Livewell Drain Plug When Not Using Livewell

[PotomacBassin]

This may be a stupid question, but I was wondering if you all put your livewell drain plug in the drain hole of the livewell when you're not using the livewell.  The reason I ask is that in my Tracker 190, a little bit of water comes up into the livewell if I don't plug it when it's in the water. It's about a half inch of water and I think it is just the level of the water line outside of the boat. I fish fairly muddy water so it tends to get nasty over time. 

 

Also, I always get a little bit of water in my bilge.  After a long day it's typically only a little bit.  I've heard other people say their's stays completely dry but was wondering if anyone else's gets a little water.  One day after a really rough day of huge swells I had a good bit of water in the bilge but I assumed it was coming over the back or in through the pumpout hole.

[BassnChris]

Sorry, no can help there since I do not have drain plugs.

I would think that I would leave them in to keep out the water/mud/silt.

[BKeith]

I could be a leak most anywhere.  First thing I would do is plug the livewell drain from the outside and pump intake, in the rear of the boat.  If it's still getting water in in, plug the overflow, if may be splashing into it.   That will eliminate all possible leaks from the live well so if you're still getting water in the sump, it's not coming from the livewell.  If it has two livewells, you will have to do this to both, but only one at the time if you are planning to keep any fish you catch that day.

 

From there, I would plug the bildge outlet, just to make sure it's not splashing in through it.

 

Now, if you've eliminated both of those and still getting water in the bildge sump, you probably have a hull leak somewhere. 

 

My next suggestion you may not like.  Level the hull with the tounge jack, put the drain plug in and fill it with several inches of water and start checking all seams and rivets on the hull for water coming out.   Just remember, water weighs eight pounds per gallon and it don't take many inches to put several hundred pounds in the boat.  While it's not going to hurt the boat, it's going to be giving your trailer springs and axle h***, so watch your springs and make sure you are not getting too much sag.

[K_Mac]

I have two live wells in my old tin boat. I usually keep a plug in the rear one, and use it for storage. If I know for sure I won't keep anything on a given day I will also plug the front. You can never have too much storage...

[PotomacBassin]

Thanks guys.  I will definitely plug the livewell from the inside from now on to keep that water out. 

 

For the water on the inside, I will have to plug each of the holes (intake, outake, and pumpout hole) one at a time each trip that I take out.  Are these standard 1 inch holes like the bilge drain?  If they are then I can just use my spare bilge plugs to block them up. 

[3dees]

I plug mine. why add the extra weight.

[BKeith]

Usually they take a smaller plug, other than the overflow, it will probably be your 1"

[ww2farmer]

This may be a stupid question, but I was wondering if you all put your livewell drain plug in the drain hole of the livewell when you're not using the livewell.  The reason I ask is that in my Tracker 190, a little bit of water comes up into the livewell if I don't plug it when it's in the water. It's about a half inch of water and I think it is just the level of the water line outside of the boat. I fish fairly muddy water so it tends to get nasty over time. 

 

Also, I always get a little bit of water in my bilge.  After a long day it's typically only a little bit.  I've heard other people say their's stays completely dry but was wondering if anyone else's gets a little water.  One day after a really rough day of huge swells I had a good bit of water in the bilge but I assumed it was coming over the back or in through the pumpout hole.

I have the same livewell in my Tracker Pt170, and it does the same thing with the drain tube un-screwed. A little bit of water will run into the livewell back up from the drain, but never more than the level of the boat in the water. With the drain in, it stays dry unless Iturn the pump on. I have had this boat for 7 years now and it's done it from day one. The only time I get water in my bilge is when the drain plug is in and I am running the livewell constantly. I installed a 750GPM pump to replace the 500GPM it came with, and the 1" overflow tube can't keep up. So water will run out of the livewell lid and get in the bilge.

 

I did have a few small cracks that were hard to see on the bottom of my hull once, the area around the cracks was dented in, so I must have hit something when I was fishing in the swamps. Those cracks let a little bit of water in each time I was out, not alot , but enough to get me to crawl under and look for something like that.I guess I at the end of the day I would have a gallon or two of water in the bilge. I took the boat to a local shop and they brazed the cracks closed a few years ago, and now I do not get any water in there, unless, like I said the livewell is running over, or I am out in the rain.

[Sam]

I have the 185 and I do not get water in my livewell, with our without the drain plug.

I did have a problem with the two-position valve and when I had Jerry Cooper's repair shop look at it they found that the live well control valve was rusty and seized. They used a new 8-foot cable and replaced the actuator.

Please consider inspecting the live well cable and actuator and noting if it has rusted and that is why you are getting water in your well. That seems to be the only place water can back up into the live well unless your livewell has a crack in it.

You may have to take the boat to the Tracker dealer to have the inspection completed and the problem corrected.

The actuator cost $25 and the 8-foot cable $10 plus three hours of labor.

I also had the Oxygenator installed on the side of the well and it works great. No leaks or problems.

Good luck and I hope you can get the problem corrected.

[Silas]

I have a new Bass Tracker 16 foot and it had a little water in the bilge.

 

I found out that the through the hull pipe had a crack in it because the expansion of the floatation material had put a lot of pressure on it and cracked it. Seems that they have had this issue before.

 

Brought it back to Tracker dealer and they installed a new intake pipe. 

 

I also plug the live well and use it for storing my soft tackle bag.....a 16 footer doesn't have much "spare" room!

[PotomacBassin]

I have a new Bass Tracker 16 foot and it had a little water in the bilge.

 

I found out that the through the hull pipe had a crack in it because the expansion of the floatation material had put a lot of pressure on it and cracked it. Seems that they have had this issue before.

 

Brought it back to Tracker dealer and they installed a new intake pipe. 

 

I also plug the live well and use it for storing my soft tackle bag.....a 16 footer doesn't have much "spare" room!

Yeah I'm dying to get the boat out on the water to check this out again.  I'm not 100 percent convinced that I have a leak yet.  This thread was mainly about keeping the livewell dry; but I get a little bit of water in the bilge even if the livewell isn't running.  So I'm not really sure what that is about.  Again, I just kind of thought it was some water coming in from the bilge pumpe out hole or over the transom.  Who knows. 

[BASS 2 MOUTH]

On 1/3/2013 at 2:06 PM, PotomacBassin said:

This may be a stupid question, but I was wondering if you all put your livewell drain plug in the drain hole of the livewell when you're not using the livewell.  The reason I ask is that in my Tracker 190, a little bit of water comes up into the livewell if I don't plug it when it's in the water. It's about a half inch of water and I think it is just the level of the water line outside of the boat. I fish fairly muddy water so it tends to get nasty over time. 

 

Also, I always get a little bit of water in my bilge.  After a long day it's typically only a little bit.  I've heard other people say their's stays completely dry but was wondering if anyone else's gets a little water.  One day after a really rough day of huge swells I had a good bit of water in the bilge but I assumed it was coming over the back or in through the pumpout hole.

U can put a overflow drain tube in the drain hole. Works well if u loose the plug also.

[MickD]

I keep the plug in the drain hole unless I'm using the live well.  Sometimes use the live well for dry storage when not planning to use it.

 

My Lund stays dry in the bilge unless I'm visually taking water on.  A little leakage is only a problem if you plan on leaving your boat in the water when not fishing.  Then you need an auto bilge pump.

[OnthePotomac]

I had a crack at the point of attachment to my live well pump a few years ago and went nuts trying to find how water was always in my bilge.   As it turned out it was the pump inlet that was cracked.  New pump, no more water in bilge.