Ballast vent

[dlandersson]

Two thoughts:

1. Where can one purchase a new Mac 26X vent plug.

2. You might want to shine a flashlight down into your ballast tanks and see what may be growing there.

I've forgotten to re-insert the vent plug and then sailed, and can confirm that it will spill quite a bit of water into the bilge when you heel over 20 degrees. Not enough to be a safety issue, but more than enough to require cleanup. Install the plug or do the vent mod.

Wow, this just made the go on in my head...

I've installed a drinking water system ala Sumner with 4 gallon Reliance tanks under the V-Berth. Since I'm not as handy as Sumner, mine don't fit in place quite as securely as his, and I've noticed some water in the port hold the last few weeks... I ASS U ME D it was coming from my drinking water tanks...

I just couldn't figure out why it was brown when I sponged it out of the hold, as well as why there seemed to be a gallon or more of it....

Now, I'm thinking that I've got water coming out of my ballast, even though I've got the rubber plug in when I sail. We've had some strong headwinds lately, and I've routinely been healing 40-45 degrees. I'm thinking that the head of pressure the entire tank would put on the plug when healed 45 degrees would be more than enough to cause water to push itself out past the slightly worn plug, and then slosh around until it ends up out of the bowl and in the hold.

I guess I need a new plug for my water ballast, but I'm guessing that instead of drinking water, that's actually brown California Delta water in my hold. Learn something new here everyday....

[Paulieb]

You can get that vent plug at Walmart for abouT 3$, it's a pretty standard boat plug. Look for it by the boating supplies in the sporting goods section.

Paulieb

[mastreb]

I saw a number of them at Tru-Value last week. I'm sure Home Depot has them as well. My father-in-law was offended by the cheapness of the stock one and gifted me one he got from somewhere in town, either Wal-Mart or Home Depot I'm sure.

[jbousquin]

So, this whole discussion -- and my water in the hold -- has gotten me to thinking about something: What is the purpose of the ballast vent mod in the first place?

Is it allow you to vent the ballast, and thus dump it under power, without going below?

or

Is leading a tube up to the anchor locker done to make sure that any ballast that may dump out while healing doesn't end up in the hold?

Thanks in advance for thoughts.

Cheers, Joe

[restless]

pikin up a dog end here?
frd ballast vent is brill for purging those last bubles of air out of the boat... (96X) so that you dodnt get mega gugling at night. also, on this model at least, there is a significant quantity of air purged out via an extra purge valve frd => more stability => happier peaches
Putting the hose into the anchor locker seems like too much dedicated effort for me, y not bang it into the cb space?? much easier for old lazybones here. Not got round to it yet, but I am well happy with the frd plug for sure.

[Catigale]

Joe ...it lets you both fill and dump the ballast without going below, of course..

[parrothead]

I would agree that the reason for installing a piped vent system is to eliminate the need to go below and get under the V-berth cushion to open and close the air vent (without doing which, the tank will not fill completely). The reason(s) to lead that pipe (hose) up to the anchor locker are:

1) to ensure that its open end remains higher than the water level in the tank, so no water escapes into the bilge, and
2) to vent any "tank odor" directly to the outside, rather than into the cabin (which is the only place it can go, with the OEM setup).

[jbousquin]

Thanks Restless, Catigale and Parrothead.

It's always good to know why you're doing a particular mod, as opposed to just how.

[BOAT]

Dirko is a new member who was concerned about a good seal on the bow vent as well he should so i promised some pictures of my electric bow vent valve as soon as the rain stopped.

The rain stopped - (rain is a big deal out here) so I went out to the boat:



As I crossed the transom I remembered my PVC mod to the motor cables that have kept out ALL water and after the hard rain we had last night I wondered if any drops of water got into the bilge:



checked the bilge and after three days of rain it's dry as a bone! Not a drop!

[BOAT]

So I started forward to get a pic of the ballast vent when I remembered I had installed shades on the windows so i though i might show that:



Here is how they look when the shades are down:



Oh, as I got further forward I remembered I put shades on the front windows too - they look like this:

[BOAT]

I really can care less about closing the shade when I'm on the head but my wife insisted because at a dock she could see people walk by and I told her the windows are too dark to see in but for her this is how the shades fix that:



So, ANYWAYS, back to the bow vent - here is the electric bow vent with the submarine hatch over the bowl.



