Ballast Upgrade

[duffymahoney 10]

Doesn't increase performance. Keeps water in the sac and keeps air out of the sac. Air in the lines or sac can cause an airlock and the pump won't work.

[duffymahoney 10]

I hooked my 1000 gph mayfairs up to my 18 ryobi battery and the pump screamed! I contacted mayfair and said the voltage wouldn't hurt anything. I tried to figure a way to wire my pumps with 18v but couldn't figure anything out.

[Sporty 4]

Doesn't increase performance. Keeps water in the sac and keeps air out of the sac. Air in the lines or sac can cause an airlock and the pump won't work.

My thougt is it may increase performance as it now takes a little bit for the exit pumps to really get a prime and start pumping at a good rate. After they are primed and pumping there can't really be any difference, I agree.

Sporty.

[LakeSurfer 10]

I was thinking about you as I was working on my ballast system yesterday. With the exception of your system, I think mine is one of the more complicated ones. Working on these ballast systems sure is a pain in the butt, I definitely have a new respect for what you have done to your boat.

 

I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around how check valves could increase the performance of aerator pumps.

 

I dont see how check valve will do anything but let you raisin the back when you empty it. If you fill the bags up until water shoots out the side, you dont have any air in it then. You may have some air in it when you empty it out.

[duffymahoney 10]

I dont see how check valve will do anything but let you raisin the back when you empty it. If you fill the bags up until water shoots out the side, you dont have any air in it then. You may have some air in it when you empty it out.

 

When you get air trapped it doesn't fill as well. My sac fills every inch of my locker area, and if air gets in them it's a pain to get out. I actually once a day or so when it's halfway full stand on the sac and take the vent hose off and make sure there is no air trapped. Aerators need 1 ways on everything to work properly. This is my 3rd aerator system I have installed and it works amazing, silent and fast. Not as fast as your new system lakesurfer:) Air is the enemy with this system. Yours it's not as big of a issue I would guess. Somehow aerator pumps get air in the sacs no matter what I do? Always found that strange.

[LakeSurfer 10]

Also if you were switching sides wouldn't you have 4 of these massive pumps going? I mean draining one sac and filling the other?

 

The installer did run all 4 pumps to switch sides. He said all it did was suck the water out of one sac and strait into the other. Took about 6 minutes.

[Sporty 4]

Maybe increased pump performance with the check valves is not good terminology.

I think the system will perform better overall if the exit pumps do not get as much air. They should prime faster is my thinking.

Sporty

[Sporty 4]

I hooked my 1000 gph mayfairs up to my 18 ryobi battery and the pump screamed! I contacted mayfair and said the voltage wouldn't hurt anything. I tried to figure a way to wire my pumps with 18v but couldn't figure anything out.

Boy, you and I think alike some times. On my last system with ballast puppies I thought about this. DC motors spin faster with more voltage. I always wondered if there was a step up transformer that could step up the voltage.

 

Now that I think about it a little more. You could easily use a series/parallel switch with 2 12 volt batteries to get 24 volts. That would make the mayfairs spin!

 

Series parallel switches are very common on older heavy equipment that use 12 volt electrical systems but upon activation give you 24 volts to the starter. Probably in stock at your local auto or truck parts shop.

 

That would actually work!

[Sporty 4]

I wonder if we could make some sort of gate system like the MB boats and fill and drain in like 45 seconds? Fill could be under the boat while moving forward and empty could be on the transom while also moving forward? I believe the concept just needs the sac to below waterline to fill while stopped?

 

Now your onto something. Why not install a intake/scooper that was on something like a wakeplate that could be lowered into the lake as you were underway? You could then feed good quality irrigation valves (I use awesome toro commercial 1" ones that flow 40 gpm $27 each, Imagine if you had a 2" fill line! You could fill an enzo sac in 2 minutes) Then if you wanted to fill you just hit a button, a lenco lowers a scoop/intake as you are travelling increasing pressure to the valves, then you activate whatever valve you want to feed whatever bag, wait till the bag fills and water comes out the overflow, turn off the valve, raise the scoop and you are surfing.

I should start working on a patent! The duffsport super fast fill sytem!

Then you control the drains with large solenid valves as well. Open a 2 or 3 " valve as you get on plane and swoosh out goes the water!

NO PUMPS!

Crazy but it has a possibility!

[Sporty 4]

I hooked my 1000 gph mayfairs up to my 18 ryobi battery and the pump screamed! I contacted mayfair and said the voltage wouldn't hurt anything. I tried to figure a way to wire my pumps with 18v but couldn't figure anything out.

 

Have a look at the attached diagram, replace the starter solenid on the drawing with your switch, the starter with your pumps and voila, you have 24 volts spinning your mayfairs!

 

These are pretty tough switches and are rated for huge amps.

 

Another might just work!

The parallel switch accomplishes this feat using 6 relay contacts as shown in the diagram below.doc