Live well pump issue

[donmcgehee]

I have a 1988 spirit 16.5' bass boat. It as three live wells, one in the front and two side by side in the rear. On the control panel, there is a toggle switch which you can move from manual to auto. Flipping the switch up will activate both pumps while moving the switch down will activate only the rear well pump. Below that switch, there is a knob that you can turn from min. to max. I have replaced both aerator pumps recently so both are brand new. When I turn on the switch to activate both pumps, the pump which fills the front well works just fine. However, the pump that will fill the two rear wells will turn on but will stop before the wells are filled. Also, sometime I turn on the pump and I hear the pump running but no water will fill the rear well. This problem is only with the rear live well, which is the largest. My question is does the knob that you can turn from min. to max. have anything to do with the reason why the pump stops before the wells are filled? How can I manually override this system so I can fill the live wells to capacity? Thank you for helping me with the issue.

 

[JB]

Re: Live well pump issue

Ahoy, Don. Welcome to iboats.

Sounds like an electrical problem so I will move this to the Electrics Forum.

Good luck.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Live well pump issue

The switch MAN/AUTO and the variable knob is a livewell timer. You fill the tank with the switch in the manual position. When full, switch to AUTO. This allows the pump run only periodically for whatever amount of time you have the knob set for. There is no reason to have a livewell pump running all the time so this allows it to be off for three minutes or so then run for 30 seconds to add fresh water. Obviously the timer will limit the amount of time the pump will run which is why you use MANUAL to fill the tank.

 

[donmcgehee]

Re: Live well pump issue

Silvertip, thanks for the valuable information. The explaination makes sense and thanks for helping me with this issue. I now know how this system works and can now operate the live wells properly. THANK YOU!!