how to fill live well?

I just bought a 1977 ranger 1750 boat. I haven't had it water yet still checking it all over. I was testing live well pumps and I can't figure out how it fills? Both live Wells have pump in bottom and I have bilge pump in back. Any help would be great

Re: how to fill live well?

I do not know your boat but the first step is to put the drain plug in.

Most boat I have been on have a fill pump on the transom with a screen over it. On the dash you will have a switch for the fill pump. When in the water just turn it on.
When it is full water will go out the overflow hose. The Fill pump often also have a timer built in and some are adjustable.
For example you can set it to fill for 1 to 3 minutes every 5 minutes. This is very good when fishing for cold water fish on a hot day as it will keep the water cool and the fish alive.

Some tanks also have a recirculation pump and it can also have a timer on it. This pump is very good for some types of fishing.
Example you launch your boat in fresh water and head out to the ocean after get down to the salt water you stop and get a scoop of anchovies and head out fishing. Anchovies need water flowing to keep air in the water and the water circulating. So you just leave the fill pump running. At the end of the day you go back to your launch site where your camp is but it up in fresh water.
If you leave the fill pump on it will kill your bait so you turn off the fill pump and turn on the recirculating pump. Set it to it's lowest setting and like on for 30 seconds every 5 minutes and it will keep your bait alive for the next day. Circulation pumps usually suck some air in also to mix with the water. Some spray in above the water level to get air in the tank. Bait like anchovies you can not use a aireator as they will kill your bait with the air bubbles.

Re: how to fill live well?

I've been having the same issues lately (not being able to put anything in my live-well). Those pesky bass just refuse to get on the end of my line . (Maybe try asking Kevin VanDam.)

I know it can be a pain tracking down hoses in a boat, but your best bet is to stand on your head or whatever you have to do to see how your boat is plumbed and make yourself a diagram so you understand how it's supposed to work. Some boats are different than others as far as how the live-wells are set up. For instance my old fish-n-ski has one pump mounted on the transom that brings fresh water in, it's T'd to both live-wells, and flow is regulated with valves on each live-well. There's an overflow and a drain, and that's it.

For the more modern setups I believe they have a fill pump (located on the transom below the waterline) and recirc pumps which also serve to pump out the livewell at the end of the day by activating a valve. Some pump manufacturers show diagrams online, it would be worth searching if for no other reason than to see a few variations of how it's currently done.

Re: how to fill live well?

Look on the transom of your boat down low near the bottom of the boat for a fitting that appears to be a hole(other than the drain hole). That will be the water intake for the live well.


The black hole to the left of center is a water intake.

Re: how to fill live well?

Chances are the pumps inside the livewell are NOT the fill pumps but rather the recirculate or aeration pumps. Livewell pumps are not "lift" pumps meaning they need to have the pump inlet below the water line (hence the port at the stern of the boat) in order to pump water. Your boat may also have some control valves (fill/drain) located somewhere in the vicinity of the helm.

Re: how to fill live well?

Thanks for all the info. I'm gunna get it out on the water this weekend and check it out.