Vibrating gold pan

[ncclaymaker]

In 2011, someone suggested creating a vibrating gold pan using a cell phone vibrator and battery. I decided to make one using a vibrating motor bought on the web. Waterproofed and contained on the bottom of the pan. I haven't yet connected a motor speed controller between the motor and the power source, a 12v battery. The photos were taken after the motor was attached and enclosed in a water tight 6" PVC cap. It does work/vibrate, but not at variable speeds without a motor speed controller attached.

Your thoughts on the device.

 

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[DizzyDigger]

What is the benefit of the vibrator? Are you planning on just filling the pan with material and let the vibration bring the gold to the bottom of the pan?

 

[ncclaymaker]

What is the benefit of the vibrator? Are you planning on just filling the pan with material and let the vibration bring the gold to the bottom of the pan?

Exactly. Why vibrate or move the pan by hand, when a simple motor vibrator can do the same with consistency. Fine gold recovery should be somewhat enhanced by the vibration of the material... better than by hand?

 

[cavedude]

In 2011, someone suggested creating a vibrating gold pan using a cell phone vibrator and battery. I decided to make one using a vibrating motor bought on the web. Waterproofed and contained on the bottom of the pan. I haven't yet connected a motor speed controller between the motor and the power source, a 12v battery. The photos were taken after the motor was attached and enclosed in a water tight 6" PVC cap. It does work/vibrate, but not at variable speeds without a motor speed controller attached.

Your thoughts on the device.

I believe this would work dry panning as a classifier, put at an angle in water stationary could work as a small sluice! I made something similar. There are vibrating dry washers that work well without a blower.

 

[N-Lionberger]

I don’t see any advantage

 

[Assembler]

IF the shaker / vibrator has a bump and slight roll action then the outcome would be better at moving the heavies up the slope / hill and the lights to go down hill.

The vibrator / shaker should help the heavies to go to the bottom in a short amount of time so that one could remove / skim off the top materials. There still will be losses to be expected.

 

[russau]

Using vibration to help speed up the settling of your fines will work BUT you will need to prevent any lose of fines by adjusting your water flow & vibration to help clear the waste rock/sand/ dirt from the pan. And check for ANY fine gold lose in your tailings. Years back I built what we called VP device (vibrating pulsator ) and I used it on my 4 inch dredge . It worked off water pressure to spin it . It had 2 sources of water pressure at 180 degrees apart and it had a blank spot between those 2 spots that added a "bump" to the sluice that was against the flow of the material / water for the sluice. This was the "bump" that gave the sluice the "tapping" to help move the fines back up the sluice to help save any fines. the second thing this "VP" would do was to take that pressurized water "pulse's and pipe it down to my fluid bed that was located in the middle of the sluice (for stability of the dredge)and this pressurized water would enter the fluid bed on either side of the device to keep the fines that are in the F.B. in suspension and allowing the waste rock/sand to be washed out of the F.B. The real important thing to figure out is getting the flow from the V.P. enough to get enough "bump" to get the fines in the sluice to move up hill against the flow of the water AND to be able to keep enough flow/pressure to pulse the F.B. s fine material to keep the material in suspension until cleanup time ! This device held a lot of Black sands, so that's why I placed it in the middle of the sluice. When I first built it , I placed the F.B. at the end of the sluice BUT the weight of the black sands would weigh the tail end of the sluice down and under water, so that idea was stopped ! I had detailed picture's of it on another site but I haven't been there in years and I don't know if it is still up-n-running any more . I sold all of my dredging equipment awhile back and it HURT to do so ,BUT I'm NOT able to do it anymore! I hope this gives someone some idea's on how to use vibration to your advantage and make thing's EZer for you!

 

[nuggetshooter323]

I would be one of those guys that would buy it just to see if it works😁. I think in conjunction with a pan with those mini-riffles on the inside it would work pretty well.

 

[ncclaymaker]

For those that use a classifier with a five gallon bucket or just a pan... attach a small vibrator to the outside of the classifier. I'm guessing that the vibration will probably clean the rocks far better than moving/rotating the classifier by hand. It should also help settle the gold particles into the pan or bucket below. Just a guess at gravity.

 

[ncclaymaker]

I would be one of those guys that would buy it just to see if it works😁. I think in conjunction with a pan with those mini-riffles on the inside it would work pretty well.

No plans to commercialize this idea for sale... sorry. Make it in an hour or so.

 

[N-Lionberger]

When I can just shake it with my hands I don’t see the point of hauling a battery.

 

[sir_stillwater]

Exactly. Why vibrate or move the pan by hand, when a simple motor vibrator can do the same with consistency. Fine gold recovery should be somewhat enhanced by the vibration of the material... better than by hand?

I feel like if you combined this with the south american style gold pans that resemble a wok it'd be a fairly effective way to concentrate gold to the bottom of the pan quickly without having actually physically handle the pan. In order to work material quickly though I think you'd also need some kind of agitator/stirring device that helps clear material off the top similar to a kitchen mixer attachment... though you may be able to achieve similar results by having a variable pulsing of the transducer alternating between its normal steady vibration and large low frequency peaking (tuned to the resonant frequency of the pan when its full of material)

Neat idea.

 

[ncclaymaker]

When I can just shake it with my hands I don’t see the point of hauling a battery.

The battery is a hefty one and a half pounds or so. But the throughput is faster and more consistent.

 

[Ragnor]

In 2011, someone suggested creating a vibrating gold pan using a cell phone vibrator and battery. I decided to make one using a vibrating motor bought on the web. Waterproofed and contained on the bottom of the pan. I haven't yet connected a motor speed controller between the motor and the power source, a 12v battery. The photos were taken after the motor was attached and enclosed in a water tight 6" PVC cap. It does work/vibrate, but not at variable speeds without a motor speed controller attached.

Your thoughts on the device.

It's crossed my mind before. For panning and even on a sluice to help settle the gold down to the bottom. I don't know that a phone vibrator is gonna cut it. More power, more better. Find one of them old hi torque hitachi hooha rattlers. That'll shake yer pan.

 

[sir_stillwater]

It's crossed my mind before. For panning and even on a sluice to help settle the gold down to the bottom. I don't know that a phone vibrator is gonna cut it. More power, more better. Find one of them old hi torque hitachi hooha rattlers. That'll shake yer pan.

If you could variably adjust the frequency of the transducer to match the resonant/fundamental frequency of the water + material in the pan it wouldn't take much power to get the pan fluidized.

 

[Ragnor]

If you could variably adjust the frequency of the transducer to match the resonant/fundamental frequency of the water + material in the pan it wouldn't take much power to get the pan fluidized.

Right, but it takes a little time to set up resonance. I'm not that patient. More power , more faster. I pan fast and I know I lose some flakes. So my thoughts was good vibration would minimize those losses.

 

[nuggetshooter323]

Right, but it takes a little time to set up resonance. I'm not that patient. More power , more faster. I pan fast and I know I lose some flakes. So my thoughts was good vibration would minimize those losses.

The faster you can get the heavies to the bottom, the bigger likelihood that you keep more gold in your pan. 👍