Good news & Bad News: a NEW problem and 230 wake tower wobble update

[230WakeOwnerDallas]

So I took the boat out and I'm proud to say that even in super choppy waters the tower had minimal shake. Tightening all of the bolts extra tight (*even without using locktite yet) seemed to really help the problem. The tower barely shakes at all. I'd say 0 to 1 inch in extreme chop. Completely changes everything...makes a big difference.
:hurray::hurray::cheers:

:willy_nilly:BUT...everytime I take the boat out it's always something....

Now I can't figure out how to empty the starboard side ballast bag. :banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:

There is definitely a problem and I just cant figure out where it is. I checked my fuses behind the main battery switch. The operators manual says the ballast pumps have 2 20 amp fuses. All of the 20 amp fuses are fine. But there was a 5 amp fuse that was blown.

I replaced the 5 amp and tried to pump the water out (yes the valves are open in the vertical position). The fuse blew again. So I then put a 20 amp fuse in and got nothing. Eventually that fuse blew as well.

So now my boat is leaning to the right like no other and I can't safely haul it anywhere with all of the extra weight. :ack:

Any insight is appreciated.

Thanks,

-Matt

 

[Thunderkat13]

lol, so your tripping the 5amp fuse by flipping the switch...
I'd check the wires from the pump.... Sounds like your grounding, or have and open circuit!

Glad the tower issue is solved !

 

[230WakeOwnerDallas]

I guess so.. It's strange though because I'll put a new fuse in and then turn the battery back on and flip the switch and nothing happens. There's a faint noise if you put your head inside the ballast storage but that's it. The fuse doesn't blow right away. it takes several minutes. It's almost like something is heating up and causing it to blow.

as far as checking the wires from the pump goes - I wouldn't have a clue on what to look for. I'm not familiar with this kind of work.

any grounding or open circuit problems are out of my league.

and thanks, i'm pretty excited about the tower as well!!

 

[rexsteiner]

Hmmmm. Couldn't you just remove the hose and SLOWLY drain the ballast water into the bilge and let the bilge pump do its job? But it does sound like you have a bad shorty. Wheather its a dangling wire that got burnt or cut on somthing or a bad pump.

Get some loctite on those fasteners! If they loosened up once they will again.

 

[rexsteiner]

I guess so.. It's strange though because I'll put a new fuse in and then turn the battery back on and flip the switch and nothing happens. There's a faint noise if you put your head inside the ballast storage but that's it. The fuse doesn't blow right away. it takes several minutes. It's almost like something is heating up and causing it to blow.

as far as checking the wires from the pump goes - I wouldn't have a clue on what to look for. I'm not familiar with this kind of work.

any grounding or open circuit problems are out of my league.

and thanks, i'm pretty excited about the tower as well!!

Well I'm no to framiliar with the way they designed the ballast system but if they have 2 pumps you can ohm the one you no is good then ohm the one you think is bad and if it IS bad the ohms will be much lower. That's what it sounds like to me is a bad pump.

Now if they use a reversible pump you would have to checkit a different way.

 

[230WakeOwnerDallas]

That's genius...now I just hope my bilge pump works. I can't believe I didn't think of that. :stupid:


I'm planning on using the loctite once they loosen up again. My service guy tells me the bolts are pretty hard to reach and I don't have the tools handy anyway.

 

[MacDad22]

Thanks for the info on the wake tower, I'm going to tighten my bolts tomorrow and check it out. My tower sways quite a bit in choppy waters, 1-2inchs side to side. I dont worry much about becuase I drive it at 70mph down the road when pulling it, but since I put some large speakers on the tower I do worry a little bit about it.


How did you get to the front bolts BTW?

Chris

 

[230WakeOwnerDallas]

Thanks for the info on the wake tower, I'm going to tighten my bolts tomorrow and check it out. My tower sways quite a bit in choppy waters, 1-2inchs side to side. I dont worry much about becuase I drive it at 70mph down the road when pulling it, but since I put some large speakers on the tower I do worry a little bit about it.


How did you get to the front bolts BTW?

Chris

I'm told they're pretty tough to get to. I took mine back to the dealer and the numbnuts that tightened the bolts didn't use locktite so the tower is already starting to get loose again. Use locktite. Let me know how to get to those bolts because I'm going to have to re-tighten mine soon. It definitely makes a world of difference though. Some of The guys on this forum really know what they're talking about.

 

[FloorStreet]

pretty sure you can minimize the amount of work your Bilge pump has to do by taking off the hose, taking the whole bag out of the compartment, unscrewing the top cap and just emptying the fatsac over board. OR you could bring your own simple hose and use that whole gravity-suction-belowthewaterline-thing (lol I've totally forgot what its called [Hydraulic?]) to get the water out through the top cap as well I suppose

Hope you figure out whats wrong with it, I use our ballast system all the time and deffinitly wouldn't want to deal with that : (

 

[jmm701]

Ballast Pump

I have an 07 230 wake and the ballast pumps have burned out like 3 times. It sounds to me like you have a bad pump. I could tell my pump was bad because it sounded slightly different than the other one which was working. Slightly quieter. What I have found out is that when you pump up your ballast tanks make sure you dont forget about them. Once they are full turn them off. If you dont they will burn out. I learned this the hard way. Now when I fill them I monitor them till they are full and then turn them off. The pumps are expensive but my warranty covered them. I just recently got them working again. Try replacing the pumps if you have a warranty the dealer should take care of it.

 

[230WakeOwnerDallas]

I have an 07 230 wake and the ballast pumps have burned out like 3 times. It sounds to me like you have a bad pump. I could tell my pump was bad because it sounded slightly different than the other one which was working. Slightly quieter. What I have found out is that when you pump up your ballast tanks make sure you dont forget about them. Once they are full turn them off. If you dont they will burn out. I learned this the hard way. Now when I fill them I monitor them till they are full and then turn them off. The pumps are expensive but my warranty covered them. I just recently got them working again. Try replacing the pumps if you have a warranty the dealer should take care of it.

Thanks for the input. You were right, it was a bad pump and the warranty did cover it. This problem was actually from last summer - it's working great now. Filled them up last weekend actually.

 

[230WakeOwnerDallas]

Thanks for the info on the wake tower, I'm going to tighten my bolts tomorrow and check it out. My tower sways quite a bit in choppy waters, 1-2inchs side to side. I dont worry much about becuase I drive it at 70mph down the road when pulling it, but since I put some large speakers on the tower I do worry a little bit about it.


How did you get to the front bolts BTW?

Chris

Chris - hey did you ever figure anything out with shakey tower? It seems the 2 hardest bolts to get to (the front bolts) are the main cause of the shake. Have you messed with them at all?

-Matt