Water ballast well mod, safe or not?

[Québec 1]

The original set up works for me and I am moored in a bay with a five knot current and 15 foot tides.

[BOAT]

The original set up works for me and I am moored in a bay with a five knot current and 15 foot tides.

By original you mean the stock factory set up - right? So with the little snap plug in the hole you get no sloshing sounds when anchored in swells. right?

I think if we can get enough people with mods and without to tell us about any sounds coming from their ballast tank it might educate us on the best way to mod the vent for those (like me) that insist on venting it. I say this because I think sloshing in the tank might be more than just an annoyance - it might be a stress on the gate valve. I would like to eliminate stress on the gate valve.

[K9Kampers]

Would that be side-to-side sloshing or fore-to-aft sloshing? Other than the next worry-of-the-week, what evidence makes you believe there is (undue) stress on the gate valve?

Ballast tank sloshing is caused by a ballast water amount of less than full capacity. A 1% capacity fill would be a residual amount after emptying - not enough to cause undue stress on the gate valve nor affect ballast performance. A 50% capacity fill would not be enough to cause undue stress on the gate valve, but would affect the ballast performance/safety. A 99% capacity fill would not be enough to cause undue stress on the gate valve while giving optimum ballast performance.

The standard Mac / RV waste gate valve is prone to fail from age, normal use, non use, or improper installation. I don't see the Mac ballast tank / RV waste tank "sloshing" being a cause of stress nor concern.

Perhaps your next mod should be to install sensors on both the inside and outside of the gate valve to monitor the pressure / stress differentials to view on a GUI display at the helm.

[K9Kampers]

I think if we can get enough people with mods and without to tell us about any sounds coming from their ballast tank ...

The only sounds coming from my ballast tank are dependent on what I had for the previous meal.

[sailboatmike]

No sloshing sound from my ballast tank, ballast full, air valve closed nothing to hear

[Tomfoolery]

No sloshing sound from my ballast tank, ballast full, air valve closed nothing to hear

Same here. Maybe it's an thing, but I don't hear any sound at anchor or docked.

My air vent is under the vee berth rather than in the companionway step, so maybe that's got something to do with it, but that doesn't explain why some owners report sloshing noises.

[BOAT]

Is the sloshing because some of us have vent mods? The vent mods allow water to travel up a hose - might that allow the water to slosh and make a lapping sound in a swell?

[sailboatmike]

I think you have hit the nail on the head there Boat, its most likely the water in the end of the air pipe making a gulping sound, the pipe acts like a amplifier and makes it sound worse, the ball valve stops the sound amplifying up the pipe maybe

[BOAT]

In my case it's a small ground wave that travels along the top surface of the water in the ballast tank - the wave travels in the form of a small "air bubble" - I think the bubble is made possible because I have no plug in the bowl - as the boat moves fore and aft in the swells the water sloshes forward and floods the bowl about half way causing the small void or "air bubble" to form and that bubble is traveling fore and aft like the lapping of small waves on the rocks.

It only happens when i am in a swell and it's only noticeable at night when we are sleeping right on top of the ballast tank in the rear of the boat.

I was wondering if anyone else had a sound and based on the reports here most folks do not - and the same folks seem to indicate they have no vent mod so I wanted to know if the folks with vent mods had any similar sounds.

I don't even know how many folks HAVE vent mods. I know kurz has one, I have one, mastreb had one, and now I know lucid has one - who else has a vent mod?

[Ponaldpe]

I don't even know how many folks HAVE vent mods. I know kurz has one, I have one, mastreb had one, and now I know lucid has one - who else has a vent mod?

I have a vent mod . I put it in with a ball valve and a loop to the sink drain. Most of the time I leave the valve open, but mostly because I forget to close the thing.

[BOAT]

I don't even know how many folks HAVE vent mods. I know kurz has one, I have one, mastreb had one, and now I know lucid has one - who else has a vent mod?

I have a vent mod . I put it in with a ball valve and a loop to the sink drain. Most of the time I leave the valve open, but mostly because I forget to close the thing.

Do you ever hear lapping or water sounds inside the ballast when your at anchor at night in swells?

[Ponaldpe]

Do you ever hear lapping or water sounds inside the ballast when your at anchor at night in swells?

The sad thing is I have only spent one night on the boat so far and it was flat water . Been mostly day sailing and motoring hope to get out more . But I would think just closing the valve will stop or slow the sounds. I will keep a ear open for that the next nap on the boat.

[BOAT]

It does not make the sound in a slip or a flat mooring - it only does it in the swells.

I was just curious if any one else has ballast that makes any noise when anchored in swells? I mean ANY noise - the only time we can hear it is when we have our ears right there on the bed in the back - when we are right on top of the ballast tank.

[K9Kampers]

...the only time we can hear it is when we have our ears right there on the bed in the back - when we are right on top of the ballast tank.

For this observation and everything else you've described in this thread, I would say is normal. If there is a pocket of air in the ballast tank, and you have an ear to the tank while the boat is rocking... you will hear the sloshing. Further, with an overactive imagination, hearing this sound could make you think that something is wrong and might fail (gate valve). So far, no other Mac'ers have corroborated your feeling that something is detrimentally wrong. If hearing the sloshing keeps you awake at night, add another pillow or move to the v-berth.

...I think sloshing in the tank might be more than just an annoyance - it might be a stress on the gate valve. I would like to eliminate stress on the gate valve.

Eliminate the sloshing sound by eliminating the air pocket in your ballast tank. I think the stress is more on your imagination than a component of the boat.

A boat rocking at anchor and the sloshing it creates, the snapping of halyards on the mast, and other boaty sounds at night are soothing to me...but that's just me!

[BOAT]

I don't have an issue with the actual sound - the sounds are not bothering me (my wife is bothered) - but the original poster was asking a good question - ie:

ARE BALLAST MODS SAFE?

It's a valid question - I was just wondering if folks WITH mods have any issues to discuss. This would help others deciding weather or not to mod the ballast in the first place. My number two question to anyone answering this post was: Do You Have a Ballast Vent Mod??

That is pertinent to any answer on this posting.

Question one: Do you hear any sloshing?
Question two: Do you have a modified vent?

I got a lot of answers about drinking and stuff but not any really serious answer about actual vent mod performance which was the request of the original poster.