I am extremely impressed with the Hobie bait tank and its components. During my first few years of kayak fishing, I built my own tanks with various designs and modifications for keeping bait alive while fishing for yellowtail, white seabass and halibut in Southern California. Considering the time and money spent on assembling my own tanks and running around to marine stores to locate parts, I finally decided to buy a tank that is very fairly priced, well designed, and has a one year warranty on its components: The Hobie bait tank.
I was guiding at the time so I bought 3 tanks in the summer of 2007. I was spending 2 or 3 days on the water each week and launching through surf. This meant the tanks where getting soaked in saltwater every trip. After spending 6 to 8 hours on the water I would return home to cleanup my gear starting with unplugging the batteries and then rinsing each Hobie bait tank thoroughly with fresh water. I would clean out the pump by sticking the end of the hose on the pump's intake and running water through it. This meant the pump was getting flushed out with fresh water after every trip. I have never had a problem with any of my pumps on each of the 3 bait tanks since I bought them.
I have replaced the switch on each of the tanks once in 3 years. They all went out on me around the same time and I was surprised they lasted as long as they did. For maintenance, I simply rinsed them with fresh water. The switches Hobie uses on their bait tanks are very corrosion resistant and of great quality. When I was making my own tanks in the past, I would usually go through 3 or 4 switches a season per tank.
Proper maintenance is essential for prolonging the life of any equipment used in the corrosive saltwater environment, but when things do go wrong, all of the parts for the Hobie bait tank are sold separately and listed in the Parts and Accessories catalogue (
http://www.hobiecat.com/support/pdfs/kayak_catalog/eKayakCatalog2009_Fall.pdf) on page 16. They are easy to replace and if need be, most of the Hobie dealerships are more than happy to help out.