Avy C4 Ballast pump question

[N901 4]

Hi All,

Quick question on the ballast pump(s) in my 2006 Avy C4. I see the 3 yellow pumps which I assume are the pump outs. I see one thru hull intake going to a Water Puppy Model 18220-2123. Does this one pump fill all 3 hard tanks I have? There is a large hose off the water puppy that routes to the back of the boat to a white water strainer (perhaps) and then from there it branches to 3 "units". (not sure what to call it). If it is just the one main pump, can I simply upgrade that to get a faster fill time? It's strange that there are 3 tank switches but only one pump.

Appreciate any insight.

Thanks!

[volzalum 280]

Your ballast system goes to the single water puppy to the sprinkler valve manifold. The sprinkler valves are notoriously limiting for water flow. You have a few options:

1) Overhaul or Replace the sprinkler valve with ones made to fully operate on 12 volts (the factory ones are designed for 24v so do not fully open on 12 volts)

2) Replace the sprinkler valves with 12 volt ball valves (several sources available now on Amazon and other sites)

3) remove the manifold and the yellow drain valves and add two more pumps so you have separate fill/drain on individual pumps for each bag. You would also need to rewire the switched because they currently use diodes to ensure you have individual control for filling with the manifold.

 

Option 3 will get you the best fill/drain control.

[Troy. R 198]

If you're going to get into modifying ballast, you'll probably want to pull out those factory hard tanks in the lockers and put in bags.
There are a ton of ballast modification threads on this site that will give you some good options. I completely redid the ballast in my Avy. Let me see if I can find that thread and I'll post a link if I do.

[Troy. R 198]

Here you go:

 

[N901 4]

Thanks all. Definitely getting rid of those hard tanks. I'll take a look at your thread now. Was hoping to just be able to replace the water puppy to a bigger/faster one rather than get into the sprinkler value replacement or adding pumps but I can see the sprinkler values being restrictive and slowing things down. Thanks again, I'm sure I'll have more questions.

[Troy 234]

Ive done several treads also about my Avy ballast projects.  I redid my sprinkler valves with the electric ball valves and very happy with the outcome.

 

[N901 4]

Thanks Troy... I’ll dig into your threads.