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bwiggins
05-07-2002, 11:52 AM
I have a 2002 Supra Launch and everytime I fill my front and back balast I have to disconnect the hose and turn the pump off and on. It seems like there is an air pocket in the pump and it will not pump. I was wondering if I was doing something wrong. I never had this problem with my 1999 Supra Launch.

Thanks

Barry

Craig Fulton
05-08-2002, 09:03 AM
I think this happens to me as well. What I do to clear the air is turn on the pump while driving along at 25-30 mph to force water up the intake. Then when I stop the pump is flowing fine.

You may want to try that if you haven't.

Craig Fulton
05-08-2002, 09:05 AM
I have the factory rear bertha ballast and was wondering if there is a way to tap into it and run another hose up to the front locker. This way I can have the hose there and ready to connect to a sack.

Can this be done?

goose
05-08-2002, 02:58 PM
Craig,
It is possible to tap into the factory ballast and run a hose to the front. There are a couple of ways to do that. You can either splice into the inlet hose and install a Y fitting or change the fitting going into the tank with a T fitting and run the hose to the front ski locker. I recommend you add a ball valve on that hose so that you can turn the fill on or off. You can also install a diverter valve in line to the rear tank and divert the water from the back to the front and again use the ball valve to turn the water on. You can also just install another pump in the bottom of the hull and have a dedicated fill pump for the front.

To answer the above questions, we have had some troubles with priming of the 2002 Bertha ballast systems. If you are having trouble, contact your local dealer and have them contact us and we will try to fix it under warranty. Sorry about the hassle.

Craig Fulton
05-09-2002, 04:57 PM
Matt,

Thanks for the guidance, but I wasn't thinking clearly...I will need to empty the front sac as well. I guess I just need to get under the tank and see what is going on down there. Do I just take the entire back seat apart to get to the pumps and hoses? Is there only one pump running the ballast? Would it be possible to add another pump right at the water pink-up at the hull to power water in and out of a front sac?

Thanks!

goose
05-11-2002, 10:13 PM
Craig,
The factory system in your boat consists of 1-2000 gph pump for fill and 1-2000 gph pump for drain. If you want to check out whats going on you need to flip the rear seat up and remove the 2 screws that are holding the rear seat back onto the ballast tank. You can then lift the seat back straight up to remove it. It has clips which hold it into place. To access the fill and drain pump, you need to remove the aluminum floorboard between the tank and the motor box.

To drain the front bag, I recommend you add an additional pump directly to the bag. You can either leave extra hose on that pump and drain it over the side of the boat, or install another thru hull and drain it out the boat. It all depends on how much work you want to do.

Hope that helps.

05-14-2002, 05:40 PM
Matt,
I have a 2001 Launch and I had the same problem with my hard ballast tank filling. I took it to my dealer and they fixed it under warranty, but unfortunatly the problem is back(after working flawlessly for about 2 months). Should I take it back to the dealer? Or could it be a completely different problem?

-Shawn Macking

SupraBoarder
05-14-2002, 05:46 PM
Matt,
I've got a 2001 Launch and the rear ballast hard tank doesn't want to fill very often. I took it to my dealer at the end of last season and they said they knew what was wrong with it and fixed it under warranty. It worked flawlessly until a few weeks ago when it turned on us again. Should I take it back to my dealer and have them fix it again? Or could this be a new problem that I may be able to fix? Thanks for everything
-Shawn Macking

05-22-2002, 11:58 PM
I too have the ballast tank and sac that doesn't want to fill usually. I have spoken to my dealer who is currently trying to figure out what to do next. I have checked that polarity of the pump motor as well as tried the "take it up to 30 and see if that get's her goin'". I have even spoken to a representative from RULE PUMPS who said that as I describe, there shouldn't be a problem. The only thing that he did mention is that the pumps being used shouldn't be asked to open any valve at the tank at all. I am still waiting for an answer on this from my dealer.

SUPRA SAM
05-31-2002, 02:38 PM
Matt,

You stated above:


"To answer the above questions, we have had some troubles with priming of the 2002 Bertha ballast systems. If you are having trouble, contact your local dealer and have them contact us and we will try to fix it under warranty. Sorry about the hassle."

Is this something that we can do without having to take it in and costing our dealer and Skier's Choice warranty costs? Mine just started air locking, but had been working beautifully since it was installed in Feb. Or would this void our warranty if we did it?

The front sac works great, but it works differently than the tank and always stays primed.

Thanks,
Sam