2015 Mastercraft Prostar: New Owner Questions

[kirkbauer]

I've never owned or even operated a Prostar before, and I just had my 2015 Prostar delivered. I read through the manual but I feel like it wasn't very useful, so I have a few questions I'm hoping some of you can help me with.

 

1) My boat has a screen where I can fill/drain the ballast tanks. Presumably this might be helpful for wakeboarding. When I try to fill the ballast tank, I hear a pump running, but water just shoots out from the side of the hull next to the observer's seat. I don't think it is actually filling any ballast tank anywhere. Is something broken on my boat?

 

2) At speed the boat wants to turn right pretty quickly if you don't hold on to the wheel. Is that normal?

 

3) The manual mentions multiple batteries, but I'm pretty sure my boat has just one battery, under the port side rear storage container.

 

4) I'll be doing slalom skiing but not on a course. When I set up a profile, does it matter if I set it up as "Practice" versus "Tournament"?

 

Thanks in advance!

[MISkier]

For #2, a certain amount of “rudder torque” is common on inboard boats and some is preferred by slalom course drivers. It will pull the boat to the right (left if it is a Nautique).. Some owners will even enhance this and some may reduce it, according to their preference.

 

For #1, make sure you aren’t using the “drain” selection on the pump (or that the switch is not wired backward). Depending on the location of the ballast tank, it could be the option that levels the boat without the observer (used to be called the MTS - MasterCraft Training System). Since you said the water is exiting near the observer seat, I suspect you may have that option.

 

For #4, the difference between Practice and Tournament mode is how you will be able to adjust the boat speed selection. In tournament mode, you only get the official tournament speed increments. In Practice mode, the speed adjusts to any setting in .1 mph increments.

 

[wski1831]

The tank is to level the boat it’s #150. Look under the bow on the left side you should see the tank itself the pump if my memory serves is under the center seat. You should be able to visualize the hoses to see what goes where. I have a 17 it only has one battery yours is probably the same. The boat is designed to pull right it’s much easier to steer with the preload. I think the difference between practice and tournament is speed adjustment. In tournament you get 2 mph increments. In practice it can be adjusted by tenths of a mile an hour.

Great boat! Enjoy!

[markn]

First, welcome to the direct drive world of boats. You made an excellent choice.

1. I am a Nautique guy, but it sounds like the pump is emptying the bilge or the ballast tanks. 2. The torque you are feeling is the boat set up for improved tracking in the ski course..it is intentional.

3. Not certain on that one.

4. Your boat is equipped with Zero Off speed control. In "practice mode" you can adjust speed in .1 mph increments. In "tournament mode" the speeds are preset at tournament speed settings 30, 32, 34, 36 (slower speeds also)

[Horton]

the ballast is to level the boat side to side. it holds about 200 lbs and overflows out the passenger side

[kirkbauer]

Thanks everybody so far! I think I'm good, except for the ballast thing. I'll play with it more and probably post a video for feedback.

[jjackkrash]

Just to follow up on the rudder, some people like a neutral rudder but most I know don't. if it is perfectly neutral the boat will feel likes it is floating and it is harder to drive in a straight line. A little rudder torque makes for a better/straighter boat path, IMO.

[Horton]

I do run my ProStar pretty neutral compared the way people set up Nautiques

[chrislandy]

There is normally only one battery, at the rear under a locker. There could have been an option of additional batteries for running big stereo's or other auxiliary items.

 

The only ballast the came as an option on that year was the MTS tank, mine hasn't got it so don't know where it exits, the bilge exists just infront of the driver on mine.

[kirkbauer]

My ballast system only has a single tank (according to the display), so it wouldn't seem that it would be for balancing the boat, unless perhaps it is only on the observer side to compensate for a boat with only the driver inside?

 

I made a video showing how it is behaving and would love some opinions on what's happening here. I don't have a way to get the boat to a dealer so I'm hoping to solve this on my own.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaLuNgm2iVE

[ironhorse]

That is exactly what the ballast tank is for. It will offset the weight of the driver when you do not have a spotter in the boat.

