1998 Air Nautique Ballast

[Chuckarral]

Just picked up nice boat trying to understand ballast system. Put boat in water, ran for a while slowed down started the ballast fill process. While easying forward opened the in take valve under motor, and turned control knobs on the right side of drivers seat to on position and flipped little black switch (in front of control knobs) to fill and watched gages waiting for them to fill, but no movement on gages. After 10-15 min we gave up, so no ballast. Closed intake valve and went back to riding. Did we do something wrong? How long should it take to fill ballast tanks? Should gauges have moved?

1) I thought the water would be forced through the scoop and up into ballast tanks.
2) The scoop is clean.
3) 3-vent ports on side of boat look clean
4) I am going to blow air thru lines tomorrow to make sure they are clear
5) after I got home I opened intake valve and water did pour out for about 1-2 min through the scoop on btm, so did that water come from ballast tanks from my attempt to fill?
6) exactly what does the little black electrical switch do? Would the ignition fuse have to be on to make it work or not?
Any thoughts?

[DLafont]

Did you hear the pump(s) working? That's a key indicator if all is working. Not too sure on your model boat, but mine has "venting" valves that need to be opened for the air to get out of the tanks. Perhaps your ballast gauges are non-functioning, since water poured out the intake, water did make its way in there. Next time out, take a peak at your tanks while filling, this will tell you if they are getting water or not.

[Guntersville230]

Just picked up nice boat trying to understand ballast system. Put boat in water, ran for a while slowed down started the ballast fill process. While easying forward opened the in take valve under motor, and turned control knobs on the right side of drivers seat to on position and flipped little black switch (in front of control knobs) to fill and watched gages waiting for them to fill, but no movement on gages. After 10-15 min we gave up, so no ballast. Closed intake valve and went back to riding. Did we do something wrong? How long should it take to fill ballast tanks? Should gauges have moved?

1) I thought the water would be forced through the scoop and up into ballast tanks.
2) The scoop is clean.
3) 3-vent ports on side of boat look clean
4) I am going to blow air thru lines tomorrow to make sure they are clear
5) after I got home I opened intake valve and water did pour out for about 1-2 min through the scoop on btm, so did that water come from ballast tanks from my attempt to fill?
6) exactly what does the little black electrical switch do? Would the ignition fuse have to be on to make it work or not?
Any thoughts?

Can you post a picture of your boat? I had this year model and I may be able to help you out with suggestions.....

[a0128]

I have a 1999 Pro Air so our systems are similar. There are two pumps. One (closest to the engine) helps fill the tanks, and the other (towards the stern) helps empty the tanks. The black switch is a two-way so one direction runs the fill pump and the other direction runs the empty pump. My switch has markings for fill and empty. Hopefully you were running your pump in the fill and not empty position.

You don't necessarily need the pumps to fill, but you do need to be going about 20mph to push enough water through the inlet. I remember it taking me about 10 minutes or so to fill running at 20mph. Eventually your gauges will display the water level.

Once your tanks are full you can close the vent knobs by your seat and the through-hull. PLEASE DON'T try and operate the through-hull while the engine is running. It is so close to the crankshaft pulley that you could be seriously injured should a body part get close enough. Also, once your tanks are full you should see water coming out of the hull vent on the driver's side.

Having said all of this I became frustrated with this Rube Goldberg setup and pulled both pumps out and replaced them with a single reversible impeller pump from WakeMakers. I kept the vent controls on the drivers side so I could control how much water I pumped into the port and starboard tanks. With this new pump I can fill both tanks in 5 minutes while at the dock (don't need to be underway). Much nicer and my riders can get in the water that much sooner. Emptying the tanks is a similar 5 minute process.

Hope this helped.

[Chuckarral]

New to the forum so I am surprised to get such outstanding feed back, so thanks for the good info

[Chuckarral]

I did not hear the pumps, so I will go look for them and try to determine if they are working.

[Chuckarral]

If I drive more than 20 mph (like 30 mph) with in take valve open and tanks in fill mode will it cause engine to shut off for some reason?

[DLafont]

If I drive more than 20 mph (like 30 mph) with in take valve open and tanks in fill mode will it cause engine to shut off for some reason?

There shouldn't be any reason for the engine to cut off due to that. I run with the valve open all the time, since like a0128 stated closing the through hull with the motor running is a no no...

[Treybizttu]

I run something of a modified stock system on my pro air.... I took the tanks out and replaced them with sacks but kept the stock switches on the keypad and still use aerator pumps. Difference for me is I have one aerator pump that fills both rear sacks and one aerator pump for each sack to drain (so x2 pumps ran off the stock drain switch). Instead of draining back through the hull it drains out of the vent holes near the transom. Works excellent for us. I have a ski locker sack that I just fill with the 12v plug pump when needed and same for a back seat bag. I'm about the only one that cares to ride with the boat slammed so those generally only get used for surfing which isn't often either. My ol pro air isn't a surf boat

[Chuckarral]

Does the thru hull valve inlet (from scoop) supply water to anything other than the ballast tanks?

[a0128]

Does the thru hull valve inlet (from scoop) supply water to anything other than the ballast tanks?

Nope.

[Chuckarral]

With a new to me boat I need some replacement upholstery (only parts and pieces not full replacement), so is it true that ChristinesMarine.com is the only place to get factory authorized replacement skins? Is that a common practice for Nautique owners, or can anyone offer some additional solution? I know some local upholstery shops but wanted to stay true to Nsutique material if I can, but the price seem about double and I have to do a lot of work using the skins. Any good ideas?

[a0128]

With a new to me boat I need some replacement upholstery (only parts and pieces not full replacement), so is it true that ChristinesMarine.com is the only place to get factory authorized replacement skins? Is that a common practice for Nautique owners, or can anyone offer some additional solution? I know some local upholstery shops but wanted to stay true to Nsutique material if I can, but the price seem about double and I have to do a lot of work using the skins. Any good ideas?

My understanding is that Christines has the license for reproducing the "Correct Craft" and "Nautique" wording on the various cushions. I used them to source skins for my three piece rear seat bench cushions and am very happy with the color match and vinyl quality.

[rbalan]

Are you sure the ballast system is all factory with no mods? There is a propensity to tinker with it as it is not exactly a perfect design. What lake are you on?

Also, which skins do you need to replace? I would most likely go with Christine's on logo'd pieces and matching adjacent upholstery. I may get flamed for this,but, keep in mind the age/value of your boat. You may never recover the value by replacing with a bunch of Nautique approved skins.