bilge pump "mini-dredge"

strickman

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bilge pump "mini-dredge"

Ok-without causing a p****** contest,what about a large bilge pump going into a small venturi with a 1"-1 1/4" suction hose run it off of a battery,for sniping and cleaning cracks and bed rock (not for over burden)possibly dumping it into a 5 -gal bucket or a sluice box?for smaller creeks ( to small to dredge) it would be very portable ,quiet,could even recirculate the water when scarce,and would be more productive than a hand sucker.anybody ever tried this route?
 

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blindpig

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Re: bilge pump "mini-dredge"

Well , this will be my first post here on the “Gold forum “ ... I think , usually hang’n down around the Native-American artifacts forum .
Anyway I’ve made ,and use this hand-bilge pump , it works good and it can REALLY clean them cracks out !!

JPEGcracksucker.jpg



Starting at the bottom left of pic. The material starts its journey through a suction-nozzle , travailing though a 1 in. Suction -hose [ all hose used is of same type ] . The material then “drops” into the white canister . The water travails on , though the screened hose to the pump and out the discharge hose ..... you can put a nozzle on the discharge hose to flush out the cracks .


JPEGcracksuckertwo.jpg



This pic , should explain the “in” to suction nozzle and the “out” screened discharge side ??
I have it labeled on the out side , almost :tongue3: - Proof , almost !!
Well, I’ve used it from 4 ft. sub-surface to 40 ft from the creek , bring the creek to the crack by bucket !

Sincerely ;Blindpig
 

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strickman

strickman

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Re: bilge pump "mini-dredge"

thanks takoda ,and blind pig for the input please try to load pics i couldn't see them,i do have hand suction devices several ranging from modified oil suction guns to a new one that is hand operated and puts the sample in a peanutt butter jar ,they work ok but would be nice to get a 5 gal bucketfull at a time with out wearing my arm out.i know someone out there has this problem solved .seems to me years ago i saw a mini dredge for sale in the back of a gpa mag that was built using 2 bilge pumps and pvc ,i was wanting similar but instead of a setup like a (bazooka) style ,a simple venturi dumping in a bucket or sluice.maybe i'm chasing rainbows-but it would be a little more productive than hand pumping 1-2 cups at a time.just a thought-
 

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strickman

strickman

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Re: bilge pump "mini-dredge"

towcritter ,i take it you got it to work.please put up pics -and lots of details-i knew this would be possible.i started to put in my thread -i bet you can't-that usually gets them going l.o.l.glad you did it. please send plans. thanks
 

russau

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Re: bilge pump "mini-dredge"

to gain suction for a dredge nozzel, the gph of a pump isnt the main factor,what you need is pressure. on this small of a nozzel, pressure can be aquired by reducing the water into the nozzel by a orfice at the nozzel. there are some really big 12voltDC pumps out there that would work,but they pull a lot of juice to run them. you would need several 12 V batterys and then how big of a solar pannel would it take to recharge/top off these batts while running??and then hiow portable would this be while snipping? a off/on switch would be manditory to save juice! good luck, i hope you get it to work!
 

Duckwalk

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Attempting to resurrect this ancient post. Ive recently been interested in doing this. Did anyone get plans or have pictures of this? i have a 600 GPH 3/4" 12v pump with plenty of batteries if i needed them. Also, what about running this off of a car jumper box?
 

KevinInColorado

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I'm running my little electric highbanker off of a car jumper box. Works fine s far although I wonder it it'll last. Ah, well, that's what warranties are for ;-)
 

Duckwalk

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Sure, something similar but not so hardcore. Dealing with flour gold mostly and looking to hit the bottom of a 6' deep plunge pool on a ankle deep stream. i want something i can run continuously instead of just a manual hand dredge. Hell even if it just ran it to a bucket. im worried more about what kind of lift a small pump would have. Could it even pump the material far enough to get it above the waterline?
 

SunshineMiner

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Ducky... If you're just cleaning out small cracks and such... Why have it run to the surface? Just let it dump into a three/five gallon bucket and keep the bucket underwater till its time to bring it up. As long as the pump is water proof and you've got a long enough waterproof cord.. you should be ok? That to me would require splicing an extension cord then sealing the hell out of the connections and everything else and several tests before committing to a stream. Test, test, test, then have fun.
 

NeoTokyo

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Whelp the submersible dredges like that electric converted one are not good for flour gold, it is a neat idea and worth playing with but not for flour gold.

If you are trying to move a lot of material that has this flour gold in it to process on shore then a larger submersible containment system would work better for you.
In the past I have simply brought smaller 3 gallon buckets down with me and scoop material right into the bucket. Being 3 gallon buckets they are easier to move.
 

Duckwalk

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I like the underwater bucket idea, feel like an idiot for not thinking of it myself
 

NeoTokyo

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If your wal-mart has a Deli they should have 3 gallon buckets for sale.
Most Deli's will have 3 gallon buckets too and some give them away for free.

We have a TOPS Market here in Redding just before heading up to Whiskeytown Lake and give away all of their buckets and tubs, that is where I started picking mine up.
 

KevinInColorado

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Cool sounding tool OV, do you have experience with it?
 

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