Brendons Flow Rite Kayak Eski live well Build

[brendon]

I have been looking around for a better livewell than the one I am currently using but cant justify the expense of the Hobie unit .
The issues I wanted to address with my current setup was to improve aeration and conserve battery life and make the unit set and forget and have an insulated container.
I saw Timmah's thread on BM recently asking about kayak livewells and we got chatting and I started having a look at the Flow Rite live well Parts that Tim distributes in WA.
A few weeks later I took my Hobie Revolution and an Eski over to to see what Tim could provide.
We quickly identified a very simple/affordable set of fittings,connectors and hose and a Powerstream venturi Aerator that attaches to the inlet from the pump as well as a tank timer that can be switched on to fill the eski or set to an adjustable period to replace/aerate the water in the tank .
I bought a kit of parts and the build commenced.

Stage One
$50 dollar eski a bit bigger than what I wanted but all the others were very expensive or wrong size .






Stage two,
Popped over to Tims house to pick up the kit and Tim generously assited me in putting it all together.

Kit consists a set of through hull fittings ,hose and a pump,aerator and a seperate livewell timer kit.

We installed the timer kit into a sealed plastic battery box from Jaycar ($29) this was a simple matter of cutting a square hole for the rocker switch and a round one for the timer control knob shaft using the self adhesive face plate as a template.
Once the holes are done the face plate is stuck on and the rocker switch clips into place and the rotary one is held with two nuts and a star washer and the knob installed with a set screw.


Next step was to connect the two components with pre-crimped wires suplied in the kit which just push on following the supplied diagram.

I then extended the wiring from the Rule bilge pump by using a Narva two pin water proof plug and 3mm tinned marine grade wire.
Once this is done you need to use one of the three supplied crimps to connect the pumps positive wire (brown) to the timer.
The negative from the pump and the timer are then brought together at the battery .
The positive lead from the battery was made using a mini blade fuse holder (5amp) and two blade crimps.



Narva 2 pin plug


Stage three plumbing!
Using a hole saw I cut a hole in the Eski at a height so that the top of the aerator remains above water level as it has a hole for a venturi that injects air into the water from the pump.
This is one of two we are trialling as we were not sure if the one shown was best to use with small bilge pumps.Then its simply a matter of screwing the bits together by hand.





Assembling the hose to the bilge pump is acheived by cutting to length the hose, pushing in the fittings and crimping them with a nail removal pincer pliers.
The hoses then clip on and off the hull fitting and can be stored in the eski when not in use.



The over flow pipe (not shown) is exactly the same process except larger diameter and installed just above the 25L level in the well

The battery and timer box will be installed on the front of the Eski allowing me to reach the controls whilst seated .



Stage 4 testing!
Tim's QC Tech putting the livewell through a series of rigorous tests.


Stoked to say that unlike some of my previous yak wiring escapades this worked perfectly first time !

The box should be big enough to hold a 12V 9AH battery if desired but I am pretty sure a 12 V 7AH sould be ample with the timer.

stage 5 finish off and tidy up loose ends.
First off battery box wiring secured with a couple of hobie's plastic "P" clamps left over from anchor trolley kits.
Battery secured by means of velcro with the two halves being screwed to the metal backing plate with a penny washer and also using its self adhesive.
Blue high density foam used around and behind battery to reduce movement.
All holes drilled in box sealed with Selley's All Clear.





Finally time to carry out some testing off the complete unit to see what sort of battery life I can expect.
The units fills from empty in a approx 1min 50s
I have gone with a 12v 7ah battery which is the same as I run my sounder off.
Rule 360 pump has 2.1 amp current draw divided by 7 ah equals 3.33 hours . although in real life i expect it would be less.
360gph equals 1362L hour which equals 22.7 l min .
The flowrite timer I am using adjusts beteween 1 minute on 1 minute off to 12 mins off 1 min on.
so lets say battery in real life actually lasts 2.5 hours (150 mins) at 1 on 1 off battery should last 5 hours (300 mins) and at 12 off 1 on (ie 5mins hour) should last 30 hours! (1800 mins)
I have my battery on charge and plan to endurance test the livewell tommorow or sat and report back.












