Tsunami 800 ballast pump upgrade project

[Fman]

the jabsco's in my boat (09 OBV) shut off when they sense no water being pumped.

It's rare one will ever need to replace the entire pump, but the bearings in the impellor (and blades) will eventually wear and need to be replaced and that typically costs about $30 - $35 ea.

They are having problems with the JABSCO pumps, if you follow wakeworld, many mastercraft and malibu boats are having issues with impellers. I believe the impeller rebuild kits are running about $50 each. Not that it will happen to you, but the longevity of an impeller driven pump and aerator pumps are not the same. You can run an aerator pump forever dry and it will not burn up. Plus as I mentioned, the Tsunamis pump more GPM's than the JABSCO (9 GPM-Jabsco, 13.4 for the Tsunami). Downfall to the aerator pump is it will not create its own prime, and will not stop water from going past the pump like the impeller drive JABSCO reversible will do. And the impeller pumps (JABSCO) will draft water up to 10 ft. The Tsunami's need to be mounted lower than the draft in the boat to work properly.

This is why the '08's and older have seperate drain pumps on each bag that are aerator pumps. I was surprised Supra/Moomba did not leave the drain pumps in place just for the sake of not having someone burn there pump up when they drain the bag. Definitel improvement on the impeller pumps, but if the sensor fails it will burn the pump up. Surprised they did not use the Jabsco to fill and the aerator pump to drain the bags. Guess time will tell how it works.

I hope your JABSCO's hold up well for you. They are nice pumps, and work great as long as they never run dry.

P.S. I saw your picture of you surfing, nice wake! although, dude come on out to California so you can loose that wetsuit!!!!

[Fman]

I've had my share of SoCal where the boat ramps cost big $$ and the lakes are crowded as hell! Used to live in Playa Del Rey (went to St. Monica's), Palos Verdes and Murrieta.

Used to haunt Hermosa and Redondo for ocean surfing and Elsinore for boating

That wet suit is only on late December thru early march. Even during the winter months, our lakes are warmer than the pacific during the summer

Obviosuly you have never been to Northern California and rivers, Delta - 3000 miles of water way, complete glass! No wet suit required, not to mention the 30+ lakes in Northern California. Guess I am fortunate enough not to go out on the weekends, all my boarding is during the weekdays.

If I lived in So. Cal I would not even own a boat! probably just a surfboard!

[Fman]

Nope, never boated in Northern Ca, but yes have been there.



When I'm standing on my house roof, I can see 30+ skiable lakes that are within a 5 mile radius of my house.

If you ever get a chance to come to Nor Cal, go ski the delta, its the best skiing water in the world. You can always get away from people because of the miles and miles of water ways. The channels allow the waves to break quickly and wind does not affect the waterways like on a lake.

Sounds like you have a great setup. I would love to be able to see 30 lakes from my rooftop, maybe someday when I retire

Have fun out there.... and let us know how your impeller systems are working. Personally, I hope Supra/Moomba go away from the bag system in there newer upcoming models. I went out on my friends Malibu LSV, what a sweet ballast setup, you can individually fill every tank to a certain level.... cutting edge technology. And you dont loose any ski locker space with the bags filling! along with no air pockets ballooning your bags!

I heard Supra is adding some type of gauge setup in 2010, I think they are asking for problems doing this with a bag system. I guess we will see how it works in time...

[tazz3069]

it will kind of hard to gauge the level of water in a bag system. If anything, they might have it times. For example, 4 min = 200lbs. i am just taking a guess. I has asked my dealer about the changes. There's not much. they are keeping the bags. they said that they might put in a screen like the Maliview. we'll see what happens.

[Fman]

it will kind of hard to gauge the level of water in a bag system. If anything, they might have it times. For example, 4 min = 200lbs. i am just taking a guess. I has asked my dealer about the changes. There's not much. they are keeping the bags. they said that they might put in a screen like the Maliview. we'll see what happens.

