Flow Pan Modification

[Capt Nemo]

Just got my Flow Pan this morning! It's actually a little smaller than I envisioned, and looks bigger in the video. One thing that I noticed is that the lower pan has thin gaps in the corners that could allow fine gold to escape. A TIG weld or aluminum solder to fill the corners is needed. Here's pics of the gap.




Here's the area that needs to be filled in red.



I'm not worried about the larger hole where the sides of the pan come together, as I don't think it will be much of a problem. The gold should be in the lower part of the pan and buried either in the mat or in the open ends. I'm worried that the gap in the corners of the lower pan is large enough to allow fine gold to slip through. Lake Superior beach gold and Rock Elm Disturbance gold is flat/small enough to make it through. On bigger gold, like Alaska, this shouldn't be a problem, so use the pan as is.

Such is life for any new product. There's going to be a bug somewhere. This should be an easy fix.

When using this pan in small waves on a lake. Stratify while keeping the upstream side of the pan pointed into the waves. The waves will wash the pan out for you.

I CAN'T WAIT TO GET THIS PAN RUNNING!!!!

 

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[et1955]

Simple fix, just take a pair of plyers and bend the corner in or hammer it closed. Just got the email mine is on it's way.

 

[Capt Nemo]

I have the aluminum solder and MAPP torch.

 

[johnedoe]

JB Weld works wonders too... prep surface apply JB let set and file and sand to contour.... Stuff is just about indestructible.

 

[Capt Nemo]

Here's the corners with the aluminum solder. Won't leak now!

 

[ncclaymaker]

I'd go to a professional restaurant supply warehouse and buy an over-sized bread baking tin, cut the openings at each of the ends, insert some matting or Hungarian riffles... voila! I wouldn't call the device a pan, more of a material washing tray, human driven classifier. Hope it works out for you.

Too bad the manufacturer didn't care about the quality of their product. No customer should ever be required to repair a new device upon receipt.

 

[goldhog]

If you read the updated owner's manual... which I stress a lot... we decided to mod that here from now on.
We're updating it weekly and adding tips etc but you may have to refresh the page in your browser.
FLOWPAN Owners Manual | Flow Pan
We are now using a metal gray silicone to seal before we ship out, but those that have them can use any type.
We started with clear... but it still shows light through so it's hard to tell if it's sealed or not.
I also will be making an updated video for that as well this month.
Doc

 

[Capt Nemo]

Too bad the manufacturer didn't care about the quality of their product. No customer should ever be required to repair a new device upon receipt.

It's not that Gold Hog doesn't care about quality, it's just something that they didn't realize could be a problem. For me, I'm usually hunting gold #50 on down, so I tend to see things differently than folks hunting larger material. I have seen the technology at work before the Flow Pan existed, so I know how fast the gold drops with this system. That's why I'm not worried about the larger hole where the sides of the pan come together, because the gold will be below the rim of the bottom tray by the time it got anywhere near that corner. However, the gold I hunt on Lake Superior might be #50 in diameter, but only .001- .002" in thickness, which could easily slide through the crack. And by the time I get through a bucket and ready for cleanout, there will be some gold in those corners. That's what made me so concerned about those corners. Hunting gold in other locations, the gold may be of a size or shape that the open corners are not an issue. My modification only made an excellent product better suited for the materials I run.

 

[arizau]

Just got my Flow Pan this morning! It's actually a little smaller than I envisioned, and looks bigger in the video. One thing that I noticed is that the lower pan has thin gaps in the corners that could allow fine gold to escape. A TIG weld or aluminum solder to fill the corners is needed. Here's pics of the gap.

View attachment 1531783
View attachment 1531784

Here's the area that needs to be filled in red.

View attachment 1531846

I'm not worried about the larger hole where the sides of the pan come together, as I don't think it will be much of a problem. The gold should be in the lower part of the pan and buried either in the mat or in the open ends. I'm worried that the gap in the corners of the lower pan is large enough to allow fine gold to slip through. Lake Superior beach gold and Rock Elm Disturbance gold is flat/small enough to make it through. On bigger gold, like Alaska, this shouldn't be a problem, so use the pan as is.

Such is life for any new product. There's going to be a bug somewhere. This should be an easy fix.

When using this pan in small waves on a lake. Stratify while keeping the upstream side of the pan pointed into the waves. The waves will wash the pan out for you.

I CAN'T WAIT TO GET THIS PAN RUNNING!!!!

Do you have conclusions as to how well the flow pan works to concentrate beach sands? I know Doc does not recommend it for that usage.