The watertight hatch is clear so I can make sure the tank is full - 'boat' is still bow heavy so the bowl fills with an inch of water when full so i might put a float switch in there to an indicator on the helm, but not really important right now. I used oversize hose for fast draining.

The electric valve is controlled by a selector switch on the helm - I will show you now but as I walk back to the cockpit let me show you how I reduced the 'sweating ' problem on the liner:



I put panels on some of the horizontals with a fabric covering that stopped the sweating on those surfaces. I put them on the other side too:

[BOAT]

And moved the radio in a place where you can actually hear it when someone calls you. I had a Navy vessel trying to hail me once and I did not hear them until I went below:



And that old radio position under the 12 volt electric panel was a real head banger!! (ouch!) This is much better, easier to see, to hear, and to reach:



So back to the vent control switch on the helm - here I finally got back to the wheel and you can see the switch that controls the bow ballast vent - you can open the vent or close it and the switch tells you if the vent is open or closed:



So that's it! hope you enjoyed the tour. Next project is an auto helm - little by little I'm getting 'boat' ready for heavier ocean travel.

[K9Kampers]

BOAT-
Being of the 'simple systems' camp, I don't get the need for these ballast tank mods, BUT, I'll give a nod for the professional looking install of that mod... and the dinette table too! My question is - what is your source for those rollup window blinds?

[BOAT]

The table is like that because it articulates - it unfolds from the dry bar and folds in the down position to make the dinette into a couch.

And yeah your right, the ballast vent mod is really 'out there' and I did it a long time ago and the main reason I have not posted about it is cuz I knew you guys would all make fun of me.
I just wanted to transition from power to sail/sail to power without going forward like you guys do by leaving the vent hole open. You M guys were just opening and closing the gate valve at the transom, and I thought it was a great idea and i wanted to be like you guys, so I too started venting the ballast 'uncontrolled' to the chain locker like many others and the factory told me that's okay but Mike said to plug the hole for safety if I encounter heavy seas to reduce pressure on the gate valve and stop leaks in case the boat turtles.

Well I exclusively sail in the open ocean, so I wanted a way to plug that hole from the helm.

I am not new to sailing, but I am new to "water ballast" - so I went to the books on traditional Naval Architecture and Engineering and looked up stuff for 'ballast' and 'water' and all i got were "Water Tight Compartments", "Under Water Doors", and "Submarine Hatches" and they all pretty much steered me to a bolted pressure hatch with a ball valve, so there it is.



The shades are the same shades from an Airstream Trailer - you can get them from boat stores and from RV stores like defender and other places. I can't remember which store i used but when I shopped for them I found them at dozens of stores for boats and trailers.

[Russ]

The table is like that because it articulates - it unfolds from the dry bar and folds in the down position to make the dinette into a couch.

This looks cool. Do you have more details about it? How it folds etc.?

And yeah your right, the ballast vent mod is really 'out there' and I did it a long time ago and the main reason I have not posted about it is cuz I knew you guys would all make fun of me.
I just wanted to transition from power to sail/sail to power without going forward like you guys do by leaving the vent hole open. You M guys were just opening and closing the gate valve at the transom, and I thought it was a great idea and i wanted to be like you guys, so I too started venting the ballast 'uncontrolled' to the chain locker like many others and the factory told me that's okay but Mike said to plug the hole for safety if I encounter heavy seas to reduce pressure on the gate valve and stop leaks in case the boat turtles.

The "hatch" is cool. Looks well done. Does it get dirty with salt build up?
Not sure why you didn't just put the valve right into the vent hole. I've seen others come up with clever ways to determine if the tank is full. Water sensors in the hole. Your idea is functional and cool looking. Makes the boat look high tech.

The shades are the same shades from an Airstream Trailer - you can get them from boat stores and from RV stores like defender and other places. I can't remember which store i used but when I shopped for them I found them at dozens of stores for boats and trailers.

For the head skylight, I used that frosted shelf liner stuff. Provides privacy and I never need to look out that window anyway.