New to me 2004 X30!!

[franquellim]

Love this thread

First of all, great work so far. Really love to see the change to your boat and read about all the steps you're taking. I'm new to boating and MC as well, but bought an almost identical model last year. I've got an '03 Maristar 230 in almost the exact same colors with roughly the same options. It's shared with a friend and sits on a lake over two hours away and we're on it every chance we get but the amount of time I have to work on it is limited so picking up tips here and there is really helpful.

Anyway, I wanted to ask about the ballast. Did you do any of the installation yourself? Was it already plummed in and you replaced lines/pumps or did you have to work it out and put holes in your boat on your own?

-MF

[wakesurf6786]

First of all, great work so far. Really love to see the change to your boat and read about all the steps you're taking. I'm new to boating and MC as well, but bought an almost identical model last year. I've got an '03 Maristar 230 in almost the exact same colors with roughly the same options. It's shared with a friend and sits on a lake over two hours away and we're on it every chance we get but the amount of time I have to work on it is limited so picking up tips here and there is really helpful.

Anyway, I wanted to ask about the ballast. Did you do any of the installation yourself? Was it already plummed in and you replaced lines/pumps or did you have to work it out and put holes in your boat on your own?

-MF

Thanks! It's been a labor of love and a few &%$%! words. A learning experience for sure. My X30 came wired with ballast pumps already plumbed in. The original system had a manifold with a large 1 1/2 inch inlet. The original manifold fed the 3 pumps that reduced to 3/4 inch lines. If you want to surf you need the lockers full, a bag in the ski locker and bags/weight up front. If you are wakeboarding you probably will use much less. I have 1800lbs in the rear, 500lbs ski locker and 360lbs upfront (piggy back off of ski locker) and have an observer sit up there. I also run a OJ 805 which is really under propped. I'd recommend at least the OJ 815 or even the OJ 825 if you are using this kind of weight. Eric at OJ is super, I live locally and have met him a few times. Excellent communication and customer service. If you are going to plumb in your own stuff I'd recommend 3 dedicated inlets 1'' a piece and 1'' supply lines to each bag. Wakemakers has custom bags that will fit perfectly in the lockers or you could get 750s, 1100s will fit but won't fill completely. Each of those would get a dedicated pump. The ski locker bag needs its own pump and then you will have two vent lines from the ski locker feeding bags in the bow, or you could use a bow filler bag or lead. The nice thing I had going for me was all the wiring was done.

You could always just buy tsunami pump and fill manually too at first.

You will need a wake shaper if you plan to surf.

Google search is your friend as you've probably discovered. The search function on the forums doesn't work too well.

I don't have links handy, here are a couple things you could search for that are good reading:

Bobv5 Suckgate
Soder Ballast shelves
Manifold removal
Maristar surf weight/ballast

I know there are wiring threads but I've not ventured into those yet... Good luck and enjoy the boat!