Storm series ballast

[06avalanche 0]

Hi guys. My boat is an 06 avalanche with walk through . I believe it’s storm series 1 package. Has 1 center rank with fill. I fill fat sack bags in rear locker, under walk through and on top to surf.  I currently use a tsunami pump to fill them by hand. I see in the fuse box it is wired up for starboard and port side and where the switches are the are wired just need the toggle switch. Is there a way I can plumb in the pumps to fill my sacks and have it like my center tank where it fills and when it gets full it spits the water out the side of the boat. Thanks   I have pictures but can’t figure out how to load them. It says I can’t load more then 204.8kb

[06avalanche 0]

Or is my only option to drill a new hole underneath the boat and have it drain and fill from there 

[nickj03b 0]

I have an 08 avalanche storm series 1, also only came with center hard tank.  Mine also has the switch bodies behind the switch panel and also is pre wired with wires running to the rear lockers areas.  I tried to make sense of the factory wiring and had planned to use aerator pumps for the rear sacks, but seemed like more frustration than it would be worth.  Ended up adding reversible pumps with new switches and wiring.  Not complicated, just take your time and plan everything on paper first.  Drilling holes in my boat was scary at first, but once you measure 10 times first it isn’t so bad.  

 

Wakemakers will have everything you need and you aren’t gonna beat the prices imho.

[06avalanche 0]

Do I need to drill 2 holes. One for each bag?  Can I use the factory vent that is there for center tank?

[nickj03b 0]

I wouldn’t recommend using the factory vent lines as they are only 3/4”.  I drilled a total of 3 holes, one in bottom for new pump, and one on each side for vent.  I used 1” hose.  Your setup likely has a reversible for fill and a aerator for drain.  I re used the factory reversible for one side and put in a Johnson for the other.  

I then added an aerator fill for the center tank using the forward existing drain plug.  New switch required.  

Sorry if it sounds complicated without seeing it but to simplify I did  one reversible pump per bag, and added a 800gph aerator pump to fill the center since I stole the fill pump for one side sac.   Wakemakers has the ballast harnesses pre wired to make it easy  

[06avalanche 0]

Ok. I was just hoping since mine is like yours and is pre wired there would be a cheaper and easier way lol

[nickj03b 0]

There may be, just will take more trial and error. Figuring out factory wiring is always fun...

[swetpants 0]

I did the same thing on my 08 elite. I'd say don't cheap out. Get two reversible pumps, one for each rear locker bag. After all, time is fun. The quicker you can fill and empty lockers the better. The reversible pumps can fill and empty out of the holes in the bottom of the boat. I drilled two holes in the bottom (one for each pump) and two holes in the side (one vent for each bag), one vent on each side of the boat. I used 3/4 inch tube for the vent tube and 1 inch for the fill/empty tubes and I've had zero problems. I did put the vent holes as far up on the hull as possible to prevent back siphoning. Again, zero problems with back siphoning. Im very satisfied with how it turned out. It really wasn't difficult at all, just take your time as stated above. The hardest part was squeezing two new on/off valves and pumps in the V-drive area. I ran new wires to be 100% sure, I did not use the factory wiring.  My fuse panel also has the port and starboard already wired up but I think from the factory they might have used that spot in the fuse panel for something other than ballast due to the 5 amp fuses already in place. It was difficult for me to trace the wires to figure out so I ran new ones. i can fill two 750's in the back and the factory center tank in 4-5 mins. i think it ran me about $1000.  100% worth it.