Originally Posted by
CJD
The rear 1/3 of the boat looks like new. The upholstery forward will be a gradual project, though. It's all intact, but looks awful next to the bright new vinyl on the rear hatch covers.
I was all ready to launch for the first of the season to try out the new ballast pumps, but found that the 1-1/2" bag fittings will not fit into the old bags. So now I am on hold waiting delivery of 2 new 1280# sacs from Wakemakers.
I decided to run the mega pumps through a double switch to prevent inadvertently blowing the bags. The accessory switch must be down and the bag switch up before the pumps will work. I figure that way it will take a double mistake to overfill. I had looked at flow meters for the vents and some other ideas...but in the end it was getting just too complicated. KISS is always the best philosophy.
I have not installed the new front pump yet. I got burned out on this project for the season, and will take a few months to decide the best way to install it. In the mean time, the original aerator pump is dedicated to only the front bag. So when the pump kicks in it fills, although slower than the rear bags, and the original vent empty aerator motor will drain the forward sac. It should still fill much faster than it used to, since the little pump no longer has to share 3 bags.
After working with the 1-1/2" ballast hose, all I can say is OMG! This hose is fat and stiff as hell, so you must carefully plan your routes. It only bends about 2-3 degrees per foot, so bending it around corners is out of the question. You must change directions using hard elbows, and only have the gentlest of curves for the hose to bend. Working with the final hose install was the last straw in my current burn out. I am ready to start surfing!