Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge - View Single Post

Salty · 05-12-2021, 10:36 AM

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.

05-12-2021, 10:36 AM	#5
Salty Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2020 Location: Huntington Beach, CA Posts: 424	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.