Plumbing my Bait tank

[antonywardle]

Hi

 

I'm slowly getting through my list of things to improve on my boat, and the current thing I'm working on is getting the bait tank plumbed up for use. I've Used it in the past as a kill tank/ice slurry so that I'd be able to check that it didn't leak.

I did a lot of reading and eventually settled on the Johnson Flow Rite kit. First job was to drill a hole in the transom. I wanted to have a valve inside the boat, so that if there was a disaster, I could stop water coming in. To do this I ended up with a tank fitting and tap and then screwing everything in. Hole was nervously drilled, and then  he tank fitting and 28 were liberally applied. 

 

 

Next thing was to attach the strainer and the tap fitting.

 

After this point, I took the boat out for a run, turned the tap on and water came it, turned it off and it stopped, so I was pretty happy about that. 

Next job involved a lot of skin being removed from my knuckles, a bit of swearing and redo's and emergency trips to the plumbing shop as i found that things didn't always quite fit. One thing thing I was interested in being able to do, was to have the tank drain out without going in to the bilge, and the possibility of using this to recirculate the water for cleaning or keeping fish alive overnight if i wasn't in the water. I ended up using some irrigation fittings and for the most part, it seemed to work pretty well. Tp use this, I need to be able to get at the tap, and that means being able to move my fuel tank out of the way so I lift up the floor.

 

I then attached the pump and connected all of the hoses.

I had a leak around the tank return as the hose wasn't a tight fit. I ended up using a truck load of 218, only because I split the tube, but it sealed it up pretty well.

I invented a switch panel , from a lunch box, near the tank so I didn't have to run wires up to the front, and this also gave me somewhere to hook up my underwater lights. 

It seems to be doing the job, except it did get a bit of water from last weeks rain when I didn't put the lid on properly

Finally, I filled the tank and let it run and it seemed to run really well. I left the water in for a week and didn't lose any, so I figured that I've got a reasonably well sealed system.

I've not yet used it in the water, so I don't know how it go with drawing water while I'm running. Maybe next weekend If the water is good, I'll be able to test it out.

 

Thanks for reading

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2019 by antonywardle
deleted some extra pictures

[zmk1962]

Love DIY. Lots of thought and effort went into that mate. Hope it translates to many fish. 

Cheers Zoran

[rickmarlin62]

Only thing i can see is you may not be able to pikup water when travelling as screen is way above bottom of hull where waterline is when planing   thats why we use pikups that protrude at waterline or hull level

[antonywardle]

I'll see how it goes when I'm travelling @rickmarlin62 and then update post.

Thanks for the kind words @zmk1962. I'm slowly getting through my list. I think that the windscreen 

has got to be one of the next things, after I put my larger fuel tank in.

In case anyone is wondering, my 1 key is a bit hit and miss, so if you notice 28 above, then that's sikaflex 218!

 

[PaddyT]

Ricks probably right, mines lower than that on my transom and it struggles to pick up at above planing speed so ive also got a pickup plumbed in seperately- my old boat had an externally mounted pump on a pickup which forced water into the pump- it never missed a beat, my current set up is a series of compromises and ive never been 100% happy . 

[rickmarlin62]

When your on the plane the screen will be inches above the water  when idling round it will be in water     pikup is a definite if your goin to travel from bait ground to spot or to other spots

[Welster]

1 hour ago, antonywardle said:

I'll see how it goes when I'm travelling @rickmarlin62 and then update post.

Thanks for the kind words @zmk1962. I'm slowly getting through my list. I think that the windscreen 

has got to be one of the next things, after I put my larger fuel tank in.

In case anyone is wondering, my 1 key is a bit hit and miss, so if you notice 28 above, then that's sikaflex 218!

 

I struggled with my laptop with dodgy keys for 2 years before I realised I could replace the keypad for 20 bucks 

[Welster]

1 hour ago, PaddyT said:

Ricks probably right, mines lower than that on my transom and it struggles to pick up at above planing speed so ive also got a pickup plumbed in seperately- my old boat had an externally mounted pump on a pickup which forced water into the pump- it never missed a beat, my current set up is a series of compromises and ive never been 100% happy . 

I agree the transom mounted pump might not be as tidy but it works great. 

[wrxhoon1]

It won't work when on the plane, she will just suck air. The way to fix it, take the strainer off and screw a PVC tube with a 90 degree elbow . Make sure the pipe drops bellow the transom and cut ir on a 45 degree angle the longer bit to the rear . That will work with the pump and without when on the plane. 

This is what the Yanks use on their boats . They put a hole on the bottom of the boat and fix it with sika , the nut holds it in place then you get a pump that screws on the threaded tube. The seacock is there just in case something fails then you shut it so the boat doesn't flood.

[antonywardle]

Thanks for the picture @wrxhoon1. I was also thinking about just putting an elbow on the thread if/when it doesn't work. Would you keep it at 25mm or shrink it down? 

