Livewell for dummies

[David Janssen]

Okay I bought a 2007 Nitro 288. Very happy with the boat but I have a very remedial question. Explain this to me like I am 4 years old.



How do the livewells work? Each well has a small section of what looks like PVC pipe with a screen on the top. How are they supposed to work so the water keeps getting refreshed without overflowing into the boat?



ON my console there is a switch for each well that is either off auto or manual.



D

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Someone will be able to give you the 411 on your system. In the meantime if you want to see on the screen how it works, go to the document I posted and see if you can find your setup.
http://https://www.flow-rite.com/files/file/pdf-marine/prod-livewell_control_systems.pdf

 

[firedog978]

Dave,

The swith on the console gives you 3 choices.

OFF = Just that, off. No water flowing to livewell

AUTO = An off and on flow intermittenly (every few minutes)

Manual = A continuous flow



You should also have a toggle at or near your throttle (on the bulkhead) that has two positions. EMPTY / AUTO

This allows you to fill and hold water or set to empty to do just that.



There should be an overflow near the top that allows water to be channeled through hose and out through the transom. Some older models may have just overflowed into the bilge to be pumped out by a bilge pump. I doubt an '07 would do that. Along with that there will be a hose to the livewell that comes from the pump in the bilge.



Trace both lines to the livewell. You should see one hose from the pump to the livewell (feed in) and one hose from the livewell to the transom (take away).

 

[David Janssen]

Firedog...you hit on the biggest question of all. I do not have an empty/auto button. So to empty the well I just remove the PVC that stands in the well with the screen on the top of it? I know it doesn't go into the bilge because there are two holes in the lower section of the transom and when they drain after pulling the boat out of the water....specifically, when the minnow bucket lid fell off the minnows came out of the hole.



Any thoughts on how to empty while on the water?



I am going to play with this a little this weekend...can I get back in touch with you with more questions?

 

[TrepMan]

If there isn't a Empty/Auto , then it sounds similar to my old Tracker, so to empty while on water, just pull the PVC tube, lay it down in the live well and it will drain partially, it won't drain completely as the back of the boat is lower in the water, some water will come UP the drain line into the livewell to the water line level. One option I did is pull the tube on land/home, get a drain plug that fits the hole, plug it, and use it as a cooler when not fishing.



Trep