Trayson's 2008 XLV ballast system upgrade

[bergermaister]

Once you get 3-4 beers into it does the size of the wire really matter?

[jmvotto]

Transon, I used 16 gage wire from lowes to create my Deutch connectors for my GIV on the OBV, also spliced wye connectors for dual rule fill pumps for the system. Worked without a problem.

Ps I have the schematic for the GIII wiring system at my office, pm me an email if you interested.

[trayson]

One of the things I'm thinking about is that I'll soon be running the 1" hose from the pump near the v-drive up under the floor to ultimately connect to the fill port on the front basement center bag.

I could feel that there's a zip tie securing the 3/4" hose to the wire loom for the ballast pumps. But it's just a few inches under the floor and I'll be able to cut that zip tie pretty easily. I'm wondering if there's likely to be more zip does further up under the floor that are going to be inaccessible.

I'm wondering if I'm ultimately going to need to pull the floor to run the 1" hose to the front/center locker.

If that's the case, how does the floor pull up? I'd assume it's screwed down but where the screws are under the carpet is a whole other question...

[jstenger]

On my 2010 OBV, the screws were in each corner, and one was under the seat. You will have to feel for them thru the carpet.

[gregski]

I upgraded that hose to 1" and like you was hoping to do it without pulling the floor up but it was just a bit too tight and there were a few more zip ties under the floor. Pulling the floor up is easier than I thought. The hard part is simply finding the screws in the carpet. I used an awl and tap/pecked at the carpet until I heard a metallic clink identifying the screw. At least in the LSV there was a screw in each corner which was easy to find but the corner by the drivers seat was offset a bit and took a little bit of hunting to find (but it wasn't under the seat and very easy to get to).

[trayson]

I upgraded that hose to 1" and like you was hoping to do it without pulling the floor up but it was just a bit too tight and there were a few more zip ties under the floor. Pulling the floor up is easier than I thought. The hard part is simply finding the screws in the carpet. I used an awl and tap/pecked at the carpet until I heard a metallic clink identifying the screw. At least in the LSV there was a screw in each corner which was easy to find but the corner by the drivers seat was offset a bit and took a little bit of hunting to find (but it wasn't under the seat and very easy to get to).

Thanks for the tip. I'm thinking I might get stuck pulling the floor panels. I hope it ends up easy(ish).



So, I jumped back into the project this weekend. I decided to tackle the drain line for the front center locker. However my subwoofer box was blocking the access to the pony wall that has the hole in it where the drain hose goes to the thru-hull. My plan was to pull a new 1" hose using the old 3/4" hose, then repurpose the 3/4" hose and thru-hull for a vent line and drill a new 1" thru-hull for the bigger drain hose.

My method for pulling the new hose with the old hose was actually spot on. I simply drilled 2 holes through the walls of each of the hoses, then inserted the 3/4" hose into the 1" hose and secured them together with a zip tie. I have to say that fishing that hose was a BI***. It sucked. I had my wife trying to feed it from the center locker and I was pulling from the Bow starboard locker. I ended up having to cram 1/2 my body into that locker. Getting both shoulders in there was not fun or easy, but I did it. Pulling and yanking with both hands I finally got the bigger hose through that hole and into the bow!

The thru hulls I got for draining were 1" black 90 degree elbows, so that it would be easier to make the hose loop up to the highest point of the gunwales for hopefully less passive draining. I put the new thru-hull next to the existing one.



I made my own "drain adapter" which was fine because I could customize the length of the hose and make it perfectly centered on the bag. I took a step drill bit and enlarged the hole in the factory pump bracket and reused that for mounting the new drain pump. It's a slick setup. I reused the Deustch connector from the old pump, making it plus and play. The 16 gauge wiring should be fine per the tables I've seen on voltage drop.



Next I removed the factory drain and fill lines for the rear lockers since I'm upgrading those to 1" hose. Turns out that the factory drain lines are going to be just about perfect length to criss cross and work as vent lines. I just ran the hoses along the top back walls of my lockers (up by where the ski pylon is).

I ran my fill lines from the bilge up the inner back wall of the locker and then up to the outside of the locker. I should have enough hose, and hopefully not too much to create too much head pressure.

The drain lines are going to be criss crossed also. They will go from the pump, up behind the engine (above the wakeplate fluid reservoir) and continue up along the gunwales to a thru hull I'll drill near the front of the lockers (by where the OEM drain thru hulls are. Again, I'm re-purposing the 3/4" factory drains to be vents and drilling new 1" drains with 1" 90 degree elbow thru-hull fittings. I still have to run the fill line for the front locker. I'm not looking forward to that and am leery that I'll have to pull the floor. We'll see. I also have to tighten down the fill pump thru-hulls and put the 5100 in there. I'll wait to do that until I have an assistant.

I also took a look at the carpeted "trim" on my lockers. With the factory trim, my 1100 bags aren't able to fill all the way towards the front end of the locker. the carpeted pieces are really constraining that end of the bag. I really see little purpose to having the pieces there other than cosmetics. I suppose it's POSSIBLE that they're adding some kind of lateral support, but I'm not sold on the necessity of them. Pretty sure I'll be taking them out.

Picture of carpeted trim piece:


Picture with trim piece removed:

[trayson]

These are the thru-hulls I went with for the drains.



Since my goal was to have the hose loop up to be at the TOP of the gunwales to avoid passive draining, the 90 degree elbow allows me to point the hose UP. So I think it'll work well.

[bergermaister]

Pulling and yanking with both hands I finally got the bigger hose through that hole

That is the most disturbing description I've ever seen on here...

[trayson]

That is the most disturbing description I've ever seen on here...

LMFAO!

Almost in tears.

[bergermaister]

That carpeted wall you are thinking of leaving out, at least on the starboard side, is protection for your gas filler and vent lines from anything that gets stuffed into the rear compartment - not just cosmetic. May protect your bilge line as well if it is routed through there.

I'd strongly suggest putting it back in place and deal with a crumpled bag.