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Livewell Parts, Installation, and Recommendations/Questions

Shesho

Member
Hey Johnson/Evinrude Outboard Forum,

The reason for this post is to ask the community to point me in the right direction when it comes to choosing the right Livewell products and tools for my boat. I currently own a 1997 Stratos 2100 Center Console 21 Ft offshore boat and attached to this post is an image of my vessel. I believe the compartment just forward of my center console would be an ideal spot for a livewell but there is no pre-existing livewell installed. Since I am currently deployed and away from my boat, I do not have the measurements of the compartment but my intentions are to use my boat to go off-shore fishing in Texas and Florida. With that being said;

1. What products/parts do i need when it comes to installing a complete livewell system?
2. Is there an exact flow rate/gallons per hour that is specific to keep my bait alive and well when off-shore fishing?
3. Do i need to run cables through the hull of my boat to my battery and switch on my dash?
4. Would installing a small screen on the PVC pipe that sucks out the water be a good idea to help the livewell filter last for a longer period of time?

A diagram with specific instructions or a step-by-step video would be of great help. Hope to hear from you guys soon!

​​​​​​​-Shesho

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There are numerous articles and videos on the Internet. Go through several of those and you will get a good feel for what you need and how to install it.

Electrically, you should have two batteries - a house battery and a starting battery. They both should be routed through a battery selector switch. Then you should have heavy duty +/- leads (8 AWG or bigger, depending on other loads) leading to a fused distribution bus behind your console. You would then run the live well pump (as well as all of your other devices - MAP/GPS, lights, horn, etc.) off of that bus.
 
Chawk_man,

Thanks! your input and advice seems like a great idea. So i should connect my red and black leads directly to the bus? Therefore if the battery goes out I can use my reserve battery and the pump will begin working again?

-Shesho
 
You want to set up so that your cranking battery is just for that - cranking the engine - and nothing else. When running the boat, you can turn your selector switch to "both" and be charging both batteries at the same time. Be sure that the selector switch has a built in "make before break" feature so that you don't burn out your regulator's diodes if you switch batteries while underway. If you want to go first class add an isolator. See following link...

https://www.go2marine.com/item/1677...ch-and-charging-relay-up-to-120-amp-7650.html
 
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