Leaking livewell in Lowe 1448 Big Jon

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MikeA57

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Location
Olive Branch, MS
It's been awhile since I've posted although I've lurked around out here from time to time. Took my boat out last weekend for the 1st time in a couple of years. I had just installed my new Helix 5 and a new MK Edge 45 Trolling Motor so I was really stoked and excited to try it all out. The last time I'd had it out it floated fine but I couldn't get the motor to crank. This time though, when I put it in the motor cranked and ran like a top. I noticed almost immediately though that it started taking on water. Every hour to hour and a half I'd have to crank the big motor and pull the plug while I cruised to let it drain. I pulled it into a slip at the dock and left it to go to lunch. When I came back out about 4 hours later water was about 12-14 inches at the back of the boat.

When I got it home I put a hose in it and started filling it up to see where it was leaking from. It took almost 10 minutes with no sign of water on the bottom side and then it started leaking from the livewell drain. "But I'm not putting water in the livewell!", I said to my son. When I opened it up I saw one leaky rivet that was percolating like a coffeepot and another rivet with a crack around it. I'm not sure that this is the main source of the leak into the boat but I know I've got to get those 2 things fixed. My question is: is this a blind rivet? When I looked up from below, I couldn't see the rivets in the bottom of the hull plus there was still no water at all dripping from the bottom of the boat. It was all dry. So should I just try to weld it from the top? Or, what about just using JB Weld on the leaky rivet and the crack?

Here's a video to show what I found...https://vid240.photobucket.com/albums/ff248/MikeA57/TM Mount/Live well leak_001_zpsyzjnzfzj.mp4

Thanks,

Mike
 
Was that the inside of the live well?

I have the same boat. Mine has a plastic live well liner with a bung to the bottom of the boat out of PVC. I think she is a 98 model year.

May want to tear it down and clean things up and reinstall. That way it is safe and good to go next time out.
 
I just picked up a used 2001 Lowe 1440 and had (I believe) a similar problem. The rivet just forward of the thru hull fitting had a slight leak with water coming in around the head of the rivet. Same with the rivet just to the left of the fore mentioned rivet. The left hand rivet leaked/dripped when on the trailer; the one just forward of the thru hull fitting did not. Lastly, the thru hull fitting was leaking (its seal had gone bad).

In my situation the compromised thru hull seal (and rivet) was letting water in between the bottom of the boat and the bottom of the bench/livewell. That water was then leaking up through the two compromised rivets into the livewell.

My solution was to drill out the two rivets and replace with 3/16th closed end rivets covered in 3M 4000UV. I also re-installed the thru hull fitting using the 3M 4000UV.

My motor needed to go into the shop due to a leaking rear seal and has not returned yet so the boat has not been in the water since.
 
OK, so what I have gathered from the above responses is that the livewell is a separate box inside the seat, right? Does this mean I'm going to have to take the seat out in order to get to the livewell?

Thanks guys!

Mike

PS: ...and by the way, mine is an '80 model and it's just a metal livewell. No plastic in this baby!!
 
MikeA57 said:
...the livewell is a separate box inside the seat, right?

I think you are correct. Take a look at the picture in the following thread and picture (new to posting so hope this works):

https://www.duckhuntingchat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=488609

nobench_zps45234ea9.jpg
 
Thanks ibSteve. That's something for me to chew on. I like the idea posted down further about strapping the side ribs together to strengthen the boat. Great idea!

Mike
 
Well, I know it's been over a year since I've posted about this problem , but I thought I had it fixed until earlier this week when I found out the problem was still there. I had used JB Weld on the leaky rivets and there was no leak. But now cracks have expanded out from the rivets that were leaking and had been fixed.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
 
MikeA57 said:
Well, I know it's been over a year since I've posted about this problem , but I thought I had it fixed until earlier this week when I found out the problem was still there. I had used JB Weld on the leaky rivets and there was no leak. But now cracks have expanded out from the rivets that were leaking and had been fixed.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
20161115_164055.jpg

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
 
MikeA57 said:
MikeA57 said:
Well, I know it's been over a year since I've posted about this problem , but I thought I had it fixed until earlier this week when I found out the problem was still there. I had used JB Weld on the leaky rivets and there was no leak. But now cracks have expanded out from the rivets that were leaking and had been fixed.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
So I'm wondering about the use of roll on or spray-in bedliner in a livewell to fix this problem. My son-in-law's suggested that and it sounds like a good one but I'm wondering about the effects on the fish. Does anyone know if that compound would harm the fish?
Thanks guys!

Mike

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
 
IMHO, JB weld doesn't flex. You need to find a flexible fix. I'd try 3M5200, but I am not sure that it will flex after a year or so.
You know where the water is coming in. Fix that.

richg99
 

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