$3.95 Passive Draning Solution!!

[Vicseek]

Okay, I know I'm getting some passive draining from the Enzo either through the Vent, Drain, or Inlet plumbing system. The ONE WAY check valve from wakemakers.com is only a one way flapper system so installing that on the Drain either before or after the "drain" pump is useless since it won’t stop anything, same goes for installing this valve in the vent system however; the valves would be useful in the intake portion of the system since it wouldn't allow water back out the intake pump.
The sure way to shut things down would be either to plump the hoses to the opposite side of the boat or install a "ball" 180degree valve.
I headed off to Wal-Mart and decided to see if these $3.95 plugs would do the trick instead!!
Whadda think? I"ll tryem this weekend. I may be a slight hassle to plug and unplug, more importantly remembering to do so..hehee.. but heh! It's an easy fix and sure way to see where the culprit lies in the passive draining issue!
they fit nice and tight by the way, I guarantee they won't come out if plugged in tight!


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[Timmy!]

LOL! That's one way of doing it! Actually pretty ingenious! Water definitely isn't coming out with those in there! Nice job!

[tnvolgrad]

What are those called and what section did you happen to find them - good idea.

[skippabcool]

What are those called and what section did you happen to find them - good idea.

They are drain plugs. You would find them back in the sporting section, typically around the fishing stuff. Most Wal Marts have a very small boat section. Key floaties, drain plugs, etc..

[jbort]

ingenious

[duffymahoney]

In my 2.5 inch ballast drain holes I use an expansion plug to do the same thing. I hate losing a few pounds out of it. Nicely done!

[Duncan]

Nice solution!

[Vicseek]

Okay update to my ballast situation. I plugged up both vent and drain locations as depicted in the previous pics. I still lost water in the enzo sack!
Guess now I know for sure I need to install a check valve after the intake pump.
My only guess is I'm losing water backwards back down through the intake ballast pump.
More later to see if that fixed it.

[jbort]

tried the plugs worked nicely for us.

[Timmy!]

tried the plugs worked nicely for us.

I did too, works great.

[wired1236]

I tested mine out for the fist time too while surfing. I'm also getting passive draining out the fill hose/pump. It has to be since I'm not loosing any water out the drain/vent outlets and I don't see any leaks in my system into the bilge. It will even loose water while just sitting at the beach. I'm planning on installing the valve too. Let me know how your's turns out. The odd thing is that my fill hose runs higher than the water line but I think it's siphoning out.

[Timmy!]

Mine pushes water past the drain pump some how. Disconnected the vent and still lost water out of the thru-hulls. It's possible that if I ran the hose to the other side that it may fix the issue but ballast hose is WAY more expensive than this thing.

[Vicseek]

yeah here soon I think i'll be installing the check valves. Perhaps I'll have to open up the floor to get a better angle at the fill hose. It Y's from the fill pump, one hose goes into the hard tank and the other goes up into the enzo sac. At least that's what I think I see.
Hopefully this will fix it.