Livewell not filling-1998 Smokercraft Phantom

[atcdude067]

Hi all- Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place-I'm new to the forums.

I'm in need of some help troubleshooting the livewells on my boat. It's a 1998 Smokercraft Phantom. It has two livewells -one in the rear and one in the front. Neither will fill up, but when I put the rocker switches in the "fill" position-they illuminate. How do I go about troubleshooting this problem? I'm not really familiar with these parts in a boat but am plenty comfortable with electrical and plumbing repairs-so let me know what I need to look for/do.

Thanks-

 

[sasada]

Re: Livewell not filling-1998 Smokercraft Phantom

Can u hear the pump kick on? If no check for power at the pump....if yes is the pump a thru transom? If it is most of the time u can bump the throttle in reverse for a couple feet to purge the pump.

 

[TyeeMan]

Re: Livewell not filling-1998 Smokercraft Phantom

Yep, you should hear a hum coming from the back of the boat when you flip the switch. The live well pump is mounted through the transome, generally not too far away from the drain hole in the transome. Make sure to check your fuse too, sometimes they may be corroded just enough to make things not work.

 

[atcdude067]

Re: Livewell not filling-1998 Smokercraft Phantom

Ok-how would I gain access to the pump? Also does anyone know if each livewell has a dedicated pump or shared?

 

[TyeeMan]

Re: Livewell not filling-1998 Smokercraft Phantom

Look at the back of the boat, how many "holes" do you have back there? you will have your drain at the bottom center of the boat, your live well pump will be to the right or left of the drain hole 1 1/2 - 2 feet away. If you have two pumps you will have an additional hole back there. Also, if you have multiple pumps you will have multiple switches.
Not sure of the layout of your boat. I think you have a splash well in the back of the boat, the pump will be below that, likely lower than the floor. They may have an access back there, or sometimes they just won't lay floor all the way back and the pump will be open to see.
In my Lund the floor goes completely back to the transome but they had a 6" X 8" access panel that I could pull the screws, lift up and access my pump.

BTW - if you have only one live well pump you will likely have a valve in each livewell to turn water flow off and on.

 

[atcdude067]

Re: Livewell not filling-1998 Smokercraft Phantom

Look at the back of the boat, how many "holes" do you have back there? you will have your drain at the bottom center of the boat, your live well pump will be to the right or left of the drain hole 1 1/2 - 2 feet away. If you have two pumps you will have an additional hole back there. Also, if you have multiple pumps you will have multiple switches.
Not sure of the layout of your boat. I think you have a splash well in the back of the boat, the pump will be below that, likely lower than the floor. They may have an access back there, or sometimes they just won't lay floor all the way back and the pump will be open to see.
In my Lund the floor goes completely back to the transome but they had a 6" X 8" access panel that I could pull the screws, lift up and access my pump.

BTW - if you have only one live well pump you will likely have a valve in each livewell to turn water flow off and on.

Thanks for sticking with me on this-doing the best I can. I'll post a little later with the number of holes-but I'm pretty sure there are at least 3 plus the main drain (where the plug goes) on the back. I have two switches per livewell-one is a three position switch-TIMER-OFF-FILL. The other is a two position switch -OFF-RECIRCULATE. I have a set of these switches at each livewell.

Would a picture help? I can pop off the access covers (little circle covers) and shine a light in those later and post?

 

[atcdude067]

Re: Livewell not filling-1998 Smokercraft Phantom

Okay I did some more investigating this afternoon and made the following discoveries:

The boat has 4 pumps (actually 5 including the bilge pump but not counting that for this purpose).

The first two pictures (#867 & #868) show the holes on the back of the boat. From left to right (following picture 867)-
The largest leftmost whole I suspect is plumbed to the stern livewell overflow. (speculated)
Next whole is the drain for the bow livewell. (speculated)
The lowest hole is the bilge drain plug hole. (verified)
The next hole with the black nipple sticking out of it feeds a pump. From what I can tell (see picture #874) this is the fill pump for the stern livewell. It is not visibly blocked by anything from the outside.
Next is the drain for the stern livewell. (verified)
Last hole with the black nipple is connected to the other pump shown in pic #874 (far left yellow pump)-which I speculate is the fill pump for the bow livewell.


The two recirculate pumps are working (from what I can tell. I didn't fill the livewells up and actually check-but they do seem to whir to life when I power them on. (If you're following alone on the pictures-the recirculate pumps are the two local to the livewells-#869 is the stern livewell, #875 is the bow.)

The two fill pumps do NOT whir to life. Again-their indicator lights seem to illuminate (they're lighted switches), but I speculate the switches are wired to the incoming power, not as an indicator if the pump is actually passing current. The circuit breakers (white buttons) don't appear to be popped-but I made sure by pushing them in. No changes observed.

Picture index: 867-868...rear view of holes
869-stern livewell recirculate pump
874-transom shot-three pumps visible. Bottom one is bilge pump I suspect.
875-bow livewell recirculate pump

Thanks!

 

[atcdude067]

Re: Livewell not filling-1998 Smokercraft Phantom

One more update-the bilge pump also isn't working. That makes three of the five-and the three that don't work are all in one location. Coincidence? I think not...

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Livewell not filling-1998 Smokercraft Phantom

Purchase some screens for your livewell pickup tubes, they look like this:

They just screw onto the threaded pipe sticking out.

Your pumps can pick up trash without the screens and will lock the impellers on the pumps and burn them up.

Even with the screen mine will pick up a twig or something every once in a while and lock the impeller or make a heck of a racket.

 

[Rick76]

Re: Livewell not filling-1998 Smokercraft Phantom

I am following this post with interest as I am having a different problem but know little about livewell systems. Mine is a leak issue but rather than hijack this thread, I started a new thread here for anyone that may be able to assist:

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=561444&p=3855838#post3855838