jclose8
08-11-2009, 04:44 PM
This thread is in addition to Fman's excellent thread. I have a '99 Santera that came with no ballast system. One of the main differences between the old Santera and the newer 22SSV's is the placement of the fuel tank. In my Santera, the fuel tank is in the front, leaving a ton of room to work under the floor. This same principle will work on any boat, but the installation will be a little tight in some applications and you may have to modify the design of the manifold.
I have a main water inlet which is a 1- 1/4" scoop through hull. To alleviate the water pressure that Fman addressed by grinding the scoop off, I simply drilled two 1/2" holes in the back of the scoop.
Next in line from the inlet is an electrically actuated gate valve. This is the main water shutoff and is controlled from the driver's seat. To fill the ballast, open the valve (the switch lights up as an alert that the valve is open). When the ballast is full, simply shut off the pumps and shut the valve. http://www.rvupgradestore.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=290
I personally used check valves to ensure that water could not drain back out, but the vented loops would work just as well. Even the check valves are probably unnecessary on my system, since the gate valve would stop any water from getting out.
The empty pumps are attached to each individual sack, and the vent lines are T'd into the drain lines so that I only have one through hull fitting per sack. Again, I used check valves to ensure that the empty pump couldn't pump water back into the sack.
It's been a pretty bulletproof system.... I don't really have any complaints in 5 seasons of use. It is fast, reliable and nearly foolproof.
I have a main water inlet which is a 1- 1/4" scoop through hull. To alleviate the water pressure that Fman addressed by grinding the scoop off, I simply drilled two 1/2" holes in the back of the scoop.
Next in line from the inlet is an electrically actuated gate valve. This is the main water shutoff and is controlled from the driver's seat. To fill the ballast, open the valve (the switch lights up as an alert that the valve is open). When the ballast is full, simply shut off the pumps and shut the valve. http://www.rvupgradestore.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=290
I personally used check valves to ensure that water could not drain back out, but the vented loops would work just as well. Even the check valves are probably unnecessary on my system, since the gate valve would stop any water from getting out.
The empty pumps are attached to each individual sack, and the vent lines are T'd into the drain lines so that I only have one through hull fitting per sack. Again, I used check valves to ensure that the empty pump couldn't pump water back into the sack.
It's been a pretty bulletproof system.... I don't really have any complaints in 5 seasons of use. It is fast, reliable and nearly foolproof.