Live Well

[keepitgreen05]

how dose the water get into the live well on the steplift 87

[willy]

Not all live wells were plumbed with the requisite through hull and pump and lines.
These were dealer installed if the boat was bought off the lot. Factory installed if ordered new from them by the dealer with that option listed.
Depending on the model the location will be right behind the livewell in the port side stern you will see a through hull right thru the bottom of the hull with a high speed pick up from underneath the hull. Small bronze piece unless bottom painted black.
There will be a valve on the small pipe from the thru hull with an in line pump.
I have seen two V's actually plumbed for it but most have the in floor live well without the other equipment installed.

[keepitgreen05]

well how will i go about doing it so i can maintain fresh circulated water for bait

[willy]

You will have to locate the thru hull and high speed pick up for the bottom of the hull.
You then need to install a valve.
Then a pump, the wiring and switch set up for it.
if it is not plumbed with a pipe for an intake into the live well you will have to make one, install it at the top of the tank, on the inside, angled jet so it shoots along the side, not straight into the tank, creating a circular water pattern around the inside of the tank.
You will have to install a pipe for the overflow inside and plumb it out. Factory ones I saw drained into the bilge. not a great design in my opinion.
If I were you I would use the space to store boat items and not use it as a live well for two reasons.
If the plumbing is not there from the factory it is going to be a royal ball buster to install.
Second, the factory set up for these live wells was a marginal performer from all accounts I have heard. They tend to leak onto the floor when the boat rocks or when you accelerate. They were shallow type of design, whereas a Contender in floor is not as wide but much deeper.
Third they are low so will need to be either plumbed with a macerator pump to pump it up and out of another thru hull on the side of the boat, or do what the factory did and let it drain thru the overflow pipe into the bilge. That is not a good set up with your bilge pump acting as a live well pump and putting the fish smell and debris in your bilge..
I bought a separately purchased live well tank and used that with a overflow hose that went into the motor well area. It worked great.

[phatdaddy]

like willy says, in deck livewells are a pain. this is what i did and it works great. and it's easy enough to leave at the dock when not in use.

the intake is self feeding when under way and pump is used when not moving, the large hose is the discharge

[ledk9]

PhatDaddy

I have been thinking about a similar setup in my boat this year do you have any photos of the hoses going into the tank its self..Im not sure how to run them into the tank... Also, how is the water discharged from the tank when not in use...ie...is thier another pump required... Thanks

[reelapeelin]

Or you can go the "hoseless" route like mine...one fill up and you're done for the day...aerate, filter and circulate the same water all day...all it needs is a 12 volt source w/no hoses, no thru-hulls...I chose to make mine, but these tanks are sold all over, so it's not just something I came up with...disconnect one small 12 vt plug and sit out of the boat when not needed..









Like said, I made this one, but can give you names and contact #s for some very good quality self contained tanks...

[THEFERMANATOR]

Also if this is a factory livewell keep in mind some of these drained to the bildge and then teh bildge pump pumped the water out. I've seen a few V's that have sunk because there bildge pump quit and they left the seacock for the livewell open.

[FL Bill]

I just bought my Sport Fisher 20 and wanted to know more about it and was told about this site. This thread on the live well answered a lot of questions for me. Great info.

[steplift20]

Live well, I use a 5 gallon Home Depot bucket and yes you can do it. Or a cooler .