Stealth Live-well hatch

Thanks Eddie , was just curious about  when not using the live well , say for RF , don’t need live bait for them , since they’re not picky .Was thinking in lines with using it as secondary storage , perhaps with circular/round storage device..

Waiting on the kayak … so the mind is wandering..that can be both good or bad ..LOL

Congrats CJ on the 525

I was also considering designing and 3d printing a tackle box that would drop into the live well like the round ones available for the older hobies with round hatches.  If there is enough interest perhaps its something I will spend some time on developing.

The plugs seem to keep my live well dry when I am on the water, so using it for storage is definitely a viable option.

I’m in , hopefully others will be too . Thanks

I had some time to work on this over this past week.  After a few designs trying to use the factory stealth lid, I decided the bucket needs to have a lid specifically designed for it and this is what I came up with. 

Good stuff.  Are you going to leash that lid to itself?  What was your dislike of the factory lid?  Certainly love the bucket…

Good stuff.  Are you going to leash that lid to itself?  What was your dislike of the factory lid?  Certainly love the bucket…

A leash is a good idea, I may add one, however, the printed lid is 80% hollow (20% of it is infilled in a 3 dimensional cubic pattern for rigidity), so it will also float if its dropped. 

The factory lid is great when used with the factory hatch, but in order to utilize the factory lid with the bucket, the bucket wall at the top needed to be extremely thin if it was to be tight.  The way the hatch itself is designed there is only one revolution of thread on the female, so this would have to screw into it with multiple threads, and then the factory lid would have to have enough material to thread into the bucket in the same plane in which the bucket was externally threaded.  No rigidity at all with a wall thin enough to allow that.  The other option would be to have a female thread on the bucket that extends up above the deck enough for the existing lid to fit into it, (about an inch).  At the end of the day I just decided a lid that would fit inside the bucket flush would be a better option even if it meant I had to design one, and since I am not a big fan of plastic threads, especially in environments where sand and other abrasives can easily compromise the integrity of such, I decided to go with the twist lock tabs rather than a thread.

I get it.  I forgot that you are a 3d printing pelagic pro.  Ultimately for the storage vs. the structure of the original lid was the purpose?  Again, love the bucket.  I’ve been using the lid for simple placement of weights or lures if I’m switching things around.  It is a bit of a table but hardly.  I suspect clear is not an option….

I like it!

Very cool. These Stealth accessories you are making are awesome

I get it.  I forgot that you are a 3d printing pelagic pro.  Ultimately for the storage vs. the structure of the original lid was the purpose?  Again, love the bucket.  I’ve been using the lid for simple placement of weights or lures if I’m switching things around.  It is a bit of a table but hardly.  I suspect clear is not an option….

In regards to the lid vs the structure, there is no lip inside the hatch, so what ever accessory interfaces with it must utilize the treads.  The lid that is factory, is only about 1mm smaller than the diameter of the opening.  So if my bucket was the exact diameter of the opening, it would only leave me .5mm thickness to screw the factory lid into.  If there was a lip in the hatch, then, a bucket could be dropped in and rest on the lip, while the lid screwed in on top. 

I can print in clear filament, however it wouldn’t be quite as clear as say, a glass or an injection molded part.  It will be translucent to the effect that the user can see through it although it will be blurry.  Here is an article relating to 3D printing clear filament https://www.3dprintingtoday.com/clear-transparent-pla-filament-all-you-need-to-know/

Very cool. These Stealth accessories you are making are awesome

Thanks!  Thanks Spiffy and ThreemoneyJ.  The hatch on my kayak is not flat, so I had a hard time put it in (hence the replacement hatch I used to demonstrate).  But if the hatch is mounted so that it is flat, as it is intended, it will drop right in and tighten up with a couple of turns.

Attached are a few more photos.  Was able to get it into my kayak but due to the contour in my installed hatch I had to use some pursuasian.

I should note that my hatch on the stealth 500, (I think it’s specifically a problem to my exact kayak), I think was installed too far back or forward, so Brett sent me the replacement hatch because I couldn’t get the lid to properly seat, but I didn’t install it yet because I don’t think it’s a deformed hatch issue, I think it’s where it was actually installed.(hence why I have the extra one in the video that was not in the kayak).  In the other stealths I have been able to check out the hatch is mounted flat and flush to the hull, so this should drop right into those.

Colors will be customizable by request

I also added attachment points for a leash to both the lid and the bucket.

My livewell hatch is funky on my fisha 500 as well. It’s mounted on a contour which makes threading the lid on a bit of a pain.

My livewell hatch is funky on my fisha 500 as well. It’s mounted on a contour which makes threading the lid on a bit of a pain.

that’s the same issue I have.  I complained about it to Tray, the SoCal stealth rep, and about a week later Brett sent me a new hatch assembly.  The issue however, as you mentioned is not the hatch assembly it’s the mounting position of the hatch.  So my options are to live with it, which I have been doing, or to design and machine or print a riser that will allow the hatch to sit flat.  An adapter of sorts.  It probably wouldn’t be super difficult to do, but it might be more hassle than it’s worth.

I actually took my hatch lid out put it in the oven and put the lid in it to straighten it when it was soft but it was then that I realized it was the hole being ona. Contoured surface that created the issue for me.

So it’s hard to tell from the picture, but is there enough room left in the livewell under the insert to hold water for bait? My livewell only fills halfway up or so.

Oh and if you ever are making one to sell I would buy one.

So it’s hard to tell from the picture, but is there enough room left in the livewell under the insert to hold water for bait? My livewell only fills halfway up or so.

Oh and if you ever are making one to sell I would buy one.

From the video footage it looks like it might be above. That would be pretty cool. I probably also would buy too

Yep, there is room under to use the well.  The bin is about 2” deep from surface to exterior bottom face.  Leaving plenty of room to use the live well as a live well or for what ever else you might put inside of it.

After playing with the prototype unit over the weekend I modified a few things.  I also acted on the recommendation by Eddie to add a leash.

Change log:
-Top twist lock changed from 2 180° tabs to 3 120° tabs
-Added fillet to exposed outside edge for better aesthetics and ergos when interfacing with the existing hatch rim.
-Added geometry to interface with fasteners for use with leash
-Designed and test printed flexible leash