WakeMAKERS Supra/Moomba Gravity III Ballast System Upgrade

Everything was great, service great, installed as it should, only negative was the instructional video and info do not mention at all the front stock ballast bag. Messing with this bag and plumbing a 1" line required taking up the floor, not a huge deal, but also my stock bags have a glued in barb for a 3/4" line, and removing that from the bag can damage the bag requiring replacement. I did find a wakemakers video on removing them after some searching, but was not aware of this issue at time of purchase. Also, the stock bag fill and drain barbs are on the same end of the bag, making using one of them as a vent really not practical, if you swing the bag so the vent is on the high side (towards the bow), then the fill/drain is on the high side as well, and draining the bag is difficult. Leave it on the low (aftward) side of the boat, then the vent doesn't really act as a vent. More discussion on this issue, and perhaps just suggesting a replacement bag size and configuration would be helpful. Great products though, great service, fast delivery.

I bought this boat late summer 2021. I had no idea the stock system was so bad. With the help of an external pump we could have our bags full and ready to go in 30 minutes or so (it was painful). After this upgrade they all fill in about 6 or 7 minutes. They empty just as fast.

I can't say enough good things about the kit. The wiring was as simple as could be. All connections are very secure. All the pumps mounted easily. The 2 thru holes might have been the easiest part of the project. The thru holes are the only time you need a partner.

Just a flat out awesome upgrade. I did upgrade to their bigger Wake Makers bag and we have as good a wave as any of the $100k+ boats out there.

1st it was a Black Friday deal November 2020 no way to beat that deal Really you’re not going to beat the regular price for all you get. Before doing the install thru hull fittings and ballast pump placement was well thought out (this won’t necessarily be the same for every boat even if they are same model) I didn’t want to place anything where it would create service access issues with other components. The installation was simple (bring your own common sense). This is a very nice upgrade and well worth it worth every penny

I haven't tried the final install yet because 1). not warm enough yet and 2) Still trying to finish the install. I'm almost done. Let me tell you the good parts so far. The electrical wiring and connections require some patience for clean routing but I got it done and the wires were a good length. Drilling holes in the bottom of the boat and installing through holes turned out to be the easiest part of the job.

Not so Good: Anything related to 1" conduit routing and connecting to fittings. Very difficult. A heat gun helps, but sometimes there isn't room to effectively get a heat gun by the hose. Also, I had to pull up the floor panels to rout to the center tank and there is very little room to fit the bigger hose at the turn to the center compartment in a 2008 Moomba. The three ball valves only seemed to screw on to the through hole fittings with a few threads and the handles are long creating interference with other items in the engine area. I bought three new valves a Home depot that worked much better.

Finally, the old ballast has all the fittings cemented in. There is a wakemaker's video on popping out the old fitting after heating with a hair dryer. It worked, but the threads must have been damaged because the new fittings won't secure without feeling stripped. I had to order all new ballast bags that cost almost as much as this pump system. Waiting on the new bags to finish the install.

The kit was great but it took me and my son about 20 hours to install the kit so plan on a full weekend. Also to do it correctly you should pull out the floor which was difficult due to lots of hidden screws. It is screwed in from inside the lockers. Also, in our 23’ XLV we had no hose left over in the end so plan your cuts wisely...start with the longest hoses first. We also decided to run the battery wiring off of the switch so we can shut the system down with the master. Lastly, there is no need to run the wiring around the bow and back to the switch panel. With the floor removed you can run it through the hole in the battery area back to the area in front of the fuel tank then back to the helm area, to the switch panel...there are a few wires from the battery area run this way from the factory. Overall, I’m super happy with the kit and the install and the money I put out for the kit will easily be recovered when I go to sell the boat. The OEM ballast system in this boat takes 25 minutes to fill the 2800lbs ballast and now it takes 7 minutes.