After you ride in the Malibu with Mali-view it makes you realize how antiquated the Supra/Moomba ballast system is! Malibu has cutting edge technology, it is awesome. Although, I would still take my Supra over the LSV, I like my boat configuration better. Hands down Malibu has the best ballast system right now. I wish Supra would just get rid of the bags system and go with hard tanks, its a much better setup. Especially since I am having to upgrade my '08 with vent lines on each bag and a much better fill system.

[sandm]

I'd be all over the hard tank system if they can keep it below the deck. eating up the rear storage, I'd still rather have the bags.
I haven't seen the maliview system, but I really don't see the benefit to seeing how full the tanks/bags are. I would think either you are a beginner and don't need them, or have advanced enough to want the tanks/bags full, and a screen to watch your stuff fill just detracts from conversing with your peeps on the boat.
I have read about problems, especially with the mastercraft system to add additional bags or replace what is there with a timed system. at least ours is one of the easiest to add extra weight.

personally, I think the flooded tanks under the floor that fill/drain with doors is the future. MB went that route this year and I would think from a quick fill, virtually no parts to replace and ease to use, it's the best way to go.

[tazz3069]

I have friends that have different boats. One has a Malibu LSV and the other a Centurion Enzo. They both have hard tanks in their boats. They still have tons of rooms for stuff. I can only wish that I had the same set up. I do really love my 07' LSV. I just do not like the bags. You loose room when full and they do not drain all the way.

[Fman]

I'd be all over the hard tank system if they can keep it below the deck. eating up the rear storage, I'd still rather have the bags.
I haven't seen the maliview system, but I really don't see the benefit to seeing how full the tanks/bags are. I would think either you are a beginner and don't need them, or have advanced enough to want the tanks/bags full, and a screen to watch your stuff fill just detracts from conversing with your peeps on the boat.
I have read about problems, especially with the mastercraft system to add additional bags or replace what is there with a timed system. at least ours is one of the easiest to add extra weight.

personally, I think the flooded tanks under the floor that fill/drain with doors is the future. MB went that route this year and I would think from a quick fill, virtually no parts to replace and ease to use, it's the best way to go.

I agree, MB and Calabria are using the pure vert system which is awesome. Only downfall to this system is you cant fill the tanks while moving, but who really cares about that. The Malibu system is real nice because every rider is at different levels and uses different size ballast weights. It lets you program each rider and there ballast/wedge setup/speed. Its real nice, even tu just be able to fill it 50% or 30%, depending on what your needs are. With MB you get 2,500 lbs of ballast in 60 seconds, which is awesome. No pumps, only better.

The Supra/Moomba system in my opinion has too many cons. You can add weight which is nice, but other than that there are no pro's. And loosing space when filling the sacs is a bummer, not that you cant work around it, but it still is not a good functional setup. Thankfully if you have a Z5 rack other than vests/ropes in the ski lockers you dont need to put anything else in there. Supra needs to match the ballast system to the boat they are selling. They sell a very nice boat with a low-grade ballast system. Malibu also has 1,300 lbs of hard ballast which is nice for a hard tank system.

My fill system is finally "adequate", and now I am working on venting the bags, which is exactly what Supra should have done to begin with. This will also help them drain better to eliminate the "vaccuum" effect while draining.

Anyway, just my .02..... I still like my Supra and have a great time on the water with it. I also paid $25k less than my friends Malibu LSV, and I cant say I would take his Malibu over my Supra.

[Fman]

I also forgot to mention, another reason I selected the Tsunami's over the JABSCO pumps was the AMP draw. The JABSCO pumps draw about 9 amps per pump x 3 = 27 amps. Tsunami 800's use 1.8 amps per pump x 3 = 5.5. You are using less amps with all 3 tsunamis running than one JABSCO pump. This is significant, especially if you are draining/filling without the boat running.

[jasonwm]

Thanks for posting the summary of your install Travis, hopefully that will prove beneficial to other owners that are frustrated by the functionality of their factory system.

Let me know if you have any other questions.