Downsides to Livewell Drain on the Side?

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MrGiggles

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I'm working on extending my deck over the middle bench, and will also be adding in a Livewell.

The tank is roughly 15 gallons, and the through hull pump is on the transom.

Is there any downside to running the drain out of the side, instead of all the way back to the transom? It will save me quite a bit of hose, and another big hole in the transom.

The drain will likely be submerged unless I'm underway.

I will be using a a removable standpipe, and the pump will fill and aerate through a spray tube.

I realize that I may have a couple inches of water in the tank, depending on the water line and where I put the drain if I leave the standpipe out, but that is of no concern to me.
 
My 2013 Tracker 1754 SC came plumbed just like that. Water dumped out the right side about mid-ship.
The drain hose was about twice as large in diameter as the pressure hose.
The tank would drain fine setting still, and would drain very quick underway.

Rob.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
 
The drain on the bait well and live well that came on my old Ranger both drain directly out the side. The overflows are also connected directly out the sides of the boat.
 
I did mine through the transom, but didn't have any other option. It's a center console livewell. I wish I had the option of draining above the water level.
 
You should have a plug for the drain so even if it is below the water line, water won’t come in unless you fill it, or leave the plug out. Mine uses the same plug as the plug on the bilge drain.
 
My tank arrived yesterday and have done some fitting and framing.

For the tank to drain properly, the thru hull fitting is going to have to be pretty much on the bottom of the boat, a couple inches under the water line.

There is a rib right next to where I'd like to put the fitting, so I think it will be protected.

I had planned on using plastic through hull fittings that I ordered from Amazon, but I'm a little apprehensive, since the drain fitting will not be very accessible if something happened. They seem to be decent quality and tighten up pretty well.

Should I be concerned about the plastic fittings below the water line?

I attached a photo of the roughly framing and where it will sit. The top lip will be flush with the top of the bench, and there will be an access hatch in front of the well. The Livewell lid is going to be slightly raised from the front of the deck.

I had planned to place the thru-hull fitting a few inches from the tank to the starboard side, visible in the photo.
 

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The 3 boats I've had with livewells, 2 of them drained/filled from the side and I didn't notice anything. Lots easier to work on as opposed to the one that had the 2 wells draining/filling from the transom. 2 valves, hoses, cables, never seemed to work right when I needed it to, and when something went wrong, had to pull floor panel out to find/fix it. Always fun. No livewell in current boat and loving it. No matter where the drains are, they'll empty when you're on plane; which is why the one boat I had needed valves to recirculate, pump in, pump out, etc. One of them had a scupper on the drain so that when it was moving forward and not on plane (low speed trolling) it would either fill the livewell or at the least keep it from siphoning. I liked that setup.

They'll only fill to the outside water level, so even a hole in the bottom will work just fine. Lot of aluminum boats are this way, drain/fill are the same single hole which is usually a 1" aluminum tube that sticks through the bottom of the hull and up into the livewell just far enough to be able to get a plug into it so it can be used for "dry storage". Some are on an elbow, some just a short tube sticking straight up but they all do the same thing.

I don't care for a plastic thru-hull below the water line. Have knocked one off in the past on lake stumpy as we call it, and it'll obviously fill the boat. That boat was one of the 3 listed above and because of the floors you never knew it was filling up until you seen the stern taking on water coming over the motorwell. I hated that boat. BTW we call it lake stumpy because it is a forest that was flooded many years ago, and it is FULL of trees and tree stumps that are submerged a few inches under normal lake level. Millions of them. Many a boater has lost their lives because of them, and many an angler has caught limit upon limit of crappie bass and catfish because of them.

Also on your framing. Livewells don't just have stanant water, so there will be some splash happening...and it'll rot the wood quick. I think coating it with something will prolong the inevitable. Maybe even glassing it? The old blue boat I had, had dual wells. The one in the front was the one I used the most and going across the lake, the lid would sometimes come up a little and COVER both the driver and passenger(s) with slimy water. It didn't have a lock on it but it did after a few outings. Also had some weather strip around the lid to keep the splash from "leaking" out between the lid and frame.
 
turbotodd said:
The 3 boats I've had with livewells, 2 of them drained/filled from the side and I didn't notice anything. Lots easier to work on as opposed to the one that had the 2 wells draining/filling from the transom. 2 valves, hoses, cables, never seemed to work right when I needed it to, and when something went wrong, had to pull floor panel out to find/fix it. Always fun. No livewell in current boat and loving it. No matter where the drains are, they'll empty when you're on plane; which is why the one boat I had needed valves to recirculate, pump in, pump out, etc. One of them had a scupper on the drain so that when it was moving forward and not on plane (low speed trolling) it would either fill the livewell or at the least keep it from siphoning. I liked that setup.

They'll only fill to the outside water level, so even a hole in the bottom will work just fine. Lot of aluminum boats are this way, drain/fill are the same single hole which is usually a 1" aluminum tube that sticks through the bottom of the hull and up into the livewell just far enough to be able to get a plug into it so it can be used for "dry storage". Some are on an elbow, some just a short tube sticking straight up but they all do the same thing.

I don't care for a plastic thru-hull below the water line. Have knocked one off in the past on lake stumpy as we call it, and it'll obviously fill the boat. That boat was one of the 3 listed above and because of the floors you never knew it was filling up until you seen the stern taking on water coming over the motorwell. I hated that boat. BTW we call it lake stumpy because it is a forest that was flooded many years ago, and it is FULL of trees and tree stumps that are submerged a few inches under normal lake level. Millions of them. Many a boater has lost their lives because of them, and many an angler has caught limit upon limit of crappie bass and catfish because of them.

Also on your framing. Livewells don't just have stanant water, so there will be some splash happening...and it'll rot the wood quick. I think coating it with something will prolong the inevitable. Maybe even glassing it? The old blue boat I had, had dual wells. The one in the front was the one I used the most and going across the lake, the lid would sometimes come up a little and COVER both the driver and passenger(s) with slimy water. It didn't have a lock on it but it did after a few outings. Also had some weather strip around the lid to keep the splash from "leaking" out between the lid and frame.

The framing will get some water seal at a minimum, I might paint it.

The project has been put on hold until I can find a bronze or marelon thru hull. I fish standing timber all the time too, I'm afraid one good bump will break the PVC bulkheads that I have.

As for the splashing, I am going to add a thin bezel that will be bonded to the top lip of the tank and screwed around the edges. I have some weather strip that will seal the bezel to the Livewell lid.

I want to use a rubber strap latch (like expensive coolers use) to hold the lid shut while underway.
 

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