Livewell Pump Problem

[charlie]

I have a brand new Lowe and am experiencing livewell pump problems. When I first tried the livewell, the pump worked fine and filled both livewells and the "auto" feature worked as well. After a while, although I could hear the motor running on the pump, it was not pumping any water. For a few days, it would work intermittently but since has quit working altogether. However, even though the pump isn't moving any water, I can still hear the motor running. Yes, I have checked and double-checked the valves to the livewells and they are in the open position. Is anyone familiar with this problem and the possible cure??? Dumping 5 gal. buckets of water into the livewell every 20 - 30 min. is a real pain in the butt. HELP!!!

[JohnH]

You could have an airlock which is usually caused by having a low spot in the hose from the pump to the areator head. The hose should always run up, up, up. Examine the hoses and look for any dips in the lines. The hose should never go downward once it starts up from the pump. It is okay if it levels out, but never have any downward turns. If you see any sign of dips, even the slightest, use tie wraps and level out the hose. If the hoses are all okay from what I described and no dips, then you may have a problem with the pump themselves. Maybe the impellars broke or something.

Good luck.

[Kelly]

Hi Charlie. Your problem could be the small impeller on the pump is either broken or has come off the shaft for some reason. I had the same problem with mine once and I took it apart and found a small stone had jammed in the impeller and the impeller cracked and was just spinning on the shaft. I had to install a new pump, not real expensive but a pain nonetheless. Mine was doing exactly as you describe. I hope this helps you, good luck!!

[Planocat]

Could be "air lock". My front livewell worked fine for 13 days straight. Afternoon of 14th day it wouldn't pump water but I could hear it running. Tried backing up to prime, turning off and on numerous times..... nothing. then I remembered the same thing happening 1 time last year. Put it up on plane, turned on the switch, and when I came off of plane it was pumping water. My guess is that it had an "air lock" in the line.

You might try this and see if it solves your problem.....hopefully it will.

Planocat

[REW]

You could have something as simple as a blockage in the pump inlet.

Try using a garden hose, and flowing water backward from the livewell inlet, back through the pump, and out the boat, with the boat out of the water.

Don't put an excessive amount of pressure through these lines because you might break a fitting, or damage the pump. These hoses and pumps are designed for pressures that typically don't exceed about 5 psi. Normally, the fittings and hoses will take pressures up to about 50 psi, but don't risk it.

Something that happened to me, was trolling during the fall of the year, next to shore. I sucked some floating leaves into the pump, and it no longer pumped water. In that case, because the leaves were so ground up, I had to take the pump out of the boat, disassemble it, clean it, reassamble it, and reinstall it in the boat. A royal pain.

That is why, I now have an inlet filter on the livewell pump. I don't know if your new boat came with a livewell inlet filter or not. However, after getting your problem fixed - a blockage, a broken or displaced impeller, or an air lock - as the other postings suggest; I suggest that you install a livewell filter. These come in a couple of different types and generally run about 3-10. Pick the style that best fits your boat, and livewell installation.

One style clamps on a livewell inlet, if a stub has been left on the boat.

One style replaces the livewell nut. This is a nut that has a domed screen on the back.

A third style is a ribbed domed plastic filter, that uses three screws to attach to the transom of the boat.

Take care

REW

[TK]

I had the same problem with my old bluefin. My solution was to put a tee fitting in the discharge line of the livewell pump. The straight leg of the tee went to the livewell. The branch leg of the tee went to a 20" section of Tygon tubing that was routed up into the motorwell. The end of the tygon tube had a pinch clamp installed on it. When the livewell pump airlocked all I had to do was open the pinch clamp to vent the air. Once the air was gone and water was coming out of the pinch clamp close it. It took about 30 seconds to get rid of an airlock livewell pump and get back to fishing. I had to use this about every 20 times on the lake - not ever time did the pump airlock. I couldn't get under the floorboards easily to reroute the livewell water line. The slope of the line depended upon the attitude of the boat which was all over the place in heavy water.