Hobie Live well? - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

dsafety · 09-21-2009, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billy V

The Bad.
Its noisy, you hear the pump, and also hear the water draining out.
My intake tube has clogged every time I have used the tank, in spite of having used a coarse screen inside of the pick-up tube.
(this was due to small slime particles clogging up against the screen, not grass.)
You sometimes have to unhook the tank restraints, lift the tank (filled with water and bait), and remove the Pick-Up Tube to back flush to clear the debris. .

Thanks Billy,

I have heard this complaint from almost everyone who has the Hobie tank. It seems to me that there should be an easy way to fix this problem. Has anyone tried to figure out a way to reverse the direction that the water flows briefly to blow out any debris from the intake side? Sometimes if you reverse the polarity of a motor, it will run backwards. If that is not possible, maybe some sort of a valve system could be used to accomplish this. Adding a "fill and drain" option would probably do the trick.

I have not played with one of these units yet and do not know how the plumbing is set up. Since you have one, take a look and let everyone know what you think about this as a possible solution.

Bob

j mo · 09-21-2009, 12:16 PM

You may want to consider the benefit of having a rounded bait tank over a squared off tank as well. My tank (home made) is similar to the thresher, Ive found that the corners in the squared off tank dont keep sardines very well as they beat themselves to death wedging their noses into the corners ....

That being said ive never heard anyone swear at a bait tank more than josh

.

Billy V · 09-21-2009, 01:43 PM

You can add one more thing to the Hobie list.

The ON-Off switch is not sealed, and salt water can easily enter the switch.

I have globbed grease on the switch shaft to try to prevent the salt water from entering. We will see how it holds up.

A new switch is $10.
-----------------------------

It does hold much more bait than the Thresher, and it will live happier if the water flow is not diminished too much from the clogging.

The clogging starts as soon as the particles build up on the protective screen.
-I am tempted to run the tank without the screen to test the volume of water flow, verses with the screen.

--and to see if the pump still clogs as easily.
---------------------------------------
I'm sure the water Volume is diminished with the screen. The problem I suspect is that if you run the tank without a protective screen, and it clogs, will not be able to see, or clear the actual pump impeller while on the water.
-Even a strong back pressure from blowing water (or some other device) into the pump discharge may not dislodge a piece of debris.
(But I do have an Idea)
If you carry a short length of Clear Plastic tubing with you. You can slip it over the pump discharge and Blow pressure back through the pump. Air pressure, not water, but it still might work to clear a clog without having to remove the intake tube (pain in the as$).
--I will try this the next time I use The Hobie tank. Feel free to test this proposed remedy for yourselves and please report your successes, or failures.

If I had run the tank without the screen yesterday and had a clog it would have been disastrous as I was holding 25+ Greenbacks in a full tank that would have surely suffered from the loss of water flow.

09-21-2009, 12:16 PM	#2
j mo Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Encinitas Posts: 600	You may want to consider the benefit of having a rounded bait tank over a squared off tank as well. My tank (home made) is similar to the thresher, Ive found that the corners in the squared off tank dont keep sardines very well as they beat themselves to death wedging their noses into the corners .... That being said ive never heard anyone swear at a bait tank more than josh.

09-21-2009, 01:43 PM	#3
Billy V Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bay Ho Posts: 1,382	You can add one more thing to the Hobie list. The ON-Off switch is not sealed, and salt water can easily enter the switch. I have globbed grease on the switch shaft to try to prevent the salt water from entering. We will see how it holds up. A new switch is $10. ----------------------------- It does hold much more bait than the Thresher, and it will live happier if the water flow is not diminished too much from the clogging. The clogging starts as soon as the particles build up on the protective screen. -I am tempted to run the tank without the screen to test the volume of water flow, verses with the screen. --and to see if the pump still clogs as easily. --------------------------------------- I'm sure the water Volume is diminished with the screen. The problem I suspect is that if you run the tank without a protective screen, and it clogs, will not be able to see, or clear the actual pump impeller while on the water. -Even a strong back pressure from blowing water (or some other device) into the pump discharge may not dislodge a piece of debris. (But I do have an Idea) If you carry a short length of Clear Plastic tubing with you. You can slip it over the pump discharge and Blow pressure back through the pump. Air pressure, not water, but it still might work to clear a clog without having to remove the intake tube (pain in the as$). --I will try this the next time I use The Hobie tank. Feel free to test this proposed remedy for yourselves and please report your successes, or failures. If I had run the tank without the screen yesterday and had a clog it would have been disastrous as I was holding 25+ Greenbacks in a full tank that would have surely suffered from the loss of water flow.