Live well pump turns on by itself?

[Tomo]

Folks - I have a slightly different Livewell problem.... it kicks on by itself in choppy / bouncy seas. This makes storage in the livewell of anything like sweatshirts and jackets a bad idea - especially when we discover them floating in sea water. The dash baitwell switch remains off - neutral position, neither up nor down. I can fix the problem by closing the raw water intake valve but I am concerned the pump will run dry and burn up. Is this a common Livewell problem? Any known fix? Baitwell pump and light work fine when I manually move the switch up or down. Thanks, Tom

[NCangler]

Tomo, I have not heard of this before. What model do you have and are you located near your dealer? I would definitely take this to the dealer to be fixed. The livewell obviously should not come on unless the switch is flipped. Even when that is fixed I don't think I'd try to use that space for dry storage though. Mine is always damp.

[Codfish]

Tomo,

I bet you have your sea cock open so you can use the washdown pump when this happens. What is happening is, sea water is being forced into the baitwell/washdown hose through the sea cock through hull when you are moving forward. The pressure is greater the faster you move forward. If the inlet valve to the baitwell is "open" then water is going to flow into the baitwell at a pretty good rate. The pump is not running. It is water pressure alone that moves the water. When you stop, the water flow will stop.

This happened to me once and inflated a self inflating automatic PFD I had stored as extra in the baitwell. I thought the valve was "off" but I guess I bumped it and it opened some. I now keep a plastic hose stopper end on the inlet to avoid any more mishaps. I only use the baitwell for bait on occassion.

Look closely at the collar of the through hull on the underside of the boat. You will see that there is a cut out in the front or forward side of the collar that allows for some water pressure to be generated into the opening with forward motion. It is suppose to do that so not a problem, just something to be aware of.

Codfish

[Jim Jenkins]

Different boat but same problem. On my 170 CC I learned the hard way to turn the valve off on the livewell discharge and to PLUG the drain to keep this area dry.

The water in my livewell came in thru the drain. 3-4 inches wet change of clothes and a my binoculars.

This drain is a larger diameter than other outlets on this boat and required a transom plug from a marine store.