My live well pump stopped working yesterday. It has always worked till now. It doesn’t sound like it is running and my buddy said he heard it making a noise before we found it inoperable. How would you go about troubleshooting? I checked the fuse and it is visually ok. I am not familiar with how to troubleshoot Circuit board switch or power on a pump. Thanks for any advise.
Bill

If it’s a cartridge type, I would pull it out and make sure there is not some trash in it preventing the impeller from turning. Plus you can spin the impeller to make sure it’s not froze up. At least you will know if it’s electrical or mechanical issue.

If not a cartridge type, they twist and/or snap off of their bases. Same thing though - is there trash/junk clogging the area around the impeller? Does it turn freely by hand? If it does turn freely and no trash, here is a little basic electrical troubleshooting.

1. with pump switch on, check for 12V on the leads (you will need a cheap voltmeter).
2. If no volts (or less than 12),add ground wire directly to battery ground. If you now have 12V, you have a ground problem.
3. If still no voltage, run a temporary ground wire from battery to pump ground lead, and begin working you way back through the electrical system checking for voltage. Common problems are a wire chewed by vermin, wire chaffed and needs replaced, dirty/corroded switch.

All marine wiring uses a standard set of colors, which you can easily find on the internet. The basic bass boat wiring is: battery - main battery switch - distribution harness - fuse panel - harness(es) doing to each system (gauges, lights, bow panel, etc.) - all back to ground. Remember that the trolling motor is on a completely different circuit. The outboard also is essentially on a separate circuit, although it shares ground and tilt/trim power with the hull electrical.

I have a 2006 21i with the brain box under the back lid. I had an aerator pump quit working after filling one livewell with 32 crappie(son and I). I guess one of them clogged the intake port. I took it apart and it checked out... so I just happened to look at my brain box and remember there are push button circuit breakers on it.... sure enough it had triggered the circuit breaker. It works now. They will trigger and stop working with a slight variable in the resistance. I guess it's a built in safety feature. its a pain in the arse to me.