[rickmarlin62]

After having numerous boats  i can say it wont work  the elbow is best way for you to go   stay with 25mm if running pump all the time

[rozza_b]

As already mentioned your going to install a pickup to make it work while on the move.

I cant see from your setup but where does the overflow for the tank go ? i wouldnt ever be putting it back into the bilge, your creating a potential for the bilge to be flooded if something goes wrong, imagine if for some reason you end up filling the whole of your bilge while underway, my overflow goes straight back out the back of the boat.

The other thing i think worth mentioning is your switch panel, i know it might be convenient to have there in the back of the boat but i can see it possibly being an issue. if something goes a miss. If you get a bunch of water in the boat and that thing leaks you've potentially compromised your entire electrical system. Personally i wouldn't be putting any switches or terminations down low i know it might be a bit more of a pain to run everything back to you dash but at least then all the switches are up high and not exposed to water in anyway. Plus there a possibility you might kick that box or damage it making it definitely not water tight, just a bit of food for thought.

[zmk1962]

Hey @antonywardle,

As others have suggested you could use PVC elbow to make a pickup ... if you do so, it will put a bit of extra force on the skin fitting so just keep an eye on it for cracking. 

Another approach could be to make a pickup out of some rectangular aluminium section and a bit of plate aluminium that would sit over the existing inlet - probably just sikaflex the plate section to the stern.   Here's a sketch ....

I could knock this up for you if you could send me the dimensions a and b, as I have some scrap plate at home and the aluminium section is available in bunnings in 1m lengths, the only probs is that I am out of Argon gas at present. I'm waiting for a few odd aluminium jobs to accumulate before I go and spend $300 on another bottle. If you like this approach and are prepared to wait we can park this for a while.

Cheers Zoran

 

[frankS]

Zoran. Bunnings sell the D size Argon for $300 and you own the bottle and refills are $100. I have G size in the workshop and costs $135 for refill but I need to drive to Smithfield every time to replace the bottle. About 5 times the amount of gas for $35 extra but the large bottle isn't portable. I have heaps of sheet alloy here and all sorts of shapes and sizes.

Frank

[zmk1962]

Thanks Frank ... I hired the E gas bottle from Elgas when I was fabricating my floatation tanks ... but when I finished with my immediate projects  and used up the gas it was hard to justify the monthly $18 charge. As a DIY fabricator its much cheaper for me to pay as I go, so I have been keeping an eye on the Bunnings $299 as that seems to be the best option but again I don't have the projects lined up to justify the bottle at this stage. 

BTW, do you think my approach will solve Antony's pickup problem ?

Cheers Z

[frankS]

Zoran. Just my opinion but I think it would create a rooster tail at any speed, perhaps with a slight forward facing scoop it may do the job. Personally I don't bother with pickups, had one many years ago but beached the back of the boat and broke pickup and never bothered with one since. I don't travel much more than about 10 minutes between fishing spots but those of you that travel for 3/4 hour or more would find the pickup handy.

I bought the G size bottle and IF I don't use the Argon it sits there till I do, as it is I refill about 3 times a year on average, slowing down a bit lately as not doing too much work these days.

Frank

[wcurrall]

On 9/23/2019 at 8:06 PM, antonywardle said:

Thanks for the picture @wrxhoon1. I was also thinking about just putting an elbow on the thread if/when it doesn't work. Would you keep it at 25mm or shrink it down? 

Hey mate you'll definitely need the elbow, as soon as a small bubble of air gets in the pump it will just drain out. Just put something on like the attached, cut the side facing forwards at 45 degrees. Looks like you have a female thread there so should go straight on. I have the same pump on mine feeding a 60l tank, although mounted externally as i didn't want to drill through the alloy hull if not needed.  Was going to order a proper brass pickup later on but this works just fine

[frankS]

I run 2 of these for my 100ltr bait tank one through the transom for filling and one through the bait tank for emptying.

I have a one way valve between pump and tank and run 2 switches one for in and one for out, can't get much simpler just got to remember not to overfill the tank.

Frank

[zmk1962]

1 hour ago, frankS said:

Just my opinion but I think it would create a rooster tail at any speed,

Yup... agree. But anything dragging in the water such as a sounder transducer can create a tail.  

Thanks for info regarding the gas ... you say you are slowing down but you must still be doing a fair bit to have to refill that big bottle 3 times per year !   Thanks again.

Cheers Z

[antonywardle]

Update

I couldn't get any water with the mesh, even sitting at anchor, so I pulled up the floor again and noticed that the garden hose I was using had a kink in it, so I ended up down at the local hardware shop and bought some reinforced hose and while I was there, i also bought a couple of elbows to screw on as a pickup. It didn't work initially while at rest, but the second time i did it, it filled the tank but it is quite slow. Still it, seemed to support the mullet that I caught.