Hobie Livewell priming
 

Last Sunday at the Extreme Kayak Fishing Tournament, there was a newer angler struggling to get his Livewell to work. Theoretically, one can just pedal fwd to force water up through the forward-facing intake to get the pump operating.

Unfortunately, that does not always work well on a badly air-bound pump.

A primer bulb can be added to the discharge side of the pump, which can be repeatedly squeezed while pedaling fwd to help suck the water into the pump.

The best option is to add a 2ft piece of hose onto the discharge side of the pump. No need to be pedaling, just turn the pump on and take a good suck on the line and the pump will have water flowing within seconds.

https://i.postimg.cc/SK3Jvfg6/Livewell-Prime.jpg

I had been messing with the earlier methods for years and am glad to have added the hose to the discharge to basically end the hassles of having to pedal to prime the pump.

I just keep pedaling until the water starts to flow, sometimes it happens right away and other times it takes a few minutes.

yep, I've owned at least 8 hobie live well over 10 years and have never had issues priming the well. Pedaling ass off for about 15-30 seconds always did the trick.

8 live wells in 10yrs? Why so many? other than replacing/removing on/off switches, my original and XL live wells are still going strong after 8years.

I was buying a lot of used kayaks to test various models and they almost always came with a live well. Only issue I ever had was a crack on one of the well but never a priming issue.

Nice, wonder what your doing different?

Today I opened the Livewell lid to find that the pump had become air-bound and the bait was oxygen-starved.

Seaweed had clogged the intake. I shut off the pump, gave a good blow on the discharge hose, and it cleared the intake. Problem solved without having to lift the Livewell to access the intake.

I have a Rule bait pump on my boat. It's below the water line + a thru-hull scoop (yes it is facing forward), and I still cant get it to self-prime even when cruising at 18kt. I always end up twisting the pump off so water fills in for a second before re-attaching and turning it on.

I've always wondered about how a kayak would do it. I presume a primer bulb would work great on yaks even with the smaller diameter because you don't need the kind of GPH flow that a boat requires.

Below the waterline, it should prime way easier than on a kayak. Good to know I am not the only one who has had issues.

Hobie live well failing to stay primed.
 

Last time out I was stoked to get this nice Calimari while fishing for bait along the beach.
<a href='https://postimages.org/' target='_blank'><img src='https://i.postimg.cc/Qt49wHGp/squidfsm.jpg' border='0' alt='squidfsm'/></a>

I would have loved to put it out live out in 200ft, but the live well lost prime while en route. When I opened the lid to bait up, half my bait was dead.:mad: This has happened before, and I am considering putting a water level alarm in my live well.

I think part of the problem is now that I am motorized, my average speed is faster, and the likelihood of the pump intake catching a pocket of air has increased.

I am using a 12volt battery with the discharge throttled by a half-open butterfly valve to increase back pressure and reduce flow in the well.

Open to ideas or suggestions to reduce the chances of losing prime.....