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Live well bilge pump issues

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Woolybuger11

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I Just bought a 2007 Bennington 2075 FSI 20ft pontoon with 2 live well one up front and one in the rear. The rear bilge pump for the live wells was bad so I replaced it with the exact same one that was on it a Johnson 750 GPH. I checked the lines to the live wells with a hose, and they are not plugged up. My issue is that it will not pump water to the live wells. I put it in a bucket and the pump works fine, but no matter what I do it will not pump thru to the live wells. to small of a pump? what do you all have on yours?
 
Not familiar with your live well, but the one on my last boat had a valve under the inside lip that you could shut off and use it for storage.
 
Thanks for responding, but that's not it. If I put my garde hose on the line to the live well it goes thru and fills up the live well. And the pump pumps in a bucket. So no idea.
 
If you would like to call Bennington, maybe they can help . 888 906 2628.
 
I assume the pump has an inlet from the lake and an outlet to the live well.
If yes, could the inlet (water feed side) be plugged? If you take off the hose to the love well and keep pump in same position, will it pump water into bilge area?
We have zebra muscles in our lake and they have a reputation for clogging pipes that feed grass sprinklers. Can you hear the pump working when you turn it on? If not, maybe bad ground? Just brainstorming.
 
This is an interesting post as I am dealing with this as well, kind of.

I just replaced my live well pump but mine is the 500gph Johnson pump for the second time in a week. First one I installed and it barely moved and water to the live well. I called the manufacturer and they were beyond useless. I ordered another one and I feel it is weaker than the original one but better than the dud I just installed. I haven’t check to see if the is any blockage yet but I don’t think there is any.

Maybe the pumps are just crap now

I did a bucket test before install and it moved a lot of water so I know it works.
 
Cartridge pumps don't self prime well and won't generally pull water if mounted above the water line. Even if mounted correctly, sometimes they'll air lock. Most of the time you can cycle the pump on and for for a few seconds at time and they'll pick up enough water to prime and start pumping. Judging from you saying that it pumps well in a bucket, a priming issue would be my best guess, but hard to know for sure without knowing exactly how it's mounted in relation to the waterline.
 
It’s in the port room bracket using the factory location. Only variable change was the new pump. Everything else remained constant.
 
lakeliving said:
It’s in the port room bracket using the factory location. Only variable change was the new pump. Everything else remained constant.
Click to expand...
I can't speak to yours as it works but doesn't move as much water. It might just be that the new pump isn't as efficient and you'd need to use the 750 to keep up with your old pump.

One other thought on OP's problem. Someone asked about a shut off valve but you didn't say if you have one or not. If you don't, there's a chance that you could have a check valve somewhere in that line. Hooking your hose up to it would build plenty of pressure to open it, but your pump may not and it could also add to possibility of an airlock situation in the pump.

About the only other thing that will bother these pumps is a lack of seal on the input side that allows them to pull air in instead of water. Lack of seal may not be apparent if your dunking it in a bucket to test it. When you tested it in the bucket, did you wire it to a battery or hook it up to the factory wiring? Is it possible the boats wiring was backwards and running the pump in reverse?

That's about all I can think of.
 
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