Livewell Operating Question

[Blaugrana]

So I thought my seacock was closed as the handle was all the way down, but water still entered my live well. I had a plug in as well. This only happened when underway and the water didn’t leave because of the plug.

Is this typical? I was hoping to use it as a cooler but when I went to put my catch in there, the little ice had melted already.

Thoughts?

 

[ScottyCee]

Doesn't sound like your seacock is closed after all. Have you checked it out? Could something have gone wrong with the handle?

 

[Blaugrana]

I pushed it even further down when I got back. I don’t get how that much water could get in when it seemed to be closed.

Based on the owners manual, the seacock handle should be perpendicular to the hose to be closed, so that’s why I pushed it down all the way

 

[leeccoll]

I just installed one, and something is indeed off with yours. If you keep or can get your boat out of the water, you can open up the seacock and let everything drain then close it and if it happens again after that, sounds like your valve is leaking even when shut.

 

[wspitler]

Make sure you closed the right (proper) seacock. My 330 has three seacocks in the same area. Most livewell pumps are mounted on the seacock itself. If your seacock is broken and the handle is stripped, that needs to be fixed and is usually not a big deal. With the boat out of the water you can take off the hose and look down to see if it closes properly.

 

[Blaugrana]

I just looked into it again to make sure I am closing the right one. I think I am good, but I’m wondering if the vibrating of the OX66 might have opened it a bit..I’m going to push them down every time to see if it happens again. I never noticed because I didn’t have a plug for it.

When following the pump, I was trying to understand where the wires run but can’t see too well without removing the livewell. From what I can tell, the wires seem to run back to the front with the wires having a splice in the back. Is that correct?

My livewell switch has no voltage going to it so wanted to see if it’s something as silly as a fuse but I didn’t see any As I believe it relies on the breaker in the panel. My plan is to fix in the Fall but wanted to understand how this works better.

 

[wspitler]

Cannot imagine a seacock vibrating open. The plug you installed is probably only for draining. The water from the pump probably comes in another way. If the seacock is closed at all you will not get water in there underway. Knowing what model boat you have will allow better troubleshooting from the forum.

 

[Blaugrana]

The plug you installed is probably only for draining. The water from the pump probably comes in another way. If the seacock is closed at all you will not get water in there underway. Knowing what model boat you have will allow better troubleshooting from the forum.

2000 Seafarer 228....Thought it showed in the header but says Seafarer only

Correct, it’s for the drain plug as I thought my seacock would stop water from entering. Looks like I have something else to add to my list in the fall

 

[wspitler]

2000 Seafarer 228....Thought it showed in the header but says Seafarer only

Correct, it’s for the drain plug as I thought my seacock would stop water from entering. Looks like I have something else to add to my list in the fall

I don't even see Seafarer for some reason?

 

[leeccoll]

You can plug the fill on your live well in the meantime so no water comes into it, but if it's me I would take a flashlight and shine it thru the jump seat access to see if any water is leaking while underway at the sea-cock in your bilge. It's a safety issue and I would want to make sure nothing is compromised until you get around to pulling your live well and replacing the valve if it is leaking.

And wspitler is correct, there is no "Seafarer" in your tag line fyi.

 

[Blaugrana]

I definitely will inspect the bilge the next time I am underway. I occasionally have enough water in the bilge that the pump can operate manually via the switch. This happens maybe once a month and I use the boat 3-5 times a week.

Let’s see if my signature shows now

 

[wrxhoon]

You should have two sea cocks on your 228 if you have raw water washdown . The port side is the raw water and the starboard side the livewell. If it operates easy, with boat on trailer, push it all the way down then put the garden hose in the inlet, on the bottom starboard side in your tank. Have someone watching the pick up scoop, turn the water on and see if it runs under the boat.
That's the easy way to check it, the hard way, take the tank off, take the pump off and blow through the the valve.
If the sea cock is open even partially water will go in the tank at speed, the faster you go the more water you will get , starts coming in the tank at about 6 knts.