Plumbing a livewell............Question??

[seatrout99]

Dropping a 24 gallon baitwell in the back deck of the Flat Bottom Girl. Using the pump already attached to the outside of the transom. My question is about plumbing the outlet. I am going to use a bigger outlet - probably 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 inches. Does the outlet thru-hull have to be level or below the outlet on the tank or will it drain properly if I place it a little higher than the outlet in the baitwell. The reason I ask this is I would like the thru-hull on the boat higher up on the hull near the gunnel. I have a 500 GPH pump with 3/4 inch hose and was wondering if it would create enough pressure to push the water up slightly and out the larger outlet.

[Nathan]

Personally I would put the outlet below the water line of the boat. That way you don't have the constant splashing sound. Just put a seacock on the 1.5" thru hull and you'll be fine. I'd also go with a slightly larger pump than a 500 gph for a 24 gallon well. A 600 or 750 would be good. I'd go with the 750 personally. The well won't drain if you have the discharge going up hill. At least not until the water in the well got above the level of the discharge. If your boat has scuppers, just run the drain right out one of them.

[tin can]

Nathan is correct. The higher of the two ends of the drain will control the level of the water in the well.

If you want to go first class, run 2 pumps. Set one up as a raw water aeriator, and the other up as a recirculation pump.

Don't forget to install a drain line.