Cheaper Ballast Pump Alternative? Maybe?

[Dgee]

My new 210 still has the stock ballast system which as everyone knows is definitely lacking, so I had been planning my ballast upgrade this winter. While having dinner with a friend the other night we got to talking about the new boat and how it needed the whole ballast system upgraded. He works as an industrial engineer and mentioned one of their suppliers builds a variety of different OEM pumps for all kinds of different applications. I told him what I was looking for and yesterday a box showed up with 3 of these guys inside.

No name pumps, made in China (obviously) labeled "Marine Flexible Impeller Pump" 12v, 8.5GPM, 8A, 10A max, Self Priming up to 4' Ignition protected with a solid and treated brass body.

Will they be any good? Time will tell but I'm going to guinea pig my boat with them this summer and see how they work out. The price on them is nice at just under $100 per pump shipped from overseas. Once all my fittings arrive I'm going to do a little testing outside of the boat and then I'll report back on the thread.

If the quality appears to be good after testing I'll talk to Jeff about organizing a group buy if people are interested. I wouldn't be looking to make any money off of these, just happy to share the hook up with other owners if there's interest.

Excuse the overpowering blue lights coming off the fish tank!

[MLA]

"Marine Flexible Impeller Pump"

But is it intended to be reversible? And does it run a rubber impeller or a silicone one like the Jabsco and Jognson?

8.5GPM

About 1/3 less the flow rate of the other 2

treated brass body.

The Jabsco and Johnson use a bronze body, which is much better for the marine environment

I also dont see that the body has barbed hose outlets/inlets. So it will require a Male MPT x hose barb. The jabsco and johnson have hose barb bodies, so the hose slipe right on, no additional fittings needed for most all applications.

Ignition protected

Is this credible?

[scottb7]

Isn't that the same gallons per minute as your current in boat pumps? Not sure where your heading with this project. Do tell. The newer boats now have 2 pumps per tank. Is that the plan. Or use more pumps for extra bags? Also, the "king"has larger capacity per minute, but nautique did not put the right gauge wire or amps per circuit to make the king plug and play.

Tell me more. I am interested in understanding where you are heading on this. Since filling tanks is so slow.

[Dgee]

But is it intended to be reversible? And does it run a rubber impeller or a silicone one like the Jabsco and Jognson?



About 1/3 less the flow rate of the other 2



The Jabsco and Johnson use a bronze body, which is much better for the marine environment

I also dont see that the body has barbed hose outlets/inlets. So it will require a Male MPT x hose barb. The jabsco and johnson have hose barb bodies, so the hose slipe right on, no additional fittings needed for most all applications.



Is this credible?

They're built to be reversible, rubber impeller, I've got him looking into other potential impeller material. $5 per pump in in threaded hose barbs isn't a deal breaker for me.

The GPH is sufficient for what I need them for, 11ish min to fill a 750# bag... Takes me longer than that to get the boat out of the slip and to our riding spot.

As for the ignition protection, I know his company has used this supplier for quite some time and trust their pumps in a much more dangerous environment than our boats. So I believe they have some credibility as far as being honest.

In the end I didn't pay anything for these, he had them sent over as samples which the manufacturer was happy to provide free of cost. If they're crap I have no issues calling them exactly that.

But they could also have some potential for an alternative to the current options for those that want to sacrifice a few GPM for a significant cost savings.

[Dgee]

Isn't that the same gallons per minute as your current in boat pumps? Not sure where your heading with this project. Do tell. The newer boats now have 2 pumps per tank. Is that the plan. Or use more pumps for extra bags? Also, the "king"has larger capacity per minute, but nautique did not put the right gauge wire or amps per circuit to make the king plug and play.

Tell me more. I am interested in understanding where you are heading on this. Since filling tanks is so slow.

The current pumps are junk that are in my boat now, I pulled the stock rear tanks and I'm replacing them with the custom WakeMakers bags and the front will be plumbed for an additional sack under the bow seats.

My plan is 1 pump per bag, like I said above the GPM isn't a killer for me since I'll have plenty of time to fill them just to get to any of the spots I ride.

[goldfisch]

I always wondered about the wake 2 moto ones on ebay for 99.00 bucks also

[MLA]

I always wondered about the wake 2 moto ones on ebay for 99.00 bucks also

You mean the ones with their label photo shopped over the pic of a harbor freight 12 volt water pump?

Need I describe more?

[Dgee]

lol... The "Wake to Moto" pumps are awesome!

Good ole Harbor Freight.

[Cain64]

I know this is an old thread. Wondering if anyone has had good luck with a cost effective alternative?

[hal2814]

No luck with cheap alternatives but I spent the last few months scouring the internet for a deal on reversible pumps for my ballast install. The Johnson 12gpm pumps regularly go on sale in the $180 range. After searching for a while I pulled the trigger in November on $150 for the Johnson pumps. I think that was at Hodges but I could be wrong. If you want Jabsco the best deal I’ve seen is Wakemakers Black Friday sale. If the Harbor Freight ones were $50 or so I’d probably try them out but at $80-$100 it’s just not worth the hassle.

[scottb7]

Yep, i spent $184/each delivered after discounts etc from wakemakers for 3 oem pumps. I also thought about some discount stuff, or upgrading to the kings...but they draw too many amps so just went with the $184/ea for oem stuff.

[Cain64]

Ok good to know. The ballast puppy pumps are supposed to be really good for what they are


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[Dgee]

I ran the ones my buddy got me all last year without a problem, the Johnsons for $150 is definitely a steal.

[functionoverfashion]

I ran the ones my buddy got me all last year without a problem, the Johnsons for $150 is definitely a steal.

Good to hear these are working well! Are you able to get more of them?

[Infinity]

Ok good to know. The ballast puppy pumps are supposed to be really good for what they are


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I have 3) Ballast Puppies in my 2014 and they have never given me an issue. I replaced the impellers in 2017 (the green "compound" impellers from WakeMakers)...they go on sale each winter from $35ea down too $26ea.... and I will probably replace them again at end of this upcoming season since on 3rd season last time they started leaking back out thru impeller when off and I would have to top off my bags every so often. The Ballast Puppies will fill my 2) 750lb bags in approx 7-8mins and considering they say these pumps push approx 11 gallons per min and a gallon of water weighs approx 8.35lbs, that comes out about right.
One thing I also like about these is that I can run all 3 pumps with engine off and do not run into any issues with amp draw. If we are already at our surf spot, it saves hours on the boat when you can fill/empty the bags with engine off.