Fly high X-STAR fat sac questions

[MSUwake1]

I just sold my 2002 X-Star and up graded to a 2006 X-Star. While picking the boat up at texas ski ranch, I talked to the mechanic about how I should weight my boat. I would just let them do it, but I'm from Mississippi and it was a 14 hour drive and I'm not planning on going back that way anytime soon. But he said they use the fly high X-star sac upgrade, which is $650 for just the sacs; and they run it off of the overflow. That's what I'm planning on doing. I found an older post of how another guy did it, but I don't know exactly what all I need (quick connects, hose, ect.). Also somebody said something about it being cheaper if you just ordered 4 of the other sacs or something (I don't know how much difference in weight that is or whatever)? If anybody has any experience with this or know anything about it help me out!

[Fab]

You can easily find the complete fly high kit for X-star that come with 4 sacs, hoses and fittings...Fly high is making a full kit for Xstar and X2. I found my kit on waterkis.com, they make a easier and cheaper configuration of the kit...

[AZX9]

I need some help with my system as well. Many like Wakemakers.com. I've sent those guys three unreturned emails for the last seven days. I am on the look for another good option, these guys have horrible service and they don't keep weekend hours when I am off. I know the bags I need but plumbing is the concern.

[Fab]

I'm not a US resident but i bought my stuff at midwest mastercraft (waterskis.com), they have those kits you'r looking for and really did a great job for me...

The standard Fly high kit includes T-valve so you can fill ballast or sacs separately but this dealer also makes a custom and easier version of the kit which fits just on the overflow line...

[Jeff d]

For an '06, since there are no ballast timers, it should be really simple to do an overflow system without a "kit". Just get a pair of 400s for the rear or 750s if you really want to go big or to give flexibility for surfing. For each bag you'd need a pair of the appropriate 1" flow rite to fly high fittings, a pair of flow rite 1" 90s, some hose clamps and a few feet of 1" hose.

For the front get the 650 lb integrated bow sac or the 1,100 lb triangle bow sac, pairs of the same fittings and a few more feet of hose.

Throw a piece of 1/2" x 3' or so PVC inside of the bow sac on the side you're filling from to ensure that it doesn't cut off your air flow from the vent when draining. You don't really need to worry about that on the rear bags since you're draining and venting from the same end of the bag (vent on top, fill/drain on bottom).

As for adding y valves I don't really see the point and it seems like a lot more trouble than it's worth both from a setup and use perspective.

[mattyb1]

I too would like some information on this. I have a 2007 x-star and need to add weight for surfing. Does the 2007 have timers?

[Jeff d]

I too would like some information on this. I have a 2007 x-star and need to add weight for surfing. Does the 2007 have timers?

Yes, and it's the worst year for the timers because they can't be programmed to run longer than 6 minutes like the '08+ ones can. Your options are to either spend $300 upgrading to 3 of the newer (programmable up to 20 mins) timers or to redo it '06 style timerless setup with relays for about $100 or so depending on if you have SPDT (5 prong) or DPDT (8 prong) ballast switches.

I need to do a writeup on what I did to de-timer/AI my friends '07 X2 as the other writeups I've seen contain some bad and incomplete information.

If the timers were simply timers it wouldn't be that big of a deal. I.E. flip the switch to fill, runs for 6 mins. Toggle it from off to fill again, runs another 6 mins. That would work just fine IMHO. They're more complex than that though. The refer to it as "Artificial Intelligence" but it's pretty much what you'd expect if you let lawyers design a ballast system. If a fill cycle has run the AI box remembers this and won't run another fill cycle until it runs an empty cycle. The AI module also incorporates much more sensitive run dry protection than what the pumps offer internally but it seems like more trouble than it's worth.

[WESSTAR]

Jeff,
I have an 06 XStar and I did the extra ballast route by getting the valves from Fly high. I rerouted the hose from the pumps to the valve then ran hoses from valves to the bags and hard tanks that way you can really customize your wake. I found that I do not like the Fly high bags Maxed out so I use a timer on my phone so we get it exact everytime. Our boat is set up with 400lbs bags in back and 2 150lbs in front and I have a extra 125lbs in the front on the floor. (I wish I would have put a slightly bigger bags in the fornt but I got such a good deal on those.)

[willyt]

Jeff,
I'm installing the PWT system soon on my 07 that I just got. Would love to de-timer it - if you could do a write-up on it or we could speak about it, it'd be greatly appreciated.

[Jeff d]

Jeff,
I have an 06 XStar and I did the extra ballast route by getting the valves from Fly high. I rerouted the hose from the pumps to the valve then ran hoses from valves to the bags and hard tanks that way you can really customize your wake. I found that I do not like the Fly high bags Maxed out so I use a timer on my phone so we get it exact everytime. Our boat is set up with 400lbs bags in back and 2 150lbs in front and I have a extra 125lbs in the front on the floor. (I wish I would have put a slightly bigger bags in the fornt but I got such a good deal on those.)

Yes but, at least on the rear, wouldn't you have the same customizability but with much more simplicity using the simple splice into the overflow arrangement? You can still partially fill the sac in the same manner just without the hassle of dealing with valves since the hard tank will fill completely before any water enters the bag. I can't envision any scenario where I'd want to partially fill the hard tank AND also add water to the aftermarket sac in the rear compartments.

For the front I could see the benefit of having either a y valve or a separate pump so that you could control the level in the KGB vs the bow sac. On the rear I don't see the point since the sac is sitting directly on the tank and weight in either would affect the wake the same way.