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Spent 9 hours in the water today motoring and pulling kids on the tube (no ballast). Back at the boat ramp I opened the valve just to see if I had any water in the ballast tank and about 5 gallons emptied. Is this normal seepage from the valve (1998) or should I be searching for a leak somewhere else? I am concerned since I do not want a partial ballast problem. Would this be in the range of what would be considered a problem?
Thanks,
Dave

I wouldn't worry too much. Unless you have a major void in the fiberglass the only way water can get in or out of the ballast tank is through the gate valve or vent hole. Chances are the ballast didn't get fully emptied the previous time. If you power slowly to empty the ballast, or empty it on the trailer on level ground, it's normal if a small amount remains, if the bow is lower than the stern. 5 gals is 40lbs - not a partial ballast problem if it slosses around since it would be very shallow and spread over the length of the hull.

I have also noticed the same thing. I thought it was a bad ballest valve, but when I replaced it I still noticed some water was draining out after a half day of tubing,( more than 5 gallons though). I know it was empty when I started because it was closed before launching. I guess I'll have to check it once in a while when I'm motoring with no ballest.

Roger uses a simple and inexpensive gate valve that's commonly used for the black water tank on motor homes and RVs. It's very unlikely that the valve itself should be leaking, but it's quick and cheap enough to be easily changed. The other possibility is a leak between the valve and the transom, but that seems even more unlikely.

Since the 26X ballast tank holds over 150 gallons, partial ballast shouldn't be a significant problem until it has leaked 50 gallons or so. Regardless that the quantity is small, I think it is certainly a valid precaution to establish if the tank is taking on unintended water.

If a leak IS discovered, the safest work-around would be to go ahead and fill the tank, close the valve, and operate at slower speeds until the problem is diagnosed and corrected.

Even my new valve leaks...

Not much mind you, but it does. When we overnighted tied to a dock with no ballast, I could hear water seeping in past the valve.

We had no water in the bilge, but did get a little water in the tank...

I've noticed from day 1 (almost 3 years now) that 2-3 gallons of ballast ALWAYS remains when emptying out the ballast tank powering under high speed in the water. The only way to completely empty it is on the trailer on a ramp. This little bit of water is obviously insignificant.
Rolf

My ballast valve leaks. On the outside, I can see bubbles escape on occasion. On the inside, I hear an occasional blurp, blurp.

Hmm.. mine is always dry as a bone. Guess I'm lucky?

I'm with Captain Kmclemore, I now consider myself lucky for having a dry ballast. Hearing leaking at night would drive me crazier than I already am.

McSkipper wrote:I'm with Captain Kmclemore, I now consider myself lucky for having a dry ballast. Hearing leaking at night would drive me crazier than I already am.

This is just for you 'Skip...


Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... Plink... ...............

That graphic is Prouty-esquian.

I'm not too worried about it...yet.
I'll add a new valve to my "list" of things to do, and see if it helps. The PO had the boat in salt water and I think the valve makes a bit of a crunching noise as I close it. From what I read I should be able to pick one of these up at an RV supply shop.
Thanks everyone.

If I was going to replace the valve, I think I'd be looking at one of those electric ones. It would be much easier to push a button than lift the seat and lean down there...

It would be much easier to push a button than lift the seat and lean down there...

Electrically operated stuff on the Mac is one of the biggest sources of unreliability, particularly for stuff which is exposed to the elements. To me it makes no sense to take a reliable, perfectly good manual system and add the expense, complication and high potential for failure of an electric system.

There are several mods which eliminate the necessity for opening the seat and reaching down. Of couse mine's the best, but there are several others which accomplish the same thing without the high failure potential of an electric valve.

I posted above that these valves should not be leaking. Mine is used mostly in salt water, and after five years it doesn't leak - at all. They're most commonly used for black water tanks on motorhomes, making it particularly important that their design is simple and leak-free.
I was puzzled at the disparity in results, until finding this post by Eric Lowe, from last October ....

Eric Lowe wrote:For those on the list with older 26Xs, I think the smaller ballast valve on the port side (as well as some of the earliest starboard side units) was absent half of the seals mentioned above for newer models. As a rigger for the Alameda California dealer (Gene Arena) for many years, we experienced a lot of leaks in the early ballast tanks (both into & out of) until I walked into a local RV supply one day and purchased a complete black waste valve unit with seals on BOTH sides of the gate! As the consummate KISS subscriber, I guess Roger felt he was either saving weight or money (probably both) by installing only half the valve! ...

Eric actually installed a cable-actuated valve on my boat, something like Johan's mod (shown below) except that my cable extends up into the pedestal. (We designed a rudder-lift too, but Johan's rudder-lift is clearly better than mine).



I too like the idea of an electric ballast valve. But I'm skeptical due to the salt water. IIRC, Bob Kenney reported that his electric valve sucuumbed in short order.


Bob Kenney's Electric Valve Mod