Livewell help

[ROBERTH]

Thanks Dennis, appreciate all the feedback. Out working on the boat today, cold start this morning, but not too bad! :mrgreen:

I do shop at these other locations you mentioned as welll as Defender and have good success with them.

In this case, WM is local to me so is convenient, when they have stock. Otherwise, I will shop elsewhere as usually can always beat their price. However, they have shown some signs in last year of being very close to their competitors which is nice and appreciated.

I get all my screws/nuts/bolts from there as they never show any signs of rusting or staining, unlike what I get at the local hardware or big box stores. The WM at the coast has lots more to choose from, but most of the time I can get what I need out of the bins.

The Bronze T fitting was only a couple dollars more than online in this case and don't have to pay shipping, so was not a bad deal in this case! :shock:

Will let you know how I turn out!

 

[DennisG01]

Sounds like your local WM is better than the ones I used to go to. I'd ask for help and half the time I would get the deer-in-headlights-stare. Add to that their pricing was always way high and it didn't take long for me to find other avenues. It's definitely nice to have a local place to get things, though. And I don't even mind paying a little more for that convenience - especially if I can get knowledgeable help.

 

[ROBERTH]

Amen on the help! Hard to find anyone sometimes that knows more than we do...lol ! :lol:

A couple of years back, we had a couple of good folks working there that were very knowledgeable and would do anything to help you. They have sinced moved on and there has been a lot of turnover since then.

The store here locally will get in a manager from the coast where I visit so they were trained and are pretty good, but they also don't seem to last long for some reason.

The local store here is a small size store, so they don't have a lot of stuff so you get lucky if they have what you need, but it is good to be able to ship to store for free shipping.
The store at the coast is a new one a few years back and is pretty large for our area of the coast, so is a joy to shop there sometimes and can usually find someone that can help as they employee quite a few folks. But there also, I have seen the best ones leave in last couple of years. Not sure what is going on, but thinking it is competition is kicking them and they can't afford to pay folks what they need to live on....just my guess, but bet it is accurate!

 

[Lt.Mike]

West Marine near me has been pretty good as has Defender Marine which has about the best prices with the exception of the occasional Ebay deal.
I just got a pair of stainless Sea Choice strainers for the stand pipes.
They were only $20 for the 2 shipped.
I had to get adaptors at Home Depot (.41 each)cut the threads flush and used a die grinder with a cone shaped stone to make a funnel on the intake side.
I suppose I could have bought the parts but it was more fun to make them.
I’ll be adding a large secondary drain to the larger tank after the holidays.
Other projects are in the works to for the winter.
Mike

 

[Kevin Hawes]

Talking about livewells has anyone replaced both drain lines on the port side and the 1 on the starboard side, looks like if the drain flange could unscrew then you could pull it out from under the wells ( but that would be to easy ) has anyone found an access to the worm clamps or where to install a inspection plate on my 248 Voyager

 

[Hookup1]

I have a livewell on the port side behind the companion seat. (95 Islander). We use the well to store our catch and keep them alive until returning to dock. (Fluke, seabass). I have a baitwell pump connected and run it occasioally to fill with O2 water but it quickly drains out the fill tube when the pump is off. We don't run the pump contiuously to reserve house battery power for electronics. Is there a check valve that could be cut into the supply line to prevent backflow draining to the pump? Other solutions to the draining problem? We do cork the thruhull fitting in the bottom. I know I could close the seacock but that would be a pain to do each time I want to run the pump, maybe every 1/2 hour or so.

I have a 1997 268 Islander and use my bait tank pumps all day and sometimes all night.

The Rule batiwell pumps are centrifugal pump. They will drain back and do not contain a check valve.
Do you shut your motor(s) off while you are fishing? When running they will charge your battery and power the pumps if charging shunt is hooked up.
If you are getting low voltage from running the pump continuously you may have a battery problem. How old is the battery?