 

[ghostminer]

Looks well made to me. I don't think they were worried about a tiny amount of micro gold escaping as that is not what the pan is intended for. Anything that little area could lose would probably float out of a pan anyway. That's what blue bowls are for. I'm getting ready to purchase one of their large highbankers > I love the technology put into their products.

 

[Capt Nemo]

I haven't been able to get up there with the Flow Pan yet. The beach is buried with a ton of lake effect snowfall, and/or frozen solid right now, and the road in is not plowed.

From what I saw with sand with my Garrett pan in cross flow effect, the #1 thing to do is get and keep the material in the pan as loose and thin as possible so the gold can drop. Do not let the sand slump and flatten across the bottom of the pan. Hold the Garrett pan so the riffles are away from the incoming waves, and keep the pan level for the most part. As long as the material is loose, the waves will wash it easily out of the pan and the gold will catch in the riffles. Things move freakishly fast, but you will have gold sitting in the pan! That day the waves were 4-5 seconds apart, and in 4 waves my pan was done.

The Flow Pan should act similar if not identical, only point the upstream side into the waves. The Flow Pan has much better capture surface than the Garrett. Again, keep the material loose so the gold can drop and get caught. If the material is not loose, the gold won't drop and will just sit on the surface where it will get washed away. Also, don't overload the pan!

 

[silverking]

My Flowpan (ordered a couple of weeks ago, received today) has an apparently brand new feature on it that doesn't show up in any of the Gold Hog videos or the owners manual.

There has been a substantial horizontal lip added on the inside bottom of the sides of the pan (with the Gold Hog decal on them), and this lip holds the Talon mat in place solidly by extending out over it on both sides. The Talon mat now sits secure under these two lips.

The downside (unless I'm missing something), appears to be that you now have to undo two of the wing nuts, and remove one side of the pan entirely in order to get the Talon mat out to do a clean-up.
Out on the river, this could be a bit risky in terms of losing the bolt or wing nut, but it could also become a bit repetitive dismantling the pan once every 5 or 10 minutes in order to clean up.

But perhaps I'm missing something here, as reference to these side lips isn't yet mentioned in any of the paperwork, owners manual, or Hog videos.

Regardless, this is a high quality piece of kit, and the fact that it breaks down into a backpack is the key to actually moving around a creek and prospecting ... bashing around in the bush without having to carry something in your hands is critical in rough country.
I'll keep the Flow Pan collapsed inside my backpack, and carry the Garrett Super Sluice on a carabiner on the outside of the backpack for washing the mat, and panning the cons down.

Can't wait to get the Flowpan out onto my creek.
I just need to determine if indeed the side has to come off each time you decide to do a clean-up.

 

[goldhog]

My Flowpan (ordered a couple of weeks ago, received today) has an apparently brand new feature on it that doesn't show up in any of the Gold Hog videos or the owners manual.

There has been a substantial horizontal lip added on the inside bottom of the sides of the pan (with the Gold Hog decal on them), and this lip holds the Talon mat in place solidly by extending out over it on both sides. The Talon mat now sits secure under these two lips.

I think you might be a bit confused...
You assemble the pan, and then push the mat in the bottom.
Then pull the mat out when to clean.
That's it.
Maybe shoot me an email at the website contact form.
Thanks
Doc

 

[silverking]

Thanks Doc, I will send you an email ... I'll attach some pix.

The side pieces of my FlowPan do have an "extra" lip on them though, at least its an "extra" lip in that this lip doesn't show up on the side pieces shown in any of your Gold Hog videos or pix.
This is likely where my confusion begins

 

[arizau]

Thanks Doc, I will send you an email ... I'll attach some pix.

The side pieces of my FlowPan do have an "extra" lip on them though, at least its an "extra" lip in that this lip doesn't show up on the side pieces shown in any of your Gold Hog videos or pix.
This is likely where my confusion begins

Maybe you are assembling with the sides inside out(?). Note that the Gold Hog decals on the sides should be on the interior of the assembled pan.

 

[silverking]

Doc just gave me the details on what I was doing wrong via email, and it's exactly as you surmised arizau ... the decals were on the outside rather than the inside - which means the sides were "inside out".

I can't believe how easily turned around I got during initial assembly, surmising that the decals went on the outside (in order not to get scratched off), and the lips were designed to hold the Talon mat firmly in place.
As well, even though it was "inside out" ... it all fit together perfectly!

Anyway, thanks Doc and arizau ... off to use my FlowPan sampling new ground at the claim.