In deck Livewell issue
 

What are you guys doing about the in deck livewell? All I do here on the west coast of Florida is live bait for the most part. The setup I have now has no circulation or airation. Has anyone used a 12V Grouper Bait/Fish Box Pump by whale pumps, or a Fish Box Evacuation Pump by jabsco to pump out the livewell while another pump filled? That would make it circulate, so long as the pump out is more gpm than the pump in right? Any issue with this except for the over flow if the pump went bad? Under the waterline wells are not a good design! :D

Re: In deck Livewell issue
 

I'm in the thinking stage of figuring out what I want to do with mine on my 20SF. In theory that would work but I'd be worried about the evacuation pump getting all nasty and clogged from fish scales, poop, goo, etc. Good strainer before the outtake might help with that.

I found this diagram from classic mako, but it doesn't seem like it would work well with my 20SF, doesn't seem like it would drain.

http://www.classicmako.com/manuals/m...1manual_9s.jpg

Re: In deck Livewell issue
 

yeah that kind of looks like my setup now, without the overflow line, it has a jabsco pump for freshwater tank that also pumps salt to deck and is also connected to the well, the re-circulation is what I want to stay away from as the ammonia build up in the water will kill everything in a couple hours. The Pumps I mentioned are for baitwells, can suck up debris scales, poo, ect.. also run dry. They are made for after day or use.

That description was from jabsco website

The well will fill right now just no cirulation and no drainage.

Re: In deck Livewell issue
 

http://www.jabsco.com/files/fishboxflyer.pdf

Re: In deck Livewell issue
 

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/g...ust08119-1.jpg


I cut out my in deck livewell and put in this. Holds tons of frisky prisoners. 800 Rule w clamshell. Release the prisoners!

The boat seems to like the weight there too.

Cheers,
GFS

Re: In deck Livewell issue
 

I wish I had a picture of the setup I had on a prior 20cc.
What I did is that I set up a oval Kodiak bait well under the leaning post, but what I did differnet was tha I placed 2 gas fills right behind the well on the floor. One was the intake and the other the out I used the right sizes plastic fittings that screwed right into the gas fils
ls with hoses to the well. I hade the intake with a thur hull fitting and the out went thur the transom with a 500 rule pump. Always kept the bait nice and frisky.
It was very nice because on the days that I did not fish I could take out the well and place a cooler there.

It came out very nice and clean

Re: In deck Livewell issue
 

If you want to use the in deck live well, all you need is one pump to pump it down. Assuming your drain goes to a through hull fitting in the transom like mine does, it will fill from there. I built a leaky housing for a float switch that I mounted high on the rear of the bait well. So water comes in through the transom, and as the water level floats the float switch, the pump pumps it down a couple inches, and the process repeats. I'm not doing a very good job of describing it. I'll try to post pics and it will make more sense.
Dave

Re: In deck Livewell issue
 

I use both and just bought a kit from super walmart..
Same set up as Dave<blue heron>IN principle but Im sure Daves is fancy but same principle and one above deck Like Sandy.
the one above deck I let drain out on to the deck and do not worry about it.. One of these days Ill figure something out that is not as messy.
Sometimes when i have alot of live bait<More than I can hold> I use a few big buckets with two Little ten dollar air pumps. Not the best looking setup but when your full of livies but it works for me.
I offset the weight pending amount of people with me with Ice in the front of the boat.

Re: In deck Livewell issue
 

Here's a pic of my setup. Haven't done the spring cleaning, so pardon the mess.

The aluminum box houses a standard bilge pump float switch. I made the box out of some aluminum sheet I picked up at the local Ace Hardware. In addition to supporting the switch, it keeps bait fish from interfering with float switch function and keeps sloshing water from short cycling the switch. Just by dumb luck, the mounting height is just right. The switch kicks in when the water level is about two inches below the top, and pumps it down about an inch before shutting off. The wires from the switch pass through a 1/8" hole into the bilge. The hole for the wires and the screws supporting the box are sealed with 5200.

