Custom ballast system question

[you da man]

It's coming down to the wire as to taking my boat in for the ballast upgrade. I've seen/read some doing the 3 Jabsco with 3 intake, read about 1 intake with 3 Tsunami pumps, 3 intakes with 3 Tsunami pumps. Question is on the Tsunami systems using multiple intake pumps, how many drain pumps are you guys using and how? Seems to be pros and cons to each system.

[sandm]

have to use one per bag. mounted very close to the drain outlet at the bottom/rear of each bag..

[moombadaze]

If I could redo my system again(currently 4 800gph tsunami fills on the original thru hull) it would be to 3 intakes and 5 1200 gph tsunami for filling-all one inch, and just leave the empty system alone-3 pumps.

[tazz3069]

I am very happy with my system. I am thinking of adding a new pump for a Bow system. Not sure if I want to do it just yet. I have the 3 1200 Tsunami for the intake and the stock for the empty. You da Man, I would go for it. Now just keep in mind. You can not monitor the bags when emptying or filling. If not being too careful, when emptying, and the bags are completely out of water, the impeller can burn up. Then you have to replace the impeller. With the tsunami pumps, you can monitor the fill and drain. When the bags are full, it overflows out the drain line. The only way to damage this pump is if you suck something up from in the water. Keep us posted when the mod is getting on its way. We will be here to help guide you through it.
Tazz

[sandm]

aren't there some issues with the 1200gpm and the thread fittings?
I am planning on upgrading in feb. and only want to do it once, and thought I remember that the 1200's were a pita to mess around with..

[tazz3069]

aren't there some issues with the 1200gpm and the thread fittings?
I am planning on upgrading in feb. and only want to do it once, and thought I remember that the 1200's were a pita to mess around with..

I bought my pumps on EBay. I had asked if they also offered the hose barb fitting for that pump. They did. So I bought three of them. Now with the hose. I purchased 1" hose. I believe the hose barb was 1 1/8" So what I did was place the hose over the stove to heat up. When it was soft enough, I pushed it on the barb and then ran it under cold water. Worked perfect. Now it goes from an 1 1/8" hose barb to a 1" hose barb. Worked perfect. I also trimmed down all the rubber o-rings in the pumps. I tried to eliminate all obstructions.
Tazz

I will look at the piece that goes from the ball valve to the pump. I do not remember what I used. I will get back to you bro.

[you da man]

Okay, how about this an idea. My boat is a new 08, with the deal I got the dealer to add the GGIII system...the 08 system. For the 09 GGIII system they want me to cover the extra $600 for the Jabsco pumps. Because of the Jabsco burning up, having to monitor them, impeller issues, amp draw, and questionable reliability issues related to cost per pump...I thought of this. Would it be wise for me just to have the dealer install the 08 GGIII system, with single intake pump, the dreaded sprinkler valve system, and using the stock intake? Then I could take the $600 I would have spent on the Jabsco system upgrade and just get 3 Tsunami 800 pumps, remove the sprinkler valve and make a manifold for the 3 pumps, and use the wiring from the solenoids for the sprinkler valves to power the 3 pumps? I wouldn't have to worry about adding/wiring the drain pumps since the 08 GGIII system would already have them installed.

[Fman]

It's coming down to the wire as to taking my boat in for the ballast upgrade. I've seen/read some doing the 3 Jabsco with 3 intake, read about 1 intake with 3 Tsunami pumps, 3 intakes with 3 Tsunami pumps. Question is on the Tsunami systems using multiple intake pumps, how many drain pumps are you guys using and how? Seems to be pros and cons to each system.

Couple things to keep in mind...

400 pound ballast bag = 48 gallons...

JABSCO pumps = 9 GPM (5.3 minute fill for 400 lb bag)
Tsunami 800's = 13.4 GPM (3.58 minute fill for 400 lb bag)
Tsunami 1200's = 20 GPM (2.4 minute fill for 400 lb bag)

You will loose a little GPM due to friction loss and elevation loss, but these are fairly close. If you go with the 1200's you will need more than one intake. Running three 1200 pumps off one intake will not supply 60 GPM. You can achieve about 39 GPM max per intake.

I installed (3) Tsunami 800's with one intake manifold and it works very well. It takes me about 7-8 minutes to fill 1900 lbs of ballast, which is about 30-32 GPM. One thing to keep in mind is you have to mount the pumps very low to the bottom of the bilge area because Tsunami's are aerator pumps and will not self prime so they need to be lower than the draft of the boat.

Just some food for thought.... good luck with your project.

[tazz3069]

Fman
my 3 1200 tsunami fill a 400lb bag in 7 min+ I do have 3 intakes. I thought that it will be a faster fill. It looks like the single 1" scupper will do the same job. I just though that to pull that much water to fill all 3 sacks just might not work. I stand corrected.

[Fman]

Fman
my 3 1200 tsunami fill a 400lb bag in 7 min+ I do have 3 intakes. I thought that it will be a faster fill. It looks like the single 1" scupper will do the same job. I just though that to pull that much water to fill all 3 sacks just might not work. I stand corrected.

400 lbs is about 48 gallons of water. Are you talking about (3) 400 lb bags? Because a 1200 Tsunami is rated for 20 GPM, which would would fill a 400 lb bag in about 2.5 minutes. I believe you did the right thing by having a seperate intake for each pump. You can only get about 38-40GPM max out of one 3/4"-1" scupper.

I am currently using (3) 800's off of one manifold and one intake. I can fill 1900 lbs in about 9 minutes. I was considering trying the 1200's to speed this up, was not sure if the 1200's are actually producing 20 GPM fill times. I am getting about 25-28 GPM with three 800 Tsunamis, not too bad but would be nice to get a little more flow with the 1200's. 1900 lbs of water is about 228 gallons of water.

I dont know why Atwood did not make the 1200 more user friendly with standard NPT 1" or 3/4" thread. From what people are saying its a pain to adapt the 1200's to 3/4" NPT.

Did you have any problems?