Live well operation

Dzommer

As the title says,  is there some magic trick to getting the thing to work?  I turn the switch on, hear the pump running, but nothing!  Thanks in advance guys and girls!

Ernest_T

If your boat is like mine, there is a valve on the inlet line and the drain line for the livewell. You need to be sure that both of these valves are open. If you have an outboard you can access these valves through the circular access ports just behind the transom. Once the valves are open be sure that the overflow tube inside the livewell is in place. Then hit the switch on the dash to fill the livewell, and occasionally aerate the water. Pull the overflow tube out to let it drain.

cjjjdeck

Well, Dzommer, you beat me to this post.  I haven't really seen posts with this same problem, so I figured I was the only one.

I've had my Hurricane since Aug. 2011 and my live well has yet to work.My dealer (who I actually really like and has been great) has been struggling with getting this to operate reliably.  He replaced the pump (a Johnson, cartridge style) and even had it working for one day, but the next day it would not pump water again.  Just like you, the pump runs, but no water makes it to the bow mounted live well.  Ernest is correct on the ball valves, although mine does not have one for the drain, just before the pump, up against the transom.  I was waiting to post the problem "with" the solution so I could share......still waiting.....
I'll start a separate post on what I had to do to lower the pressure on my galley and head faucets so I stopped getting a shower in the face every time I used them (and still maintain the maximum pressure on the washdown sprayhead)!

Dzommer

thanks guys,  I checked the valve, and it is open.  still no go.  pump def. runs.   Im at a loss....

Macklin

Check to see if your hose is crimped like mine. I can't get to it to fix it either. What a poor design.

Dzommer

Well boys and girls, figured it out and got it working.  There was an airlock in the pump.  To fix it, I just filled the well up to the top in the driveway with the hose with the filler valve in the live well closed.  Turned to pump on, then slowly opened the valve.  This slowly got the air out of the line, and once the water hit the pump, you could hear the pump start to get loaded down.  This point I turned the pump off, and closed the filler valve before draining the well.  Went out to the lake this past weekend, and BOOM!  Works fine now!  Filled and drained well numerous times with no problems!

Ernest_T

I should have thought of the priming factor. My system has to be primed if I don't use it for a while. Here is a tip: If you are on the water, you can sometimes get it primed by putting your engine in reverse and backing the boat. This pushes water into the inlet and its only a short distance to the pump. Anyhow, glad you got it going.

gregory2621

I actually don’t hear anything when I turn the pump switch on.  Any ideas what I should check?

sreutzel

gregory2621 said:

I actually don’t hear anything when I turn the pump switch on.  Any ideas what I should check?

Same with mine... the livewell and the bilge use the same kind of pump, I can hear my bilge (though most of the time it doesn't work...just makes noise).  I can't hear my livewell.  I'm guessing someone ran it too much (on purpose or accident) without water flowing to the pump and burnt it up.  I bought a new pump (just the insert motor on amazon for about $30) but haven't put it in yet.  I'm thinking I may use it for the bilge first, as I really need that bilge to work all the time.  I'm probably going to post a separate post for this...but I think the float / auto-bilge doesn't work either.  
I see one shutoff valve for the livewell, but it appears to be in line after the pump, not before it.  I really have no understanding of livewell plumbing...but that seems to be the case.  

ChiknNutz

I also have this issue.  The PO said everything works, but this sure doesn't seem to be.  The switch light doesn't come on, so possibly a fuse (wherever those are located, I've yet to find a fuse block on this thing...where the heck is it?)