floor tank I assume is good but I have never removed the panel to check, but I cannot see any leaks through the plug port in the floor.

Run the boat around the lake without ballast and check for water.
Fill the each bag separately and cruise around the lake and check for water.

I also had a small leak through my rudder port that I fixed and no more water in the bilge.....except the offset roller or kids running in and out.

I have been having a tiny bit of water in my bilge as well...less than half an inch. The way my boat sits on my lift it does not drain very well out of the bottom drain hole. Will adjust that after I take the boat off for the winter. I am going to use your advice and fill up each of the bags and check for water after each is filled. I am pretty sure you are right it is the bow bag. Will have to check this weekend.

[z28ke]

I think mine is leaking from the bow bag as well, I get enough water while surfing for the bilge to kick on every now and then. The weird thing is it just started doing it this year (4th season with the boat). I’ve checked all port/starboard bag fittings and plugs and they seem to be fine. My other concern is that I replaced all 6 ballast impellers this spring but I haven’t seen any leaks at the pumps. I’ll get down to the bottom of it when I winterize in a month or two.

[Holdmybeer]

Not sure on your Max where or how the bow bag connects. My mojo connection is on the port side under the locker. Before I repositioned the bag, it would fill up to the point it pressed against the fitting and pushed it sideways and made it leak. Nothing horrible, but would drain a few gallons out while surfing and we would have to fill. I also had my air bleeds open to far and these would burp water and add to the mess.

I have to change pump impellers this winter myself. How much work is this? Looks straight forward, but nothing has been so far.

[Zog]

Impellers are really easy to change. Once you get the back panel off, there are 3-4 screws you pull and the impeller comes right out. Get the kit with lube and gasket and you will be good to go.

I had the same issue as you with respect to bag leaks due to position. I didn't correct it fast enough though and the bag started leaking a lot and wouldn't hold water, so I have had to do a repair using glue. It seems to be holding up better now.

[Holdmybeer]

Good to hear the impellers are that easy. I am not sure if any of the 3 have been changed in the boats life (2015). The center seems to drain slow, so hoping this will fix the problem for next year.

I want to upgrade the pumps to Kings but after reading about the wire debacle it takes to get them to work with my timers, I'll just stick to the Puppys.