ok, I am lost, what am i doing wrong here.

I am trying to plumb this livewell and think i'm making it more difficult than it is.

livewell in question.

when i bought the boat it had NO plumbing. the bottom fitting was connected to a thru-hull fitting via tubing at transom all the way at the bottom, the pvc pipe wasnt connected to anything, it just exited the side and looked like it was cut. When i put the boat in the water it automatically fills with water up to the water line, and doesn't overflow.

my goal is to be able to fill and drain the well whenever i want. And for it not to fill automatically.

so on my journey to this i was reading around, and there are too many different setups which just confused me even more. I purchased a livewell pump like this one.

i then took off the original thru-hull fitting and put the threaded side of this new pump through the hull and added a strainer. Then a hose from the nipple side of the pump to the bottom fitting inside the well.

Then high up i put a drain connected to my bilge via a T-fitting with a one way valve so in case of overflow the water would shoot out of the bilge pump discharge hose, instead of back into the boat.

after ALL OF THAT. the well still automatically fills up. Pump runs but doesnt seem to be doing anything??? >

very crude drawing of what i have going on right now. This is probably very simple and i'm not getting it. >

Your thinking is the Livewell pump is going to block the water until you hit the switch. They don't. Water will run right through it and fill your LW until it reaches the outside water level.

Livewell pumps usually don't have heavy GPH ratings on them either. 320 gph is normal. It's common to not notice a big increase in water flow speed when it's on.

Many places sell remote LW cutoff valves. They're actually used to close off the drain line so the LW doesn't drain out when the boat is underway or when the boat is pulled out of the water. You could put one in line to cutoff the incoming water.

The best thing to keep the water from coming into the livewell is a plug that you put in the hole at the bottom of the livewell.

The best thing to keep the water from coming into the livewell is a plug that you put in the hole at the bottom of the livewell.

You could do that too.  

ok, so it's supposed to fill by itself?

your right about me assuming the pump stopped water until i hit the switch, that's what i thought.

so my question is. Do i have everything hooked up right according to my drawing? Cause if i do , then my next step is an aerator.......

and about the plugs, i know because i took your advice from an earlier thread and plugged up the front livewell for dry storage, and am only gonna use the livewell between the seats.

thanx for the help guys ;D

OK I might have this right from you picture. the big fitting in the lower middle of your LW is your drain, not for puming water in, but letting it drain out. That pipe coming down on the left should be overflow. now you need to install a new fitting/spay head that is up at the top of your LW. that big fittig you will need to get a plug that fits it and have it just running to a tru hull fitting. when your done for the day just pull the plug and the lw will drain. the one of the left is already set up to you overflow so that will work fine. you will have to drill a new hole in your hull ( down by the drain outlet) install your new pump and run a new hose up to a spray head you will have to install in your lw. I have seen many older "cheeper" boats that have "lw" that do not have pumps just a hlding tank.

OK I might have this right from you picture. the big fitting in the lower middle of your LW is your drain, not for puming water in, but letting it drain out. That pipe coming down on the left should be overflow. now you need to install a new fitting/spay head that is up at the top of your LW. that big fittig you will need to get a plug that fits it and have it just running to a tru hull fitting. when your done for the day just pull the plug and the lw will drain. the one of the left is already set up to you overflow so that will work fine. you will have to drill a new hole in your hull ( down by the drain outlet) install your new pump and run a new hose up to a spray head you will have to install in your lw. I have seen many older "cheeper" boats that have "lw" that do not have pumps just a hlding tank.

this sounds correct.

because if i cap the drain, water will not come in until i hit the pump switch (water will enter through spray head ABOVE the water line. Then overflow/keep filling therefore always circulating new water in)

I will have to run out and get a spray head fitting as i don't have one.

Thanx guys and ill keep u updated to the status of this thing.