How to fill up my livewell?

[derek7467]

Greetings, ive been reading this forum for a while now and figured i need to sign up!

Im new to the boating world and just purchased my first 97' 16' Smokercraft Pro Mag.

I already fixed her all up; rewired dashboard, installed my transducer, VHF radio, Chartplotter (iPhone mounted using EarthNC), along with dashboard lights and an electronic horn.

The boat comes with a livewell and i havent the faintest clue on how to fill her up? The compartment is built as follows:

Has a sealed container (livewell), it has a drain plug at the bottom of it (im assuming to drain the water out). It also has a pump that goes to the port side of the hull well above the water line, which im assuming sucks in the oxygen for the livewell?

Do i manually fill it? Or should the bait pump button do the filling? Where would the water come in from?

If this is too hard to answer with just the info im giving, i can get pictures this weekend. (Finally finishing her up!)

 

[Silvertip]

Re: How to fill up my livewell?

You mentioned two of the three things that make a livewell work and have a misconception of what one of them is for.
Look at the back of the boat. Besides the obvious drain plug for the boat, there should be two more openings. One is the drain for the livewell and a hose connects that fitting to the one in the bottom of the tank. The other may or may not have a screen over it but it is the inlet to the livewell pump. A hose from the pump connects to a spray bar/nozzle at the top of the tank. Since most boats like yours do NOT have a timer on the livewell pump, if the pump ran continuously, the livewell would obviously overflow. So the fitting at the side of the boat is the overflow for the tank. Your livewell can have either plug to plug the drain or it can use a standpipe. If you don't know what a standpipe is, lift the lid on your toilet. That pipe in the middle of the tank is a standpipe. The standpipe for a livewell is piece of plastic pipe about 3/4 ID with a rubber fitting on the end. It simply pushes into the drain. Water rises to the top of the standpipe and then over the top and out the drain. There should be a switch on the helm that turns the livewell pump on and off.

 

[81_chapparel194]

Re: How to fill up my livewell?

i think the phole above the water line on the port side may be your bilge pump outlet. and my live well (81 chapparell) has a plug in it but i have to pull the plug for the well to fill and drain it once out of the water. if i dint use the well i leave the plug in it. i ahve however seen the set up like silvertip mentions on my father in laws pontoon boat because the water has to be pumped up into the well. my well is in the bottom of my boat.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: How to fill up my livewell?

Post pictures of your setup for the best help.

 

[derek7467]

Re: How to fill up my livewell?

Ok, so the pump i see is in case it overflows; makes sense.

So i know there is like 1 other hole on the bottom of the transom near the drain plug, and it has a white covering.

Im assuming the white cover, if it is the livewell plug can stay unplugged and only when the pump is turned on, will it allow the intake of water into the well? Im assuming my boat wont just start flooding if i have that plug taken off. Sorry im new to the whole livewell thing, but i really wanna use it.

I will definitely get pictures up this weekend of my setup.

Gotta fill up my pond with catfish!

 

[derek7467]

Re: How to fill up my livewell?

i think the phole above the water line on the port side may be your bilge pump outlet. and my live well (81 chapparell) has a plug in it but i have to pull the plug for the well to fill and drain it once out of the water. if i dint use the well i leave the plug in it. i ahve however seen the set up like silvertip mentions on my father in laws pontoon boat because the water has to be pumped up into the well. my well is in the bottom of my boat.

Port side outlet is the livewell pump outlet. My bilge pump outlet is on starboard side.

 

[81_chapparel194]

Re: How to fill up my livewell?

Port side outlet is the livewell pump outlet. My bilge pump outlet is on starboard side.

oh ok makes sense as my livewell is not equipped with a pump... just a hole in bottom with a plug to remove to fill..