Ballast pumps no workie

[Friggy 12]

I have new to me 2011 Sv240+. Put it in the water last night for the first time for a spin to see how everything works. Tried filling the port side mid bag. Pump thru the sprinkler valve set up. Pump ran for a bout 4 minutes partially filling the bag. Pump stopped. after that nothing, tried to empty the bag nothing. tried re-filling the bag, nothing. tried filling and empting center tank, still nothing, tried the same for the Starboard bag , nothing.

 

like the whole system shut down. is there a fuse for the whole system ? could not find anything.

 

any help please from the Crew would be great.

[stoked 1,039]

There should be fuses up under the dash somewhere. Definitely sounds like you blew a fuse

[Friggy 12]

ok the hunt is on!

[Friggy 12]

there are no fuses. only resettable circuit breakers under the dash. found nothing tripped

[DrNate 426]

OK, Friggy.

 

Your setup is such that you have one ballast puppy running through three different sprinkler valves to fill the center hard tank, mid port, and mid starboard bags collectively. Each bag individually has it's own small bilge pump attached to it to empty it.

 

The entire system is a poor design and is destined to fail and to give you trouble. Mine did ever since it was new. The answer to the problem will be to individually run a single ballast puppy to fill and empty each one by itself. Skip the sprinkler valve system altogether because it was never a good idea in the first place. I know it's not what you want to hear, but it's the second best thing I ever did on my boat because I haven't had a single problem with it since.

 

One thing you can easily check in the meantime though is to see if the ballast puppy is getting electric to it with a voltmeter or simply by listening to see if it's running. If it is getting electric, then open up the puppy and see if you can inspect and/or replace the black impeller in there. (It's very simple, three flat head screws, but don't lose the gasket!).

 

Replace it with a green nitrile impeller from wakemakers. You will want to do this eventually even if you are not having trouble with the pump currently. Hope that helps!

[Friggy 12]

Thanks DrNate,

 

Yes I agree that is what I probably will have to do, but in the mean time. I have the green impellors already. I don't understand why the drain pumps won't work also. is everything controlled through the sprinkler valves?

[DrNate 426]

Thanks DrNate,

 

Yes I agree that is what I probably will have to do, but in the mean time. I have the green impellors already. I don't understand why the drain pumps won't work also. is everything controlled through the sprinkler valves?

 

Only the "fill" is controlled through the sprinkler valves. Remember the empties each have their own bilge pump attached. It's weird, I know.

 

The sprinkler valves also have a black flow control tab on them. They can be in the on, off, or auto fill position, so might check that also. If they are in the off position, they will never fill even if you flip the toggle switch at the helm

Edited June 12, 2016 by DrNate

[Dandy 43]

 

OK, Friggy. The entire system is a poor design and is destined to fail and to give you trouble. Mine did ever since it was new. The answer to the problem will be to individually run a single ballast puppy to fill and empty each one by itself. Skip the sprinkler valve system altogether because it was never a good idea in the first place. I know it's not what you want to hear, but it's the second best thing I ever did on my boat because I haven't had a single problem with it since.

There is some great advice here, but do not discount using individual aerator pumps to fill each sac and also individual aerator pumps to drain (sounds like the drain is already this way). The aerators are cheaper and draw considerably less current. If you would build they system using all the same pumps (Example: Atwood T1200) you would have good flow volumes and being a cartridge style pump if one fails you can move a cartridge over and still get the sac filled/drained. I have seen installs online where some people install dual T1200s for fill and drain cutting times in half and it still draws significantly less current. Aerators however are not self priming so they must be installed in the bilge to "flood" them. The impellor ballast puppy pumps are self priming so they can be mounted above the waterline. Personally I don't like having the pumps used as reversible because then you don't see your drain line when it empties, it drains back through the through hull fitting. Just a different idea.