Basic livewell operation questions from a nube

hotrod53

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Oct 16, 2009
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I've had my boat on the water for 3 years now. Because we are basically catch and release fishermen, we rarely fill the livewell, actually I typically store my anchor in it. My livewell is a tank under the captain's seat, it holds probably 10-15 gallons if full. When I rebuilt the boat, I basically duplicated what was there. A new pump in the rear, new hose, a 90 degree shutoff valve next to the captain's seat, and a power switch on the dash.

Here's what I know.... If I leave the valve on the floor open, it sucks the livewell dry when I change fishing spots. So here are my questions, and this is all coming up because I want to add a livewell timer. Should I be closing the valve anytime that I move the boat? Can I leave the valve open all of the time when sitting still without it draining itself and just close it to move? If I leave the valve open and add a timer that cycles every 5 minutes, will the tank maintain level while sitting? What is typical as far as cycle time when I have fish in the tank? The timer that I'm looking at runs for 30 seconds every 90 seconds-7 minutes.
 
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Silvertip

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Sep 22, 2003
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Not knowing how your livewell is plumbed makes it difficult to say how it operates. However, it would appear that the drain and fill are common which is a bit odd. Normally the pump serves as the fill and aeration and dumps water into the tank at the top. The drain is in the bottom and there would be an overflow at the top of the tank to run excess water out the side of the boat above the water line. In your case, with the valve open, the pump can pump water into the tank but when the pump is shut off, the water in the tank would drain until the level is the same as the lake water. Obviously when you move the boat, the drain/fill at the stern comes out of the water and the tank will drain -- unless you close the valve. Water is funny that way -- it always runs downhill. If you add a timer, you will also need a separate aerator head (for filling and aeration). You need an overflow as the timer is not going to know when the tank is full. The valve and line you have now (without the pump) would serve as the drain. The pump would feed the aerator head.
 

bonz_d

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Great description Silvertip, even a dummy like me can understand it.
I have a quite large livewell in my Alumacraft and the other day was the 1st time I also filled it. Wow that thing hold a lot of weight!
 

hotrod53

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Oct 16, 2009
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OK, it sounds like more details are in order... My valve is plumbed to a3/4" fitting at the bottom of the tank and I do have a 1 1/2" overflow. Currently I open my valve, turn on the pump until it runs out the overflow, then close the valve. I then occasionally open the valve and turn on the pump to bring in some fresh water. My fill and drain are the same line as it sits now, and there is only 1 hole in the back of the boat....the intake. I'll ask the former owner to confirm, but there are only 2 holes in the tank, fill/drain and overflow.
 

bonz_d

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I think you are going to need to add a third hole. So that you have one for intake, one for drain and one for overflow.
That is the way my Alumacraft is. Then the timer can run as it pleases and will overflow out.
 

hotrod53

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If I add a third hole in the tank, do I need another hole in the stern too? Or should I add a 3 way valve on the floor that diverts water to the top for aerating and bottom for draining?
 

bonz_d

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If I add a third hole in the tank, do I need another hole in the stern too? Or should I add a 3 way valve on the floor that diverts water to the top for aerating and bottom for draining?

Could add a T before the pump and then just use a plug inside the livewell on the drain. Mine uses a small plug that looks like a transom drain plug.
 

snowman48047

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I think when you rebuilt the boat you missed something. It sounds like the drain /overflow shold be the same line out and the fill should be seperate. No way should you go through all that nonsense with the valve and livewell draining when you move the boat.
 

hotrod53

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[QUOTE It sounds like the drain /overflow shold be the same line out][/QUOTE]

I don't think this is possible since I have 1 fill line connected to the bottom of the tank and 1 overflow line that is high in the tank and exits through the side of the boat up high. I guess I could put a TEE before the valve and put a new hole up higher in the tank. If the TEE is open, path of least resistance will fill the bottom of the tank. If I close the valve, it will fill from the top and keep the tank from draining. Opening the TEE will drain the tank. The only reason that I would ever have to open the valve would be to drain. I just hate to have any more plastic plumbing than necessary. Once it exits the rubber line its white residential PVC and tends to be brittle.
 

bonz_d

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Do you still have access to all this plumbing or is it all buried and closed in?

There are much better solutions to this than using PVC fittings. Like brass or plastic. What kind of tubing was used?

So you have 2 holes into and out of this tank. One low and one high.

This is how I would do it. I assume the low intake hole is in the transom and has a thru hull fitting in there. If not I'd put one in. From that point I'd connect the 1st hose/tube on a short run. Then I'd use either a brass or plastic hose barb T and then run the straight thru side to the bottom of the tank for the drain. From the side T I would run a short hose to the pump and from the pump I'd run a hose/tube to the top of the tank using another thu hull fitting or a regular livewell fitting that has an aerator wand. For hose I would use reinforced clear Tygon tubing. It's strong, durable and will bend w/o collapsing.

No valves, fewer connection points, less likely to create places to leak or parts to fail.
 
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hotrod53

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Oct 16, 2009
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I can access all of the plumbing but not sure that I could add any from the tank to the back. The 3/4" rubber hose runs along the hull and has a piece of flashing for lack of better description to cover it, then its exposed between the tank and the hull down next to the captains seat where the valve is as well as the bottom of the livewell fitting. There are no high fittings in the tank except the overflow, so I have only 2 holes. The tubing was that black spiral looking livewell tubing.

I spoke to the original owner this evening, he confirmed that the configuration that I have is the same as it was when he bought it new. He said that he ran the livewell pump continuously, then turned it off and closed the valve every time he moved spots. The tank never had aeration of any sort.
 

crb478

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Dec 6, 2006
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My boat has the same set up as yours, kind of a pain, but I have to flip the lever if I want to keep water in the tank. I also catch and release so I rarely fill it. When I do I typically put in frozen jugs of frozen water to keep it cool. Fish seem to last fine that way at least for the amount of time I am out. I have thought about adding an aerator to the tank, and then just refilling the tank with fresh water every hour or so.
 
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