RT188 Livewell Pump Upgrade

[jv83]

Who has upgraded and what model do you recommend? Space in the bilge is tight...looking for something that has easy cartridge access. Thanks!

[jml]

Wondering why? Mine seems really strong.

[Bill Reynolds]

Also wondering why the upgrade. This link discusses some of the problems encountered with the early version RT188 and 178 livewell plumbing. May be helpful.
http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread.php?t=935449

[jv83]

Mine was installed poorly...it provides absolutely no access to the cartridge. My pump must have sucked in some weeds or something at a tournament over the weekend....nobody from my club could access the cartridge because of the installation. I guess I don't necessarily need an upgrade, but was wondering if anyone had done so as long as I'm probably going to have to take it out and/or replace.

Does anybody have a pic of their pump and how it is installed? Does the positioning allow easy access the cartridge?

[Bill Reynolds]

The second pic was provided by srsnow in a previous post. The cartridge release tab must be on the back side, can’t see it in the pic. You may be able to raise the clamp ring and rotate the pump until the release tab comes into view - may have to remove discharge hose to get enough rotation. The first pic shows how to raise the clamp ring to rotate the pump and shows the position of the cartridge release tab.
Can you feel the cartridge release tab? It appears to be straight across from the pump discharge.

[jv83]

It looks like yours faces to the side...I had thought that the red cartridge piece should be facing upward. Mine faces to the side also...I can feel the tab on the bottom...but the angle is so bad, I can't gain enough leverage in order to press it down and turn the red piece.