Does running your livewell(s) on auto setting put much of a drain on your battery? I get nervous leaving mine on the auto setting for any length of time simply because I don’t know how much juice it draws. I’m pretty certain my livewell pump runs off the starter battery since the pump won’t run unless the master power switch is on…. but then I’m no electrician either. 
Yes, absolutely. I use the auto option all the time when fish are on board. In fact, there are times in my local fishing league that we keep the manual on all the time. (3 hour event) We’ve never run out of juice to start the motor.
I run auto 95% of the time. I’ll switch it on to manual when I put a big fish in that needs time to rest before being let go. Never had an issue with it draining the batteries.
I’ve ran mine on auto overnight many times (using as bait well) and it’s usually fine. One time it could just barely start the motor but I think that was probably 20 hours or more that it had been docked. Can’t imagine you’d have a problem during a normal day of fishing unless it was a real long day with a lot of electronics too.
Nice! Thanks for the feedback! I’ll just put mine on auto then once I get fish in the box.
Ignorant question here… but is there any risk of burning up the pump if left on while making long runs from one spot to another? Or does it continue to pull in water even on plane?
Or does it continue to pull in water even on plane?
Mine doesn’t pull in water while I’m on plane. I wondered if it did, so I had someone check while I was driving once. No water coming in.
It may be dependent on how fast you are going. I was going about 25-30 mph.
I leave mine on auto all the time also even when on plane. Not sure if they still draw water I would guess not much if they do. But normally the runs are not that long with fish in the well. I have had my motor stop working a few times usually just pull it out and bang on it, have replaced one of them once.
They draw some power but its a really minimal amount. I’ve ran mine on manual for long periods of time and have never had a issue starting the motor. Most modern outboards have a fairly decent output alternator on them. Running the motor for a few minutes probably adds more charge to the battery than a livewell pump uses in Several hours of use.
I leave mine on auto all the time also even when on plane. Not sure if they still draw water I would guess not much if they do. But normally the runs are not that long with fish in the well. I have had my motor stop working a few times usually just pull it out and bang on it, have replaced one of them once.
I just replaced my livewell pump this last weekend. My bilge pump was sounding a little funny so I replaced it at the same time. Like most repairs it took much longer and was harder than expected. The type of livewell in my boat no longer had cartridges available for it so I had to replace the whole pump, Thru hull and all. They don’t give you much space in that access hole to work.
I am lucky they still make cartridge style motors for mine. That sounds like it sucked, your correct pretty tight in there.
Good to know guys. On our Canada trip I’ll make long runs so if I got fish in the box, I’ll just shut the livewell off until we come off of plane.
Batteries are in good shape. They’re all new last year. And I have an alternator on the motor, so keeping a charge is rarely a problem on the starting battery. 
Most pumps are 350 to 600 gal per hour. A few in the 800 gal range. Few years ago I put 1200 gal pumps in. Amperage draw is 1.2 amps to about 5 amps. Mine are 7 amp.
If your graph displays the voltage, can you just keep an eye on the voltage and if it starts to get too low, just start up the motor to recharge the battery?
Anybody know at what voltage you should start to get concerned?
I keep a set of mini jumper cables in the boat. Jump the starter batt off the t-motor battery if/when needed.
-J.
If your graph displays the voltage, can you just keep an eye on the voltage and if it starts to get too low, just start up the motor to recharge the battery?
Anybody know at what voltage you should start to get concerned?
The voltage displayed on your graph is usually lower than the actual battery voltage. 11.4 to 11.5v is what’s required for a 250 proxs. It depends what motor you have. Amps also matter.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>John Rasmussen wrote:</div>
I leave mine on auto all the time also even when on plane. Not sure if they still draw water I would guess not much if they do. But normally the runs are not that long with fish in the well. I have had my motor stop working a few times usually just pull it out and bang on it, have replaced one of them once.I just replaced my livewell pump this last weekend. My bilge pump was sounding a little funny so I replaced it at the same time. Like most repairs it took much longer and was harder than expected. The type of livewell in my boat no longer had cartridges available for it so I had to replace the whole pump, Thru hull and all. They don’t give you much space in that access hole to work.
I just did both these as well. If I could see what I was doing then I couldn’t use 2 hands. If I used 2 hands then I couldn’t see what I was doing. My kid tried holding the head lamp for me but then his hands were in my way. Replaced both pumps and a section of hose in less then a hour.
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