Thanks to Tim for his Help and now to test it with some bream!

[MODIFIED]

looks great buddy,

i really need to get a much more reliable pump and timer as well almost had a live well tragedy on the weekend.

cant wait to have a closer look at it sunday.

[Timmah]

Hi Brendon,

Lets just hope you can fill your livewell with fish on the weekend unllike me I didn't even get to warm up the pump on sunday It was a pleasure to help, can always trust on my little side kick

I hoping to make it down for the way in on sunday,looks like there will be a good field.

Cheers
Tim

[brendon]

I have updated the first post with new pictures and progress.
currently testing battery life with the unit passing 4 hours running on a 1min on 1 min off cycle which should give me 16 hours on a 1 min in 5 cycle and the unit is still going strong!

[MODIFIED]

This is an awesome how to live well buddy,

Can't wait to have a look on Sunday

[tweedz]

Thats an awesome post. Thanks for the effort.

[TheChief]

Nice build mate. Great step by step instructions. Interested on what the total cost actually would be to build it?

The main advantage the esky set up has over the hoble livewell is the size of the lid. Makes it a bit easier getting fish out of them with a net.

[Timmah]

I was just about to ask the same question dude, What did the total build cost come to mate?

Cheers
Tim

[brendon]

Geez I hope my wife does not spot this....
$250 complete with battery , pro timer , Eski ,Rule 360 gph pump and wire,crimps, connectors etc.
You could save another $40 by using a heavy duty plastic tub from IKEA instead of an eski and another $23 by using a klipit plastic waterproof box from Big W

The Hobie unit from a Australain Hobie stockist $369 but apparently in WA ATM in very short supply.

Obviously you get the satisfaction of building it your self as well and this will fit almost any yak so long as an appropriate container used.

The units still running in the pool as we speak up to 5 hours 30 on the minute on and off cycle.
I would say I have oversized battery by at least 50%... you could easily power a sounder off the box as well.

I am considering having the battery box in the front hatch for better weight distrubution as I already have a suitable power plug mounted behind my seat and would only take a few minutes to run wires and a plug from it inside the yak to the front

[millonario]

Fantastic stuff Brendon and Timmah! Thanks so much! Does the extra weight from the water on board the yak affect stability/bouancy noticably?

[brendon]

You certainly feel the weight and having 25 l of water in the back ready to slosh to one side if you lean too much .
But in a bream fishing context in sheltererd waters no problems.
Obviously the weight rating of the yak comes into play .I imagine an outback,pro-angler or one of the bigger paddle yaks like a OK prowler will feel it less than a Revo 13.
luckily I am a rubbish bream angler so rarely have to fill it....

If I was to do this again I would halve the size of the battery at least and look for a lighter battery box and find a a container closer to 25 l than the one I had.
With the timer and aerator head I am not sure an insulated box is essential as you can change the water in the tank every 8 mins if you wanted to and still have a big reserve of battery life with out lifting a finger.

[TheChief]

Thanks Brendon. Was wondering about the weight, that is quite a big esky and battery. I suppose the over flow is about half way though. Would be handy running the sounder and pump off the same battery.

Another big advantage is the timer so you don't have to turn it on or off manually like the Hobie Livewell. I Can easily forget while I'm concentrating on fishing. I have a Hobie one and I think they are really good and for someone like me to lazy to do a awesome build like you did they are worth the extra $100 IMO. But if I ever get a yak that isn't a Hobie I will be copying your design for sure.

If you had some longer pipes you could use that in a boat aswell!

[brendon]

I have not looked at a hobie unit closely recently but if you could get a Flow-Rite timer into one it would be great not having to remember to switch it on.

I suspect you could mount it in a small box and just attach it in series with the battery leads for the hobie well.
from memory the battery is prewired with a connector thats commonly available?
you could have the control box sitting in a side pocket or the cup holder.

[BlackBreamer]

Yikes, 250 I just done another for my boat not that exy but does q great job...nicely built unit mate well done...

[TheChief]

The battery in the Hobie livewell uses the same connections (narva?) that you used. Have heard of people putting aftermarket switches in them, not sure about timers though but it would be very handy!