Livewell overflow

[Fishin' DC's]

When I fill the livewell on my 210, it overflows the lid and spills onto the deck. Based on a mod I saw sometime in the past, I cut a length of pvc and inserted it into the drain hole (where the rubber plug was). The idea being that the overflow should discharge through the pvc pipe rather than overflowing the tank. Well, it didn't work as the water did not even attempt to discharge through the top of the pipe when it topped out. I had to revert to watching the livewell level and flipping the console switch on/off from time to time to be sure water didn't drain out and kill my live bait.

Is there a better way to manage the livewell levels? Are there inflow/outflow valves that can be adjusted? If so, where are they? The manual shows no diagrams for below deck and my dealer is woefully short on practical knowledge of things other than the price tag. Any ideas as to how you've handled this? Thanks.

[Dick@merrittmarine]

The boat has a cut off valve on the thru hull fitting. Shut it down until the livewell maintains the proper level. On our boat it's about half way.


Dick

[calicokid]

Well first off I don’t believe your tank should be overflowing. I’d check my drain hoses the overflow and the drain are essentially the same hose as the overflow Ts into the drain . If you are obstructed near the exit or under the hull (the cage over the thru hull gets clogged) that would explain not getting any additional flow from your drain. One thing several of us has done is to remove a couple of the bars from the grate at the thru hull exit under the hull so anything that gets into the hose can at least get out . If that’s not your problem most boats have a plastic ball valve where the water inters the tank if yours is gone the threads are the same as a garden hose so any type valve you like to limit the flow could be screwed on inside the bait tank at that point.
Good Luck

[Fishin' DC's]

Thanks Dick and Calico Kid, I appreciate the help. Is the cut-off valve the blue handled one near the stern T-drain?

[OspreyVic]

Yes, on my 210 that describes the cut off valve. I moved mine so it is open about half way.

[ILLOGICAL GGC]

this is a question i've been meaning to ask everytime i see this topic discussed and since there are a couple of old hands in this one, i thought i'd get ya'lls opinions.
the '01s have a combo livewell/washdown pump sitting on top of the ball valve in the bilge due to lack of free space with the 85 gal tanks. if you close the valve half way ,you then restrict the amount of water the washdown has to pickup to work.
IMHO, i think it is better to restrict the flow of water at the livewell tank rather than at the ball valve.
i did this by drilling a new inlet hole at the top of the tank above to old one at the bottom at full tank waterlevel and plumbed it to the orig. hose. i feel it best for water to enter the tank at the top rather than at the bottom. i sealed the factory hole with a screw in plug. this top inlet has an adjustible areator nozzle that screws in to adjust the amount in inbound water. by doing this the livewell never overflows since i have it screwed to the correct amount that the overflow can remove and i have full water flowing at the pump and my washdown pump gets the full water volume to pump.
since my gas tank extends the full lenght below the live well, i cannot put a 1-1/4 drain thru the floor as in the newer models .so when i ever pull the live well floor plate up i will tee the orig. inlet to the overflow hose so i can drain the tank from inside the tank rather than have the water drain onto the deck as it was orig. designed in '01 i hate having that water running on the deck and into the bilge since i dont have my rear deck screwed down.
i think the newer models have added the ball valve to the tank fitting to restrict the flow , but if you have the floor drain outlet ,add the riser tube and that will give you 2 ea 1-1/4 outlets for water to leave the tank and it should never overflow by doing this.
robert

[johnnylite]

I was one of the old posts on this subject.
First check the brass cage on the bottom of your boat. (this is the drain)
Second if it is clogged with dead fishies like mine was clean then remove a couple of bars. Mine snapped off with a couple of tugs with needlenose pliers.
Also take the grill off the overflow in the tank and run some water through with a hose. This will flush it out. There is also a small valve at the bottom inlet that will restrict inbound water.

I had exactly the same problem with my new 210 and took all of these hints from the board. They all worked no more bait and water on the decks. I also have a raw water washdown on my boat so closing off the inlet didn't make sense.

[Fishin' DC's]

I appreciate everybody's suggestions. I'll check both the cut-off and the grates.

[calicokid]

My original reply is based on my experience with my 2003 with a 70 gal gas tank a bottom drain in the bait tank and a shared pick up for the wash down and the bait tank. I believe my pump is a 750gph, I have had great success with 500gph pumps in similar size tanks in the past and have considered dropping down to a 500 but mine only seems to act up when there’s an obstruction, and my bait doesn’t seem to be over worked I’ve also made some modifications to my tank that are probably a little over the top for most guys but I have my own theories.
I’ve replaced the ball valve at the intake with a elbow and a pipe with a series of ¼” holes running vertically facing starboard. And covered the overflow with a column that draws most of the water from the bottom of the tank with a few holes drilled in the top to skim off any scum that might accumulate. I’ve always used this system on my home made tanks so I just adapted it to my factory tank I seem to keep very healthy bait.

[Fishin' DC's]

I got under the trailer and checked the grate and found that an ice bag was caught up in it. I cut out some of the slats to clear it out. Thanks for the advice.