Centurion Elite V C4 Ballast Upgrade

[2010 Elite V Oldman WB SS 1]

I have a 2010 Elite V C4 with 250# center tank that is filled with a Jabsco Ballast Puppy and drained with a Johnson Aerator pump.  I am removing the aerator pump and plan to convert the Jabsco to fill and drain.  I am going to use it to fill and drain the portl locker bag (750#).  I plan to purchase a Johnson Ultra ballast to fill both the center tank and the starboard bag (750#).  With its higher rating, it will fill the center tank and starboard bag in the same time it takes the Jabsco to fill the port bag.  I routed the overflow for the port bag to the center thru hull discharge hole that was used for the aerator pump that was draining the center tank.  I routed the overflow for the starboard bag to the same thru hull discharge hole that is used for the bilge pump.

The factory switches were not DPDT since the factory setup was to fill with the Ballast Puppy and drain with aerator pumps.  There are factory 5 pin SPDT switch connectors for center, port, and starboard.  They all are wired to the stock Jabsco ballast puppy pump.  I found a second fill pump connector that is also SPDT that I will connect to the new Johnson Ultra Ballast pump.  I purchased the DPDT switch connectors that Wakemakers sells and have DPDT switches on backorder. 

My question is how to hook up those switch connectors to the factory wiring.  There are 4 wires on the connector: Battery + and - and Pump + and -.  The factory connectors all have 2 black wires in pin 7, 2 blue wires in pin 6, 2 brown wires in pin 3, a green wire in pin 2 , and an orange wire in pin1. 

I know the brown wires in pin 3 are for the drain pump and am pretty sure the black wires in pin 7 are the battery - since they are connected to the adjacent switch connectors.  I assume the 2 blue wires in pin 6 are the battery + since they are connected to the adjacent switch connectors.  I assume the green and orange wires are for the impeller pump but I am not sure which is + and which is -.

The Wakemakers switch connector wires are 12 AWG.  They say to connect to the battery and pump with 12AWG butt connectors.  However, the wires on the factory switch connectors appear to be smaller (maybe 14 or 16 AWG).  Also, as noted, there are 2 blue and 2 black wires.  What is the best way to connect them to the 12 AWG on the switch connector?

The factory wire for the 2nd fill pump has a plug connector but the Johnson pump I will be using just as 2 bare 12 AWG wires.  If I cut off that plug connector, it looks like the wires are thicker, maybe 10 AWG.  What is the best way to splice that the 10 AWG factory wire to the 12 AWG pump wire? 

As you can see, I am really weak on the electrical side so any assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

I did not know how to compress pics to fit on this page but I posted some pics of the SPDT factory switch connectors and wakemakers DPDT switch connector on the Centurion Crew.com Facebook page.

[Troy. R 198]

I would just run your own wire to be honest. I’ll send you the wiring schematic I made when I did the ballast on my old Avy when I get to my computer.

[Troy. R 198]

Here are the schematics and bill of materials from my ballast install:

http://www.centurioncrew.com/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=13013

 

[2010 Elite V Oldman WB SS 1]

Thanks Troy!  I have been using your diagram and parts list to help me throughout this process.  This is the first time I have seen the pics, very helpful.  

Regarding the wiring, one of the reasons I wanted to use the factory wiring is that it is routed through a breaker panel and then to the voltage sensitive relay which then connects to the battery.  When you ran your dedicated wire to the battery, did you come through the breaker panel or just rely on your inline fuse?  Did you run wires from each pump to the battery or did you combine them at some point and then just run a single wire to the battery?

[Troy. R 198]

5 minutes ago, 2010 Elite V Oldman WB SS said:

Thanks Troy!  I have been using your diagram and parts list to help me throughout this process.  This is the first time I have seen the pics, very helpful.  

Regarding the wiring, one of the reasons I wanted to use the factory wiring is that it is routed through a breaker panel and then to the voltage sensitive relay which then connects to the battery.  When you ran your dedicated wire to the battery, did you come through the breaker panel or just rely on your inline fuse?  Did you run wires from each pump to the battery or did you combine them at some point and then just run a single wire to the battery?

Mine was an ‘07, so I had a fuse panel, not the breaker panel. I ran my power directly from the fuse panel and grounds to the ground block under the dash. My Avy came with the center ballast only, so I used the “port ballast” and “starboard ballast” fuse slots in the factory fuse panel for my port/starboard pumps and I used the factory “shower” fuse slot for the mid port pump. From the factory they were 5 amp fuses, so I had to change them to 20 amp.

I would imagine you could do something similar with your breaker panel. Another option is to add a secondary fuse panel for your ballast. I believe Wakemakers sells one. That way you only need to run 1 wire from the battery switch to the secondary fuse panel, then power your ballast from there.

[2010 Elite V Oldman WB SS 1]

Thanks Troy.  In addition to the center ballast which is all I currently have, I have breakers for 2 port and 2 starboard ballast as well as for fill pump 1 and fill pump 2.  I pulled that breaker cover but unlike fuzes, the breakers do not appear to be labeled with a rating although I may take another look.

I assume the port and starboard ballast switches were for aerator drain pumps which would have a lower rating like you saw with the fuzes you had for port and starboard.  However, the fill pump 2 should be rated the same as the fill pump 1 which is a Jabsco ballast puppy. 

Apparently, the Johnson draws more than a Jabsco (Wakemakers recommends 30 amp fuse vice 20 amp for the Jabsco).  If that is the case, I will probably have to go with Jabsco since the fill pump 2 breaker should be rated for it (not preferable since it produces less flow for about the same cost as Johnson Ultra Ballast), or verifiy that the fill pump 2 breaker is rated for 30 amps, or put in a 30 amp inline fuze between the switch and breaker panel.

