If you are wanting more water, then you need to plug the hole and allow the areater to fill the livewell to the desired height. The unplugged hole will only allow water up to the waterline on the boat. I might be wrong on this though.
I need some help with my livewell. One I know nothing about them. Mine has an Aerator on top and a hole one the bottom. When the aerator is turned on water comes out of it. The livewell will fill about 1/4. I have not messed with it to see how it works because I have only been on the water 2 time with my boat. Can you explain how a good livewell system works and what can I do to make mine better? I am not sure what kind of pump it has. Does the bilge pump have anything to do with the well or just to pump water out of the boat? Thanks for your help, Here is a pic.
If you are wanting more water, then you need to plug the hole and allow the areater to fill the livewell to the desired height. The unplugged hole will only allow water up to the waterline on the boat. I might be wrong on this though.
Usually there is an overflow hole up higher so you don't sink the boat. It looks like it lets enough in to the water line like ceb said. You probably get that much in without even turning the pump on.Originally Posted by ceb
Fair Winds and Following Seas
Bill H. PTC USN Ret
Chesapeake, Va
Is there another pipe that goes in the hole in the bottom and goes up, as an over flow pipe. Or is there another hole higher up on the other end of the livewell. If so then you need to plug the bottom hole to allow the water level to rise up to the overflow opening. This is how mine works. I put an over flow pipe in the hole in the bottom of the well and then when I want to empty the livewell I remove the pipe.
DO-GOODER EXTRADINAR :p
There is a "bilge pump" .... usually mounted in the "bilge" (subfloor) section of the bottom center of the transom wall. That's only there to pump water "out" of the boat. There should also be a "aerator pump" ... usually mounted in the transom wall, with a pipe running thru the transom to the outside. This is to pump water "into" the livewell. The hole, in your picture, would be the "drain" hole ... to allow the water to drain out of the livewell, when not in use or when you're finished using it. The "bar" with holes is where the aerator pump sends the water - and it sprays into the livewell, thru the holes in that bar. This serves two functions - to fill the livewell, and aerate the water.Originally Posted by Bigbass91
There should also be "another" hole, higher up on the livewell wall. That would be the "overflow" hole ... which would allow excess incoming water to exit the livewell (and not overflow into the boat). Depending on what size (gph .. gallons per hour) the aerator pump is ... you may need to adjust the "knob" on the spraybar, to only allow so much water to enter the livewell. Sometimes the aerator pump can put more water into the livewell, than the overflow hole can empty out. Adjusting the flow rate with the spraybar knob, or having a timer installed, can remedy that problem.
If there isn't "another" hole (higher up the wall of the livewell) ... then a L shaped PVC pipe would serve to allow the water level to get higher than 1/4 full. (as suggested by Eager Beaver) How tall the PVC pipe is, would regulate how deep the water in the livewell would get ... before exiting the livewell. My buddy's Tracker TX17 has a livewell configuration similar to yours. He made a PVC drain tube for it. A piece of short PVC pipe fits into the drain hole - a T section is connected to that - a plug is inserted into the other side of the T section - a longer piece of PVC pipe runs up from the T, and serves as the overflow tube. Like EB ... he removes the PVC "overflow setup", when he wants to empty the livewell. You could also make one with a short & long piece of PVC, and a PVC elbow joint. ........ cp