Live well drain

[Holdemhook]

Hi I recently replaced my plumbing to my live well, the drain is located under the water level and has a thru hull fitting with no type of a check valve, when the boat is on the water I can see water in the drain of the live well so obviously the entire hose is filling with water. This doesn't seem correct. Am I suppose to have a in line check valve or is the drain hose suppose to be routed so there is a loop above the water line ? I reinstalled the new hoses the same way the original ones were. Thanks in advance.

 

[BillP]

There isn't one "right" way to plumb a live well but check valves are not seen where I live in Florida...and there are a jillian bait wells here, A valve in the drain line will let you control the drawdown if needed. Water coming back into the well doesn't hurt anything as long as the old water is able to be purged with new water. It would be less critical (safety wise) if the drain was above the waterline but that isn't practical on small boats. Is yours setup with an overflow tube in the drain and auto pump as the water drains down?


bp

 

[gm280]

Holdemhook, that all depends on how and where your live well is designed. Yes there can be water in the drain of your live well if it is below the lake or water level on the boat. Because the water searches to equalize itself. Some folks use a standpipe to keep water from backfilling their live well via the drain. So it is how the design and placement of your live well that determines that water level. There are many ways to keep such water at bay. You can install a one-way valve, you can loop the drain line, you can install a manual valve to control the water, you can plug the drain to keep water out, or you can not worry about it and happy boating. JMHO!

 

[Holdemhook]

Thanks for the replies, the tank does have a tube that is set up for water overflow so the pump can fill the tank and be recirculated I assume. Although the pump pushes water faster than the drain can keep up so haven't used it like that but would like to as the water gets warm fairly quickly. I was more worried that water is stating in the drain line as if the tube were to ever fail water would flood the boat faster than the bilge pumps could keep up.

 

[bonz_d]

The well in my boat has 3 fittings. A drain located on the bottom which is closed off with a plug, a fill line from the pump and an overflow. Drain plug is always in place or is removed to drain while under way or the boat is on the trailer. The pump will fill the well until it reached the overflow. Pretty simple and works well.

 

[gm280]

Holdemhook, I actually understand your concern about IF the drain line broke off the boat would take on water faster then the bilge pump could pump it out. But if we are going to "what if", then what if the live well pump broke off as well. It would also fill up the boat. Or any other thru-hull fitting for that matter that is below the water line. That IS why you need to do maintenance on any boat. To catch things that are deteriorating and keep everything clean and well maintained. So I would not worry about "what IF's" and do the needed maintenance and happy boating... You can carry a few plugs for each opening and manually plug them in the event something happens. JMHO!

 

[Holdemhook]

Good point! Thanks again.