Adding fat sacs on top of factory hard tanks

[Will.I.am]

I know this is an ongoing question, but this seems easy, am I missing something?

Take the out from the factory tank (it goes to the vent on the side of the boat) and add it to the fat sac. The out from the fat sac connect to the vent line that was moved from the previous sentence.

The just of this is the fat sac is added to the vent line. If you cut the vent line and put one end on one side of the fat sac and the other end to the other side of the fat sac - done....

What is wrong with this set up?

The thought is when I want to surf I need to fill all the tanks anyway. If I just want the factory tanks I can just watch or time the fill.

Thoughts?

[lawdogg149]

wakermakers.com

[CantRepeat]

Which year and model of MC do you have? I've seen it done two different ways depending on how your hard tanks are install in your boat.

[Will.I.am]

I have a 2011 - have 3 independent motors to fill / drain each tank. 2 rear and 1 mid.

Wakemakers does not show this install. They do have lots of parts (I have ordered some). They want you to do an independent system for each tank.

[vision]

A couple of potential issues:

1. Ballast timers. When you order plug-n-play ballast I believe they are removed. But with std ballast pump relays, they have a time limit on filling and emptying and therefore may not fill your sacs completely. Not sure if this changed in 2011 or not.

2. Incomplete emptying. When you go to empty, the sacs will indeed empty but then collapse creating a vacuum and preventing emptying of the down stream tanks. Some folks place PVC or other space occupying structures in the sacs to maintain a pathway between the vent and the fill/drain port.

[Will.I.am]

Mine does not have ballast timers - they are all manual. I turn them on and wait to see the water coming out the side vent.

I have also read about some venting problems. I thought I may try my approach first. If there are issues, I was going to put in a tube like you suggest. Then I thought about adding "T" at the line going from the hard to the fat sac and raise the end to a high point (higher than the drain hole on the side).

Again, my approach was to keep it simple.

[pjm14945]

I installed similar Fly High sac system into my 2007 X2. The recommended way was to install the complete system that comes with valves and new vent lines. This means drilling 3 holes into your hull to have 3 vent lines for your soft sacs. The pumps then run to your valves, that direct the pump to fill/empty either your hard or soft tanks. Each tank then runs independently with the ability to fill/empty either tank.

The problem can come with the relay/timers (Active Intelligence modules). You need to set the timer high enough to be able to full both hard and soft tanks. The default was 6 min set (10 min max) for the 07 models. I had to upgrade my timer/relays to the max 20 min timers which should be stock by now.

The challenge is then emptying both tanks without detecting air. I'm not sure how your 2011 relay/timer works, but the 07 model will shut off if you detect air (in first tank). Then you have to cycle to empty second tank.

-Pete

[TxsRiverRat]

All I saw on the title of the thread before opening it was "Adding fat sacs on top..."

and i thought we were going to have breast implant talk...

I guess we know where my mind is today

[Will.I.am]

Granted I'm not a drawing expert, but here is my drawing. The reason I'm leaning this way is that the vent line to the factory hard tank is always available.

I don't intend to use the fat sacs everyday, but this way I can isolate them and/or use them as needed. I only have to cut the factory vent line once to make this install.

Again, seems simple enough. Any other thoughts? Has anyone else done this? I intend to do this Wednesday this week. Thought I would do one side first and see how it goes.

[CantRepeat]

This is what I did before I put in a 4th pump.