Noisy Live Well?
 

Currently running a wilderness systems live well. I really like the size of it, ease of use and the three rod holders on the back. Simple usb charger and has a lightning port to charge a phone. My only concern is the noise level. It’s my first live well so I don’t have much to compare to and I’m a little worried about spooking the ghost’s (pun intended) that are lurking around LJ.

Anyone else have experience with this live well?

Any of you hobie live well users think yours was a bit noisy at the the beginning and then perhaps got used to it?

I could be overthinking it.

Looking for some peace of mind as I see some used Hobie Live Well’s for sale...

Are you running twin 150kW John Deere gen sets? If not you'll be fine.

If you fished La Jolla or other similar body of water, the Tank pump pick-up tube most likely let in some eel grass. With the tank empty disassemble the (most likely) T-500 pump by depressing the large red tab near the top of the pump (were the wires go into the pump) and rotate the top counter clockwise. That will allow the insert to be removed from the housing and will expose the impeller and shaft. If there is eel grass it will be wrapped on the shaft and it dries out and once hydrated again it starts to make a loud noise. I installed a small piece of stainless steel screen inside the tube at the pickup end and that has almost completely eliminated that from happening again. The screen can't have too fine a mesh or it will plug with kelp particles. Check out sink drain screens at the store and select one with large openings in the mesh. Tight Lines.

Thanks I’ll give that a look! I primarily fish LJ so it could be eel grass.

I know exactly what you're talking about. My friend's first livewell was a Wilderness System livewell. He purchased it for many of the same reasons you mentioned. He also had the same questions you have about noise levels and whether or not that was normal. At the time, I did not have a livewell and we didn't know if that was just how all kayak livewells sounded(I'm used to much larger, noisier boat livewell pumps anyway, so I would not have been surprised if that were the case). When I finally upgraded and got myself a Hobie Livewell v2, we were both amazed at how quiet it was in comparison. It really was a significant difference. He ended up switching to a Hobie when he got his new kayak and for a while, he was constantly double checking it just to make sure it was turned on since he was so used to the noise the Wilderness Systems livewell made.
Also worth noting is the battery life. We rarely fish offshore any shorter than 6-8 hours. The Wilderness Systems battery never lasted longer than 6 hours, even when switched to the "energy saving" mode. Whereas with the Hobie, I have been offshore upwards of 10 hours at a time or more and have yet to see my battery die on me.
That said, the Hobie livewell does make a little noise as would be expected. Mostly just a steady hum. On occasion, the noise levels will increase if there is debris caught in the impeller/blocking the intake or if I'm pedaling through bubbly/foamy water and the impeller experiences some cavitation. If it's being noisy on the water, I'll switch it off for a few seconds to let the water back-flow out and hopefully dislodge whatever is stuck. 60% of the time, it works every time!
My friend contacted customer service on several occasions about his WS livewell regarding the noise level thinking maybe it was a bad pump or something. He changed the pump out and added silicone beads around anything that might cause rattling, but it still had little to no impact on the noise levels. I think they just use louder pumps unfortunately. This was all over 1.5 years ago, so it's possible they may be using different pumps now. This is just the experience we had with them and I thought it was worth sharing. Hope it helps.

Last Tuesday When I fished DP my hobie pump stopped working I had hard time put water into bait tank by my coffee cup . When I back home and open pump , this is what I found , usually Newport beach have lot of eel grass wrap inside pump but recently DP have lot of weed floating around . I think hobie intake end is kinda too wide .I need to use stainless steel screen to block weed

I've found these style of dishwasher drain filters are very helpful. slip it over the intake tube and zip-tied at the top... it's served me well for 7+years.



https://www.drain-net.com/shop-by-fa...nt-trap-filter

Noise is a worthy fishing consideration, but as long as the sound is constant, regular and not accessively loud, it's probably a non-issue.

The Wilderness Livewell looks pretty cool. I would have all the outlets laced with dielectric grease for protection, and corrosion would be a primary concern.

One of the things I like about the Hobie live wells (I have the original and the XL) is how quiet they are. In my area, we don't fish many small baits, so some anglers have upgraded their Livewell to a 12v battery which makes it a lot noisier, but able to accommodate more baits.

Thanks ! will order soon