[Troy. R 198]

If you call Centurion, I’m sure they can tell you the circuit breaker ratings.

209-384-0255

 

[2010 Elite V Oldman WB SS 1]

Thanks Troy.  I called Centurion and they said the breakers for those fill pumps should be good up to 30 amps.  I see Johnson recommends 25 amp fuse/breaker and the specs say it draws 14 amps when pumping and up to 18 when reversing.  Therefore, I feel comfortable using the factory wiring and breaker panel.  If it ends up tripping the breaker, I will go ahead and run a dedicated wire and inline fuse later. I ordered the rest of the parts today so hopefully I can install next week and post some pics.

[Troy. R 198]

4 hours ago, 2010 Elite V Oldman WB SS said:

Thanks Troy.  I called Centurion and they said the breakers for those fill pumps should be good up to 30 amps.  I see Johnson recommends 25 amp fuse/breaker and the specs say it draws 14 amps when pumping and up to 18 when reversing.  Therefore, I feel comfortable using the factory wiring and breaker panel.  If it ends up tripping the breaker, I will go ahead and run a dedicated wire and inline fuse later. I ordered the rest of the parts today so hopefully I can install next week and post some pics.

Nice!

im glad that’s going to work out for you.

[2010 Elite V Oldman WB SS 1]

Unfortunately, it did not work.  I get power from the battery to the new DPDT switch but the pump does not work with the new DPDT switch and connector harness.  Odd that the factory wiring does run the pump with the old  SPDT switch.  I am going to test a new line from the switch to the pump to see if it works and if so, run new wires from the switches to the pumps.  I may just bite the bullet and go all the way to the battery too but it would be nice to use the existing breaker system between the battery and the switch.

[Troy. R 198]

1 hour ago, 2010 Elite V Oldman WB SS said:

Unfortunately, it did not work.  I get power from the battery to the new DPDT switch but the pump does not work with the new DPDT switch and connector harness.  Odd that the factory wiring does run the pump with the old  SPDT switch.  I am going to test a new line from the switch to the pump to see if it works and if so, run new wires from the switches to the pumps.  I may just bite the bullet and go all the way to the battery too but it would be nice to use the existing breaker system between the battery and the switch.

You should be able to just run new wire from the  load side of the circuit breaker. That way you still take advantage of the existing breaker panel.

[2010 Elite V Oldman WB SS 1]

22 minutes ago, Troy. R said:

You should be able to just run new wire from the  load side of the circuit breaker. That way you still take advantage of the existing breaker panel.

Good idea if I can access and find the line coming out of the breaker to the switches. 

By the way, if I do end up going to the battery and adding inline fuses, should I go to the starter battery or the house battery?  I would think the house battery would be better since it may allow me to fill and drain without running the engine.

[Troy 234]

I used the house battery. I can fill the ballast while the engine is off and not worry about the boat not starting.  

[2010 Elite V Oldman WB SS 1]

8 hours ago, Troy said:

I used the house battery. I can fill the ballast while the engine is off and not worry about the boat not starting.  

Thanks Troy.  I called Centurion today and they said the factory wiring system was not working with the original ballast puppy and new DPDT switch because there is a relay in there and is really not designed for the reversible pump.  They also said there also could be issues because the wire running to the pump is also connected to the wire for the sprinkler valve (although I had already disconnected and removed that).  Anyway, they said to run new wire to the pump (like you said) and also to the terminal under the helm and add a 30 amp inline breaker.  I guess they are not confident in that breaker panel after all.  Anyway, I ordered all the necessary equipment from Wakemakers today.  I may try connecting the system to that terminal under the helm which then runs to the battery with heavy gauge wire.  I did buy enough wire to make it all the way to the battery because I like the idea of connecting to the house battery to allow filling and draining without running the engine.

So tomorrow, I will install the new Johnson Pump and do all the plumbing and next week, I will take care of the wiring.  Thanks for all your help.

[Troy. R 198]

2 hours ago, 2010 Elite V Oldman WB SS said:

Thanks Troy.  I called Centurion today and they said the factory wiring system was not working with the original ballast puppy and new DPDT switch because there is a relay in there and is really not designed for the reversible pump.  They also said there also could be issues because the wire running to the pump is also connected to the wire for the sprinkler valve (although I had already disconnected and removed that).  Anyway, they said to run new wire to the pump (like you said) and also to the terminal under the helm and add a 30 amp inline breaker.  I guess they are not confident in that breaker panel after all.  Anyway, I ordered all the necessary equipment from Wakemakers today.  I may try connecting the system to that terminal under the helm which then runs to the battery with heavy gauge wire.  I did buy enough wire to make it all the way to the battery because I like the idea of connecting to the house battery to allow filling and draining without running the engine.

So tomorrow, I will install the new Johnson Pump and do all the plumbing and next week, I will take care of the wiring.  Thanks for all your help.

Nice.

keep us posted on your progress. Should be a fun project. I enjoyed doing mine at least…

[2010 Elite V Oldman WB SS 1]

On 5/7/2021 at 8:04 PM, Troy. R said:

Nice.

keep us posted on your progress. Should be a fun project. I enjoyed doing mine at least…

I finally got the new wiring installed but it took me awhile to test it out.  Finally did that on Father's Day and everything worked, although the center tank does not drain that well.  I may need to add a check valve on that vent line or temporarily insert a plug into the discharge port when emptying.

Big thanks to Troy and others who helped me out with this.  Next rainy day, I'll get some pics together and do a full writeup for others considering a similar project.