Building a portable saltwater livewell

[tightstripes]

I'm looking to try to build or buy a portable salwater livewell for my small 17' boat. I'm trying not to spend a ton on the project but any input would be appreciated.

I have an old bilge pump that i was thinking about trying to use... My initial thoughts were to submerge the bilge pump in the saltwater to feed the tank, then just put a drain on the top/side of the tank to drain older water. Attach a switch to the wire connecting to the battery, so the pump wouldn't be pumping at all times.

I'll mostly be using it to store live mackerel/pollack for 3-6 hours at a time while I'm out fishing.
I don't have a lot of deck space on the boat.


Questions:
Is this a stupid idea?
Will the bilge pump motor burn out quickly since it probably isn't built for this type of application?
Will the bilge pump drain the deep cycle battery too quickly?
Do any of you have any other suggestions?
Also, any thoughts on something like this?? http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...cabelas/en/common/search/search-box.jsp.form1

 

[phwrd]

Re: Building a portable saltwater livewell

Save yourself some time and headaches, go with the aerator for the cooler.

Looks easy and cheap. Don't have to worry about your current batteries or adding on to your boat.

 

[ajgraz]

Re: Building a portable saltwater livewell

OK, here's a dumb question: is the mackeral/pollock your bait or your catch? How big are what you use/catch?

I'm doing pretty much what you're talking about on a removable 10-gallon bait tank setup on a 15' boat, and it keeps 3-4" sardines alive for up to about 4-6 hrs.

I have been using a 12v lighter-type plug for this, and a Rule 500gph pump only draws about 3amps, not that big a drain even on continuously.

The "verticalness" of this tank is nice, as it doesn't take up too much deck space. That'll only be good if it's small baits you're looking to store, though.

Biggest issue is too much flow can knock smaller baits around, so I'm going to put a ball valve in the inlet so I can adjust flow. I may also put a timer switch in there so I can fish even longer.

 

[Lrider]

Re: Building a portable saltwater livewell

The PO of my boat used a Igloo 45337 60 Qt. Ice Cube Marine Ultra Cooler, took the wheels off, mounted it to the floor behind the cc and used it as a seat, not sure how he did the pump but in a couple of days I can give you some pictures of what he did inside.

Basically I think the pump was mounted on the stern similar to the pic abpve and also drained to the o/b motor well

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Building a portable saltwater livewell

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=246667

 

[Lrider]

Re: Building a portable saltwater livewell

had to crawl around a bit this is what he did;

attached a pump that extended out of the transom pic 1
runs a hose from the bilge to the cooler then overflows it out the o.b well

only thing I don't like is the hoses across the deck but it looks like it should work ok

 

[tightstripes]

Re: Building a portable saltwater livewell

Thank you all for your replies. Do you think that by adding a ball valve to slow down the intake, that could potentially burn out the motor for the bilge pump?

 

[ajgraz]

Re: Building a portable saltwater livewell

Thank you all for your replies. Do you think that by adding a ball valve to slow down the intake, that could potentially burn out the motor for the bilge pump?

I don't think so, and here's why.

Rule makes an inline valve that is variable restrictor stopcock:
http://www.rule-industries.com/prod...variable_flow_control_valve/iid_317/index.htm

Claims can reduce variably from full flow to none with no damage to a standard bilge pump. I believe it; bilge pumps are centrifugul vane pumps not diaphragm or persitaltic, so they don't really build up pressure in a clog situation.

I'm using this instead though, because it looks more durable and has the right hose hookups for me:
http://www.thmarine.com/product.cfm?PRID=178

Also, it's a thru-wall design so I can run my hose into the splashwell and under the sterncap, instead of over the stern like in my photos above. Also, the valve will allow me to shut off the hose completely when the tank's not in there...important because for whatever reason the damned thing always siphons water up the hose now.

(Fitting out of stock at iboats last I checked, but found it at Cabela's for $10)

Unless you get a piece of weed or line or something stuck in the pump, you're not going to burn it out anytime soon. I've run this rig 3-6 hours continuous, on average twice a month, for 5 or 6 years, and only had to replace the pump once.