'07 X-2 Ballast Relay Drain Blues

[pjm14945]

I have an '07 X-2 on Lake Gaston in Virginia. I installed the Fly High 3 sac system. I programmed the relays to the max 6 min but they still were not able to fill both sacs on each pump.

I worked with my dealer and they suggested I upgrade to the newer relays with a 10 (or 20 I forget) min fill time. I programmed the new relays to 10 min and that does great on the fill mode.

However, draining is a nightmare. The relays are so sensitive that if they detect the slightest bit of air, they will reset to zero, preventing me from draining the second sac on that pump. The pumps will shut off when they hit zero, so I have to continually cycle the pumps to slowly get the second sac to drain.

I know to remove the battery cable to reset the pumps (after cycling the pumps to drain all hard and soft sacs). However, it is hard to prevent hitting some air when draining one of the 2 sacs when both are full.

Does anyone know how to solve the drain problem with these relays? Is there any way to deactivate the reseting of zero (empty) when air is detected?

I think it is great that the pumps shut off when air is detected. However, I would like the relays to be reset when you switch them to off. I can then switch the valve to drain the other hard/soft sac and then go into empty mode. I would ideally like the pumps to continue to run to drain that second sac. Is that too much to ask?

Thanks.

-Pete

[vision]

There are several good threads regarding this topic. Do a search for ballast timers. But having the timers reset whenever the switch is back to neutral is exactly what I wished MC would do as well.

Your options are limited. You can remove the timers altogether. Skeeler has an excellent thread/tutorial regarding how to remove the timers. Or, if you are filling your hard tanks first then the sacs, you can reverse the tubes to fill the sacs first. This makes the tanks down stream when you are emptying which some claim eliminates the emptying problem. But, you may need to add some PVC tubes inside the sacs so that they do not collapse while trying to empty the tanks.

If you see our orange X-star on LKG, stop by and say hello.

[pjm14945]

Thank you for the reply.

I've searched for ballast timers and haven't found the thread with tutorial on how to turn off timers. If anyone has that link, please pass it along. I wouldn't want to remove the turn off on empty (low amp draw) feature. That is great for protecting the impellers.

I am using the 3 valves from Fly High, so I can either fill/empty hard or soft sacs. I think that is the problem. When emptying either hard/soft tank, I can easily hit air and that will prevent the relay from allowing the pump to completely empty the other sac. Perhaps I should get rid of the valves and always fill the hard tanks first and then allow overflow to the soft sacs. But, then on empty, how would the soft sacs be emptied? I assume the pump would only suck from the hard tank on empty mode. Has anyone plumbed the Fly High sacs to get a continuous fill and empty of both hard/soft tank on a single reversible Jabsco pump?

The other option is for me to remove the timer function of the relays.

Thanks for any help.

-Pete

P.S. - I'm usually on Great Creek with a black X-2. Where do you normally boat on Gaston?

[vision]

P.S. - I'm usually on Great Creek with a black X-2. Where do you normally boat on Gaston?

We are often on the main lake just west of Poplar creek. I will look for your black X2.

Look at this thread: http://www.mastercraft.com/teamtalk/...+relays&page=3. It talks about various options.

You can also place a switch in the main power line to the relays that you can cut on and off which mimics disconnecting the battery which will usually reset the timers back to your original setting (i.e 10 minutes in your example). There is one hot line from the battery switch to all 3 relays in my 08. I am not sure about the 07s.