Water draining from live well water inlet?

[Dean2000]

Hey Guys,
I took my boat out for a couple of hours the other day and had quite a bit of water come out when I pulled the plug. I did not see or hear the bilge kick on while on the water.

So at home I filled the bilge with water no leak from the plug and bilges worked using the dash button and they eventually came on automatically.

I filled the live well with a hose and turned the selector switch to “empty” and the water was draining out of what I thought is an inlet, which leaves me with some questions.

Are the screened holes live well inlets ?

Should the water be draining out of the inlet ?

What is the hole above the bilge plug ?

[Rips LEGEND]

That's a live well drain. There's a switch that is supposed to close it off. The screen isn't necessary. My valve has never closed it off good enough to depend on. I always put a 3/4" plug in that hole and pull it out at the end of the day. Problem solved

[Dean2000]

Hey Rip,
i Appreciate the response but I am still not clear. What is the hole above the bilge plug?

[Rips LEGEND]

My bad! The right hand hole is the drain. Driver side. The hole above the bilge hole is a live well overflow. If you put the motor in reverse and hit the throttle it will force water through that hole and into the live well.

[Dean2000]

Thank you Sir, I got it. Now at the stern ,on the top rail , passenger side (port), there are 3 holes side by side , the two outside holes are where the water comes out when I turn on the bilge pump. Is the center hole a vent?

[RFSims]

Thank you Sir, I got it. Now at the stern ,on the top rail , passenger side (port), there are 3 holes side by side , the two outside holes are where the water comes out when I turn on the bilge pump. Is the center hole a vent?

Third hole is for livewell pump out.

[Rips LEGEND]

Do you know about having to pull out the water discharge valve on the inside of the live well to switch from water aerating into the well to discharging out the back for filling weigh bags?
Push in for aeration
Pull out for live well pump out

[Dean2000]

I did not know, I will check it out though. As I mentioned in my previous post is that I did not get any paperwork or manuals with the boat and the person that I bought it from had never used it and did not know anything about it so I am appreciative of any tidbits of info. Thanks again

[Rips LEGEND]

I don't know what model and year you have. Sounds like you got the same paperwork and instructions I got. My valve is under the driver side door. You can't see it without putting your head inside. As I said, my switch to close off the well from draining never worked. I have to plug the drain hole in back right to keep water in my well. It's the hole with water draining through the screen in your picture. I use a 3/4" flip top plug. I don't know why the screen would be needed. Feel free to IM me with any questions.

[thedude]

the drain is both an inlet and outlet. There is a valve made by flow-rite on that line. In "empty" the baffle allows water out. In auto, it allows the pump to pull fresh water in, but does not allow it to drain and in "recirc" the water is pulled from the livewell and no water goes in or out from the drain.

If its leaking out the drain a little bit (or a lot) in recirc or auto, the valve needs to be rebuilt (the baffle is just a strip of rubber that wears out over time). You can buy a rebuild kit from flow-rite. This would not cause water to be in your bilge however. That would be a leaking line or also likely coming in where the transom and top cap are connected near the motor splash well.

The hole over the bilge is the overflow drain for the livewell.

[Rips LEGEND]

If The hole on the right side is an inlet then I have no clue where to. I have plugged that hole for years. I fill my well with the fill switch which draws from the left side hole. Recirculate is using live well water being aerated by the spray. If more fresh water is needed I turn the fill switch on again. I don' know what other water would be required. By what you are saying the switch in the boat that is supposed to keep the well from draining would have to be left open.

[thedude]

there is manual fill and then the fill that is on the auto/empty/recirc switch.

you likely plugged the intake one so your "auto" is not pulling fresh water, just recriculating whats in the livewell.

The switch controls a valve on the bottom of your recirc pump (the one with a timer) that is connected to the bottom drain and the hole in the back of the boat. In that valve is a baffle -
Empty: the valve is open and water can drain from the tank, the recirc will pull water from the path of least resistance (likely the lake) but it will drain as soon as the pump is off.
Recirc: the valve is closed (to the lake) and the pump will pull water only from the livellwell
Auto: the baffle is engaged and water is allowed to come in from the lake, but not drain back out - this allows the recirc pump to draw water from the outside. the excess goes out the overflow drain at the top.

There are different types of valves so this may not be the same on older models, but this configuration was used in most of their boats - but if the switch says "auto" "recirc" "empty" - that is how it works.

Does your livewell drain on its own or do you always use the pump-out?

[Rips LEGEND]

If I pull the plug my live well drains, always has. The manual flip switch never completely shut off the drain. I don't know what that switch is for if it's not for draining the well. How can it pull in water through the valve but not let water out at the same time? It sounds like a complicated system when my way has worked perfectly for 15 years. Aerating is done by the spray and is called recirculating. I add fresh water by using the fill switch. If what you are saying is true, then you should be able to fill your well without the livewell fill switch ever being used.

[DaveBrabec]

My live well holds water without a plug. Hasn’t had a plug in it for 10 years I’ve owned it.

[thedude]

its not that complicated, there's 3 positions on the valve. When its on auto, the pump pulls fresh water from the lake, when its on recirc it pulls water from the livewell. In both cases, water is not allowed to drain unless the valve is set to "empty"


here is a crude diagram:

[thedude]

If your switch doesn't do that, then its broken which is pretty common. There is a kit from flow-rite to rebuild it. It shouldn't drain in auto or recirc. If you have a plug in your livewell drain and are using the timed recirc it is always filling from the lake and the excess is going it out the overflow drains at the top of the livewell.

[Dean2000]

Thanks everyone! Great discussion, really helped me out.and to “the dude” Thanks for the diagram .