[kirkbauer]

OK, so based on the video (if anybody has time to watch it), what's going on? If the ballast is full and you keep filling it, does it spill overboard? Could that be my problem, that the ballast is already 100% full? So perhaps the emptying system isn't working?

[FSSPCat]

@kirkbauer yes, if your ballast is full it will drain the overflow. Just shut off the full switch and it should stop. If it doesn’t, their may be an issue.

[kirkbauer]

@FSSPCat water only comes out of the side of the boat when I fill, but not when I drain. So am I right to assume that either (1) the ballast tank is full and the draining method isn't working or (2) somehow something is blocked and the water is going over the side instead of filling the tank?

[Lars]

Pop the passenger seat up when you're filling or emptying and see if you can see the water sloshing around in the tank.

[FSSPCat]

@kirkbauer without seeing what your talking about it might be tough to guess. I would check and make sure the connections are all tight. Your pump for emptying could need replacing. If you can manually empty the tanks with an external pump, you might be able to see what’s happening.

[RAWSki]

You should be able to see water in the MTS tank especially if you remove the bow lid+seat cushions . Surprised the display is not registering full, Try to empty the tank first- the pump should sound different when the water is gone, then refill and watch the tank

[kirkbauer]

Here is under my observer seat. Is that the ballast tank on the left? It isn't transparent so I can't tell if anything is in there. When you turn on the pump to empty the tank, does it go out the side right next to the observer seat (same place where I see water going out when I'm trying to fill it)?

 

[Broussard]

@kirkbauer Yes, that is the MTS ballast system.

[Youghskier]

I have the same boat and ballast. It fills and empties from the bottom of the hull. It overflows on the passenger side when the tank is full. It seems your tank is full but the screen says it’s empty. If you hit the down arrow and override 2-3 times it will completely empty and then you should be able to fill and the screen will be reset.

[Ronny61]

If you only have one pump it would be a reversible pump and would pump the water out back into the lake where it came in from.

 

The water coming out the thru hull fitting would be from the overflow when the tank is full as others have mentioned

 

I would suggest to fill the to fill the tank, shut it off and load the boat on the trailer, once your on the ramp the turn your empty switch on and see if the water is pumping out from the thru hull fitting on the bottom of the hull. If it is then all should be fine. If you don’t see any water pumping out then it’s possible that the pump is not reversing and the tank won’t empty, hence , when your in the lake and turn on your ballast switch and water instantly starts to come out the overflow is because your tank is full since it never pumped the water out

Hope this makes sense

 

[Ronny61]

And if the pump is not reversing then need to determine if the pump itself is bad or if it’s in the wiring connection or display that tells the pump to reverse and spin the impeller the opposite way

 

If you don’t have one reversible pump then there would be 2 aerator pumps the each run a different direction, with a 2015 boat I would assume it a single reversible pump

[Horton]

what @Youghskier

said....

[kirkbauer]

Everybody, thank you so much for all of the answers to newbie questions. I was able to drain the ballast tank on the trailer and now it is empty. Next time I'm in the water I'll try to partially fill it again and see if the gauge works. Perhaps it is just a gauge problem. I'm a very rusty out-of-shape skier so I'm thinking for now better to have less weight anyways than perfect boat balance.

 

Now I just need to wait for some better weather; the weather got cold again right when my boat arrived.

[Horton]

@kirkbauer

You should keep in mind that the gauge is only measuring the time the pump is running. It is not like a fuel gauge that actually knows how much is in the tank. There is an adjustment in your settings where you can change the number of seconds it takes to get from empty to full & back to empty. If this setting is way off that could be part of your confusion.

 

There is also the possibility that the tank leaks a little bit. In this case the gauge will say it's full when it's actually empty. I promise when you wrap your head around the system you'll find it works quite well.

[ScottScott]

@Horton "a fuel gauge that actually knows how much is in the tank"

 

In reference to a Mastercraft? Hahahahaha!!!!!!

[Mastercrafter]

^^^^ that’s funny. Lolol

[Drago]

@kirkbauer A balanced boat is way more important than weight. You won't notice weight/a wake behind that boat