Portable Livewell cooler/bucket

[Davem3]

Last Sunday when Josh and I went out , we took a couple of dozen shiners with us to see how we would do with them...........two Rainbow Trout and a Smallmouth Bass later, all within a span of 20 minutes and I was like H**l to the yes.

Only one tiny problem remained............... I had bought a shiner bucket to get me through the day, but they were mostly dead inside a hour, and it is not even hot up here yet...............

So, on to Plan "B" we went............ after scouring the forums this morning, ( i have the day off and it is pouring outside), i finally found what i think will be a suitable fix for the situation ..........

I have this old 16 Quart cooler i no longer use at all, it used to go with me in my truck every day for drinks and lunch, but finally got too grungy for me to even contemplate using it any longer, PERFECT!.

So, round and round we went and got the following items .............

one POS cooler, LOL

one Attwood Tsunami T800 880 GPH Cartridge Livewell Aerator Pump

2 feet of hose clear, so i can see what is going on

Aerator Spray Head, Black - T-H Marine Supply

one 3/4 elbow, so there will be no kinks in the line

4 clamps

3M 5200 sealer

1" drill bit ............ and my Makita cordless drill

some electrical line to extend the wire, with a inline fuse of course!

and finally , a Livewell Pump Debris Strainer............

clean the cooler :facepalm: first????

drill the 1" hole near the top for the spray head and attach it using rubber washers, and 5200 it into place.........

now for the inlet, filtered side..................

measure 1 1/4" up from the bottom ON THE inside of the cooler and using a pilot drill (1/8" is fine) drill from inside to the outside............

now go back to the 1" drill bit and drill it in.............

clean out the cooler, and install the pump, using rubber washers and 5200 again..............

connect the plumbing, connect the extension wire, ( they only give you a 29" lead, what a joke) and connect your inline fuse to the positive side............

WAIT 24 hours first to let the sealer do it's magic, and stop any leaks that could happen ............

add ice, 10 quarts of water , and presto.............

FINISHED!!!!!!!

 

[Davem3]

Re: Portable Livewell cooler/bucket

last picture and video .................




Video here: http://youtu.be/qVM-TqbQQ9E

it is a real video, not some fake deal

enjoy everyone, hope this helps someone out there.............

 

[Davem3]

Re: Portable Livewell cooler/bucket

P.S. You can actually use any size cooler, although , with a bigger one, i would either use more pumps or maybe a pipe across the top in the back............ i chose a small cooler, because i only have a 15' aluminum fishing boat, trying to hold the weight to a minimum here

 

[mk4713]

Re: Portable Livewell cooler/bucket

Mcgyver would be proud!!!

 

[Davem3]

Re: Portable Livewell cooler/bucket

Mcgyver would be proud!!!

LOL, and tim the tool man taylor was there too, somewhere???

bigger motor, more power............ carp, what happened to the shiners/minnows???:facepalm:

add intake screen, ASAP!!!!!

 

[Davem3]

Re: Portable Livewell cooler/bucket

Mission Successful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

went out today with it, using 2 to 3 gallons of water and some ice, i have a few of them still swimming right now and will use tomorrow morning.

ran it on my battery for 6 hours, still had 95% charge left, man this is cheap on juice, sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ngt]

Re: Portable Livewell cooler/bucket

Nice setup! I've got to make one of those. I have gone and purchased bullhead a number of times and had half of them dead before I could get to the fishing spot. Happy fishing.

 

[Davem3]

Re: Portable Livewell cooler/bucket

i have some big mods to this, new pics will be up by weekend

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Portable Livewell cooler/bucket

Thanks, you gave me an idea for my onboard 60 quart cooler. I hate dumping it at the end of the day. I think I'll do something similar and use a bilge pump to drain it.

 

[Davem3]

Re: Portable Livewell cooler/bucket

okay, here we go.....................

so what i did was buy the Igloo Island Breeze Blue - 28 Qt. cooler, got it for a whooping 19.99 at wally world. (yes, I am a certified bottom feeder,lol)

This is the SAME cooler that the Oxygenator people use and sell to us for 200 clams, good enough for me.

on the side i used the Tsunami 500 Recirq Livewell Aerator Kit also from wally world for a whopping 29 bucks.

then i bought a through hull fitting for the back of the cooler, switched to a aerator that had a flow control on it, so i do not overpower the minnows.

Finally, i got 2 30" stones and 10 feet of line from wally world to add in air..............

when i am home, i use a 110V pump, and when on the road,or the boat, i use the hush bubbles aerator from marine metals.
i WANTED the 12V version of it, but cannot find it anywhere in this bloody state at all.........

and here are the pictures of the new and improved cooler, it now holds 4 to 5 gallons easily, verses the 2 i used to have, and stays much cooler in the heat, last weekend, it was 80+ degrees out, in 8 hours the temp only climbed 10 whopping degrees, still way in the safety zone ........... the temp sensor i got for free, swiped it off a Pillsbury dough-boy cooler they were throwing away at my local stop and stop store............

for a total of 80 dollars, i am in business and saved 120 or more easily

and it was a FUN project as well...............

Mission Accomplished!!!!!

 

[Davem3]

Re: Portable Livewell cooler/bucket

final pictures, i will now call it " THE DAVEINATOR!" LOL
The marks on the left hand side denote one gallon marks ..........

Also, i use velcro to hold it on the back of the cooler while in the car or boat

 

[Davem3]

Re: Portable Livewell cooler/bucket

and the carppy free 110V pump i got from my FIL.............

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Portable Livewell cooler/bucket

Awesome work Dave! I love anything DIY and your final version is sweet. Where did you get the velcro?

 

[Davem3]

Re: Portable Livewell cooler/bucket

that i believe i got from west marine ............marine quality and on the shelf

 

[Nightfisher-]

Re: Portable Livewell cooler/bucket

Looks good, but your spray might be a little too rough on your bait and kill them. Cut back on the spray and add a little pickling salt to your water and see how it does. Pickling salt works the same as shad saver but costs 1/4 as much.

 

[Davem3]

Re: Portable Livewell cooler/bucket

water changes are critical, the ammonia build up is bad................no more than 2 dozen per 4 gallons of water.

unless i am doing a massive pick-up to put into my Aquarium. i am setting up a 30 gallon tank to hold them, my bait shop is 30 minutes away............ this will save massive time in the AM ............

my only current issue is keeping it cold like they want it, NOT warm per the usual............

a 7 gallon portable cooler is nice, but i am thinking that bigger is BETTER.............10 gallons or so ............

 

[Davem3]

Re: Portable Livewell cooler/bucket

Looks good, but your spray might be a little too rough on your bait and kill them. Cut back on the spray and add a little pickling salt to your water and see how it does. Pickling salt works the same as shad saver but costs 1/4 as much.

salt is a no-no for fresh water, it will play carp with the filter system

 

[duke33]

Re: Portable Livewell cooler/bucket

I'm running about 600g of aquariums. Saltwater and freshwater filters are the same.