Mike Christie

You should check the crew classifieds

50 Degrees in the water, but thanks to the Patagonia dry suit, we got after it a bit early this year.

The SideSwipe is basically a 6" diameter tube that runs perpendicular to the engine, or parallel with the transom of the boat. There are big covers or boxes that cover up this tube, essentially making a shelf in the back corner of the boat. The Enzo bag stops right at the front of this box, Therefore leaving a lot of extra space for ballast if you don't have the SideSwipe. As I mentioned above, I do have the SideSwipe and I first started with the 1100 lb bags thinking that I could lay them over these boxes, and while it worked, it was not ideal. They kept getting twisted up and were a total pain to fill because the had to constantly be adjusted. I ended up switching to the Enzo bags for two reasons, (1) because they fit in the lockers much better and (2) because of the Johnson pump that I was running. (more on this in a bit) On my boat, with these new bags there is still a small triangular spot on top of the shelf that I have been considering throwing some Pop products bags on for a little extra weight. Right now I just store a couple of fenders on that shelf. Every little bit of weight you get into that back corner seems to help. That is why when some guys go super big, they even throw a little fat brick on the swim step. As for your clam shell bag, I don't think it is super important on the regular side, especially if you are riding with 5-8 people in the boat. 5-8 people,a full Enzo sack and gear will get the job done. What really helps is an adjustable trim tab. Depending on water conditions, that may in fact be too much weight to be safe. I know that I personally don't like to push it in terms of too much weight if the water is even a little bit choppy. People are the best kind of ballast because you can easily place them around the boat and "tune" the wave. When we surf regular, with usually 4 adults in the boat, we don't run any bow weight. For goofy riders we put a 400 lb bag up in the passenger play pen to help get the bow down and lengthen out the wave, however that is really just polishing a turd because the goofy wave on an Enzo is just crumbly and you need a lot more weight to even get close to half the quality of wave that you can get out of the regular side, but this is a whole other topic which pains me greatly because I am a goofy rider. Quickly about the pump and why it lead me to an Enzo bag.... I originally liked the idea of a reversible pump and bought one plumbing it in using the same inlet that the stock pump under the swim step used. After doing the math with a hard tank and the 1100 lb bag, I got pretty close to what an Enzo bag would weigh and was happy enough with that considering (2) Enzo bags were about 1g. I plumbed the pump to the bag then connected the bag to the tank thinking that the water would flow to fill the bag, and then overflow into the tank, then out the vent when full. This worked pretty well, except when draining the bag tank combo, if you were not watching the bag and left the pump on to long, besides the risk of burning the pump up, it would just suck and suck and suck and "raisin" the bag up and then start sucking in the plastic tank. While the tank did not break, I was inspecting it at the end of the season and could see the beginnings of failure due to the vacuum that the pump created. Since I had it all apart I just scrapped the tank and put in Enzo bags. As an added benefit the Enzo bag fit better with the SideSwipe as I mentioned above. I have no idea how long custom bags would take. Someone on here has ordered them... If you do get Enzo bags you can just plum them in using the stock pumps and they would probably fill just as fast. Before you blow a bunch of cash on bags and installation, it might be good to work out where the weight needs to be with people and or bags and then plumb accordingly.

Oh, and I should add that I have an 06 Enzo

Been there, and done that..... and I don't think I would do it again.....but that is based on my experience. If you have the SideSwipe, Enzo bags are great because they fit well with the exhaust covers. If you don't have that option, the 1100lb bags work well in the locker. You will find a lot of extra wasted space unless you go with a custom Enzo bag. As for pumps, if you already have inlet holes in the transom for the stock pumps, I would stick with the aerators. I Installed a Johnson pump that is reversible and wiring it was a PITA because the switch was so far from where the pumps were mounted. I know guys on here wire straight to the switch all day long, but I ended up running another fuse panel with some relays to handle all the amperage. Also you have to constantly watch the level of the bag so you don't run the pump dry and burn it up. For this reason alone, I wish I stayed with the aerators.

Photo. Forgot that little attach to this file button.

That and a new Cable Harness for the NSS are the ONLY parts I have not replaced, only because my local parts house did not have them in stock. 20 hours diagnosing and testing and it may all come down to a relay. Sweet! I will keep you guys posted on the fix. The two fuses are part # 16 in the exploded diagram. BTW. marineengine.com has great exploded assemblies and parts lists. No affiliatiion, just sharing the wealth of knowledge.

Oh, one other thing. Is there a positive and negative side to the NSS? In studying it before installation, I could not see any + or - markings. Since it is a switch I didn't think it mattered, but maybe that is an issue?

Thanks for the suggestion Bigcatpt. I replaced the NSS and no luck. I also replaced the starter and the ignition switch. Still nothing. Is there a micro-switch in the gear shift assembly? It is my understanding that the NSS on the trans is always powered on, but I am thinking there might be a micro switch in the shift assembly that when you put the boat into forward or reverse, it cuts the power to the switch on the trans. Make sense? Otherwise I am at a loss, except one thing that did happen when installing the new starter is that I cranked down a little too hard on the positive stud on the solenoid and heard a little cracking. I am afraid I may have wasted the solenoid so am going to pick another one up today and try switching that out. Sucks so much to have boat trouble during the summer. So few months to really enjoy it here in the NW and it has been out of commission for the last 3 weeks. I have a service appointment for it next week, which was the soonest I could get, but am hoping to get it resolved myself so I can get some use of it this weekend.

Been having trouble with the reliability of my boat starting lately. Turn the key for power on, then when you to start it....nothing. Starter solenoid is is good working condition is boat is not "in gear". After a few wiggles of the stick and a little futzing with the safety lanyard she usually fires right up. Is there a micro-switch in the gear lever that I could look at changing out, or could the safety lanyard connection be failing. Any ideas are welcomed. I hate chasing electrical ghosts.....

Looking at getting an on shore charger, but am unsure on which one to get in regards to the number of amps I need. I have 2 dual purpose group 27's. 6, 12, or 20 amps. I know that bigger is not always better.

I had this same issue last year. You don't need a ground block, you need relays. But since you are reversing polarity on one motor, you need 2 relays per. I will put a wiring drawing together of what I did if you need it. (null)

How many ohms are the speakers running at? (null)

If I remember correctly, H20king had a similar issue that he addressed while doing the Pss shaft seal install. I think it's covered in his write up in the DIY section. (null)