New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

it will run it for a couple of hours but after 30mins or so there will be a noticeable drop in volume pumped and it will gradually drop off until flat. better off using a small petrol pump as a bilge will not have enough flow/pressure to wash and run the sluice properly. if you were dead set on using a bilge id remove the riffles and use only expanded mesh as the a52 is far too big for that amount of water.

Thanks for that guys. Yeah i suppose a petrol pump would be just as easy to carry round than a big awkward car battery. Do you think 3500 GPH would have enough pressure although a bilge that size would definately flatten the battery even quicker.

Go Gold, i would have to disagree that a battery will only run a bilge for a couple of hours. a friend used only a trailbike battery and that lasted pretty good. i have used deep cycle batteries like those used for trucks etc. true they ain't cheap but they last for ages. just depends how big a battery and how much money you have to spend. the big ones are bloody heavy to lift let alone carry anywhere (i've also got a 2nd one mounted in my 4WD - just have to be able to drive up to the worksite). the bigger they are the more amp hours of course. i think i paid about $320 for my last one via a nz company importing them from the US. think it was about 280 amp hrs.

i've used 3 bilge pumps. ones about 600gph, one about 1100 gph, and the big one is about 3000gph. they all have different size hose what is a bit of an issue as you can't just swap out one for another.

i found the smaller ones ok if you had classified material. to get any pressure you need the big 3000GPH bilge pump. when i say pressure i found pressure is really just a result of the larger volume of water. the trick is to limit hose length and head height as these two quickly cost you any chance of utilising the water to its potential.

how effective a highbanker is also comes down to the material you are running. any sort of clay or cemented material and you've got big problems as there just simply isn't the pressure there to break these two up.

A simple set up is making a t intersection with pvc high pressure piping. this T intersection stops the water barrelling right out the end of the hose and thru the middle of the sluice box. along the T bar drill holes for the water to pour out. experiment with various size hole and different placements. i hold it down in the flare of my sluicebox with a rock. too much pressure around the head riffles and i just slide the piping further back up the flare. then just adjust the fall in the sluice and you're off.

i've run this set up for ages and never gone flat yet. when off doing digging or on a break i do turn the pump off. beyond simply having a bulldog type clamp on the battery terminal you can make it easier to turn off/on by adding a switch within reach of the sluice.

obviously i would not really consider a bilge setup worthwhile if you can otherwise use a engine.

personally i have found a bilge useful as it is quieter and more discreet. you are not paying for fuel, and you really notice the peace and quiet with a bilge pump after using a engine powered dredge.

hopes this helps someone.

simon.

sorry, didn't note the car type battery. yeah, they are a complete waste of time.

I've also made the mistake of carrying heavy loads in that haven't made it back out. just recently retrieved some gear after that recent big flood. nearly lost my feet the snow melt was so cold. don't cross flooded streams without neoprene.

A cheap and easy method to move a heavy battery - a $24.95 hand truck from somewhere like the warehouse or mitre 10.

but as go gold has pointed out - best bet is get a little engine. i've got a 3.5HP engine on my dredge and it is actually really light. i think the fuel can weighs more. they run for ages on stuff all gas too. if you're worried about noise muffle it off under water or like mine has, add a generator muffler to it to muffle it down some more.

Ok Thanks. yes seems that a small petrol pump would be my best bet. what do you guys reckon of a 1 inch pump that pumps 135 litres per minute.

Zimbo Thanks for those photos allways good to see another project that is similar to your own. What do you use to run your highbanker pump wise.

youll want a 4hp 1.5inch pump as a minimum if you want to run any descent highbanker that will handle continuous shovelling, also the benefit of having a slightly larger pump is you can have a lot longer hose to your highbanker the pump wont be as irritating and also in some spots you may need the length to get a descent spot to set your pump up.

Thanks for the pics Zimbo ,with the high banker attachment for the A52 being so expensive it's interesting to see how you made your own,how much in materials did you have to spend ?good to know about battery vs motor pump as well had been considering battery power and looking at some online
http://www.blackcatminin...nt/jobe-power-sluice.cfm
http://aussiedetectors.w...re/products/show/3204816
When I contacted regarding the mini high banker re batt life was told that 16 hrs was about average but he didnt specify what kind of battery,also looking at some of the other comments sounds like 800 gph wouldn't be enough to process a lot of material unless it was classified right down ,?
Cheers Mahuta

Hi there Big Miner, Yep your best bet would be to go for a smallish petrol motor & pump. More efficient than & 12 volt system & lighter too. As has been said about lugging in a car battery etc. But having said that....if you can drive to where you want to go then that isnt a problem but that isnt often the case. 12 volt systems dont like water pressure either so it depends what type of material you are going to be working. If it is sticky clay material then you need good water pressure from a spray bar system to help nail the clays & brake them up before they fall through in to the catch tray & sluice box part of your set up.
With an adjustable hopper, where you can change the angle (steepness), you can flaten off the hopper so the water jets can really work on the muddy & clayey material braking them down & freeing up the gold before the material falls out of the hopper.
If the material is not clayey then a 12 volt system will work fine as you wont need the pressure but just a steady supply & fall of water to wash the material through. You can even pre classify the material befor you put it down your set up. Usualy with a 12 volt system you wont have a spray bar set up but just a water type maniflod at the head of the hopper that will spread the water flow out evenly to flow down the box. Gravity doing the washing work. There classifying system is a bit different too than a pressure bar set up. Notice in the below pic the classifying mesh at the bottom end of the hopper.





I made a little highbanker from my first ever sluice box that I made. I cut the sluice box in half & that gave me enough length for the highbanker sluice & the top hopper. I am in the building game so materials were just sourced from waste stuff & being a builder & being handy with my hands the construction of it was no problem. Having a little mig welder too I was able to make my own riffle system. But if you are buying the parts the PVC pipes & joints are a ridiculous price.



You will notice how in this spray bar set up there is a skid plate under the full length of the hopper classifing plate
to direct the classified material to the head of the bottom sluice box.







Out in the field







This is just running on engine start up idle only & gives heaps of pressure & not that noisy either & a tank of gas last for ages. The motor is a 2.5 hp 2 stroke & lighter than 4 stroke.

All fits inside the unit for easy cartage



I also made a plate that goes across the bottom of the hopper to take a 2" suction nozzle set up so that way you are pre callifying material before it goes through the sluice box





A good result from the above operation 16 grams of the good stuff



Good luck out there

JW :)

Edited by user Wednesday, 19 June 2013 7:53:39 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

great pics,great colour to,looks like a good system your running

Nice wee set up there JW. I am interested in your 2inch suction nozzle set up to run your high banker.
What size motor and pump are you running. Is the pump a Keene type pressure pump or a trash type pump.
And what size is your pressure hose to the suction head. I see you have a blaster nozzle in use. Is that to supply water
for dry land dredging, cant quite make out whether it is hand held or attached to your suction head.

I am in the process of working out what I need to order from Keene to convert my Goldbanker (The Gold Cube) to suction fed.
I am going to have to lift quite a bit higher than you though. And I will be dry land dredging. So its either have another pump
to supply pond water, or use a system similar to yours. Maybe even get a Hydroforce nozzle made up here in NZ. They are after all only a modified suction nozzle. Any info would be appreciated. My days of dredging are now over, had a 5 inch Keene Triple, a Four inch, a couple
of 6 inch suitcase dredges and an 8 inch Keene Underwater.

Now I just want to go back to small stuff from a hobby point of view.

Cheers Trev aka " The Hatter"