posted 08-19-2003 12:27 AM ET (US)        

There is a tube coming up out of the aerator. and going into a 'T' with a petcock to the right.

My question is , why is there not a drain plug in the live well?

How do you all drain your livewell out after cleaning the boat each time?

Also, what is the petcock for?

posted 08-19-2003 11:41 AM ET (US)            

I don't know what year your 22 is (or David's for that matter), but mine is a '92 and doesn't have either drain tube David describes. While I have thought about creating one (with a clamshell on the outside of the hull) through the bottom of the sump in my baitwell, my motor well is not as deep as my sump, so it would not do much good to run a horizontal drain line between the two on my boat.

The screwed on cover is vented and seperates the sump and bilgepump/aerator motor from the baitwell. The petcock controls whether the water that is pumped through the bilge pump goes out the thru-hull fitting and thus drains the baitwell, or is redirected as a spray back onto the surface the water in the baitwell from the manifold, to aerate the water for baitfish longevity.

I trailer my boat mostly, and it is rarely in the water for more than a few days at a crack; I've found that with that type of usage and the type of boating I normally do, all that stuff was really more trouble than it was worth. I wound up removing all the aerator stuff and the sump cover plate, epoxying and gelcoating the screw holes, and putting in a larger capacity bilge pump in with a combination manual/auto internal float switch. I wind up carrying or storing things in the baitwell most of the time.

posted 08-19-2003 12:48 PM ET (US)            

I've still got the cover and if you pick up the postage you can have it. I don't think I have any of the manifold and petcock arrangement (it was broken anyway), but I will look to make sure. The bilge/aerator pump that was a part of the system was a Mayfair in the 450 gpm range. I stumbled across what looked like an exact duplication of that system in some marine online catalog not long ago; I'll see if I can dredge that data back up, also.

posted 08-19-2003 03:09 PM ET (US)            

You have the same set-up I HAD. But I changed mine after I kept on getting 8"-12" of water in the well from rain. I have a 1990 Revenge 22 W/T. I had the aerator & t-petcock set-up like yours.

I use my "livewell" for dead stuff (spare prop, oil, assorted things). So, I didn't need the aerator set-up. I removed it and replaced it with a regular bilge pump that fits under the screwed down cover - wired the bilge pump to the aerator switch on the consol (the wires were already there from the removed aerator). I routed the output hose under the deck (there's room) and out the port side and had to drill a new thru-hull on the port side to match the starboard side bilge thru-hull (easy to do as its above the waterline).

But, when the boat is on the trailer, the well still filled with rain water (90" of precipitation a year in Juneau). So, instead of climbing in the boat, removing the Mills cockpit cover and hitting the switch to clear the water, I used to prop up the hatch and run a siphon hose (6'-8' long, 3/8" or so ID) to the bottom of the well by the bilge pump (threading it down by the upright piece of the molded plastic base plate protecting the lower well & bilge pump). Then over the transom so it hung lower than the bottom of the boat. When it rained hard, I'd go out, "take suction" on the hose and let it drain by itself. Instead of routing it out the hatch, I could have routed it out the port side (under the deck) and out the port bilge sump and over the transom.

But, don't have the problem now as I bought some Sunbrella material and sewed an addition to the aft end of my cockpit cover. Now the hatch has NO water flowing over it from rain, and stays dry.

Long answer...

posted 08-19-2003 03:46 PM ET (US)            

What did your pre-existing starboard thru-hull drain? And if it drained the forward bilge (if there is one on a Revenge), what did the "T" on the aerator control?

posted 08-19-2003 03:56 PM ET (US)            

The starboard sump had its own bilge pump that exhausted out the starboard side under the Whaler decal. Its cross connected to the port sump via "progressive flooding" from the port sump, to the live well, to the starboard sump. Nothing drains from forward.

The T petcock, controlled, I think, the outflow of the aerator pump, nothing else. The only hose connected when I removed the aerator pump was the aerateor to a small manifold system the dribble water into the sump.

The cabin area of the Revenge drains via the thru-hull in the cabin sump... or via buckets.

posted 08-19-2003 06:39 PM ET (US)            

I like your idea John where you put in a bilge pump with a float switch. That seems to be a good solution. Right now the aerator does not work so I will throw it out and put in a new pump/float switch.

I'm glad to now understand what that t-pipe fitting is for finally.

posted 08-19-2003 06:50 PM ET (US)            

I thought about the float switch, but with so much rain, I didn't want to risk running down the battery over sitting 2 weeks on the trailer. I think it was in 99 that Juneau had 115 straight dayso fo measureable precidpitation from early August thru November.

Andy -

I still have the manifold, petcock & hoses, etc (in the garage somewhere as I did not toss them). As always, yours, if you want them, for postage.

posted 08-19-2003 07:18 PM ET (US)            

Jim and John,
Thanks to both of you for offering these parts to me. I really do like to keep things stock when possible, and having the OEM set up makes me really stoked!