The pump outlet is on the lower left with an off the shelf bait well strainer. The doohickie plugged into the drain, also off the shelf, allows water to flow in while at anchor, but keeps it from draining dry while on plane.

The inlet on the right is connected to a seacock that forces water into the livewell while on plane. I have a ball valve on that line accessible through the starboard transom hatch that I use to throttle water flow to the live well.

I have been very happy with this setup. I mainly use it for pin fish and they do very well.

http://i655.photobucket.com/albums/u...9/IMG_2942.jpg

Re: In deck Livewell issue
 

I just set mine up to fill from a thruhull with a hi speed pick-up/clamshell, which has a valve to regulate in the tank(also a valve on the sea-cock). The overboard is going through a 500gpm bait pump http://www.tackletogo.com/shbase500gph.html that has a valve at the outlet to regulate flow. I have a standpipe that can be adjusted to set the fill level.



I have only tested the setup briefly, The valves have to be adjusted with speed, but I think it should work well for my needs. Also this is on a 18' and there is a drain fitting in the well that goes to the bilge.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_Ogunguroops/S6...0/DSCN2963.JPG

Re: In deck Livewell issue
 

I am doing the same project right now in my 23'. I am going with a 500 gph in and a 500gph going out. I will regulate with the valves on the out side of the tank. I am going to put my pump out thru hull high off the waterline next to my bilge pump out. So I can see it running even when I am up on plane. If it stops running for some reason I can see it and I know to go look right away. If something is below the water line you might not catch it right away. I will post pics later. I will be installing pumps tonight.

Re: In deck Livewell issue
 

When my 20 was restored the in deck livewell was redesigned so the corners were not so square, making it more of a circular shape. It has a pump going in at the bottom and another pump out at the top. If I don't run the top pump the water just comes out on the deck channels and goes out the scuppers.

It isn't a perfect system, but it does keep quite a few bunker (pogies, menhaden, etc.) alive for a long time.

Re: In deck Livewell issue
 

Some good ideas thanks! Squido thats what I had in mind too. I have a jabsco pump already plummed to the well w/ a clam shell on the hull. The problem is that it will not empty or circulate water. The bottom hole in the well is a straight shot to a seacock in the transom under water line, I'm thinking of removing that line or putting in a Y fitting and putting a pump out to the hull above water line like you are doing. The jabsco evacuation pump (fish box pump)is what I had in mine for pump-out. You might want a bigger gpm pump for the outflow just in case. Thanks for the tips and let me know how yours turns out.

Re: In deck Livewell issue
 

Do you guys have a pic of your outflow scupper,thru-hull?

Re: In deck Livewell issue
 

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/g...ideopen153.jpg


The large bronze one, but my well is above deck and I feel this is really the way to go. As mentioned flow is key as is round or oval shape is Far better imo. Gogs will swim in the corner, stay there and die. You don`t want any plumbing in the way inside the well as they get beaten every time they hit obstructions.

If the flow is right the bait can just sit there and get h2o/o2. Put your intake jet at the of end of the "Nascar" turn to the front straight. I think this is the first time I`ve ever typed Nascar.

Cheers,
GFS

Re: In deck Livewell issue
 

4 inch Rabud strainer, mid level in transom live well.
(Just to the right of port Bennett ram)
I have a 4 inch Rabud on the inside of the live well to
close it off.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y27...PDR_0011-1.jpg

See ya, Ken

In deck Livewell issue
 

Just picked up my 74' 20SF and have been thinking about how to plumb the live well out. I have an existing thru hull with sea cock down in the bilge now that was used for a SW wash down. Since the thru hull is below the waterline and the fish box how well would it fill if I ran a line directly from the seacock to the live well? Then I would just use one pump to remove water. The livewell is on the small side and kinda squared off for using bunker but I would like it to be usable.
I'll probably end up using my portable 30 gallon round livewell; fed from the SW wash down pump and let it overflow into the motor well.

BoniB