Battery Powered Shop Vac

[605dano]

Anybody have any suggestions for for the best battery powered shop vac for sucking crevices and cleaning up bedrock? Also any tips or tricks for getting into those crevices? Is a hepa filter a plus or minus? My home corded shop vac took a crap and I'm looking to replace it. Thought getting something I can use prospecting would be a plus.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Treasure of Victoria Peak - Grab it through Amazon!

[RTR]

Dont know about battery powered but for sucking gold out of bedrock cracks...this >> https://www.goldfeverprospecting.com/keenevacuum.html

 

[ratled]

What about a gas powered shop vac using a 5 gallon bucket and a leaf blower? Works great and the leaf blower can do double duty to clear the are first then suck up the good stuff. Cheap to make with parts from the box store. Pro Tip: Use a screw on lid rather than a snap on lid

 

[alloy_II]

In BC its illegal to pick the moss.

I used a Milwaukee portable wet and dry vac to vacuum the fine sand captured in river rocks covered with moss.

 

[605dano]

In our forest they frown on gas motors but don't seem to mind battery power. The small 2 gal wet dry vacs have been getting better. You know how it is when your scratching down in a crevice and its hard to pull up material. I thought it would be nice to have some suction to lift it out and was wondering if anybody has any experience with this.

 

[alloy_II]

In our forest they frown on gas motors but don't seem to mind battery power. The small 2 gal wet dry vacs have been getting better. You know how it is when your scratching down in a crevice and its hard to pull up material. I thought it would be nice to have some suction to lift it out and was wondering if anybody has any experience with this.

If your sucking water they fill up fast, then the float ball shuts the vacuum hose off to prevent overfilling.

The vacuum has another use, when your working packed gravel is like cement fill the hole with water then let the vacuum exhaust blow into the cemented material to loosen it up.

Then vac out the loose material and pan out the gold..

 

[alloy_II]

Spark arresters rob the engine of power but they may legally get you into the woods.

SPARK ARRESTERS AND THE PREVENTION OF WILDLAND FIRES

 

[Tnmountains]

You could also use a battery operated dc water pump if near water. I have one that hooks up to my 4-wheeler to wash out certain areas.

 

[crashbandicoot]

Guys,you just gave me some very good ideas here. I,m going to prospect some in the rock riprap below the last dam on the Arkansas River for maybe some real fine gold that,s washed down this way.What I,ll be doing is working the crevices in the rock for sand that settles in high water in the eddies that form there.Pan it later to see if there,s any gold there.Sucking it out with a vacuum sounds way better than taking it out a handful at a time.Yep,I know it,s probably not much there and it,s gonna be flour gold if any,but I,m doing it for my own enjoyment and edification,not to get rich. Thanks all for sharing your ideas.If anything shows in my pan I,ll post it.

 

[Tom Emery]

Guys,you just gave me some very good ideas here. I,m going to prospect some in the rock riprap below the last dam on the Arkansas River for maybe some real fine gold that,s washed down this way.What I,ll be doing is working the crevices in the rock for sand that settles in high water in the eddies that form there.Pan it later to see if there,s any gold there.Sucking it out with a vacuum sounds way better than taking it out a handful at a time.Yep,I know it,s probably not much there and it,s gonna be flour gold if any,but I,m doing it for my own enjoyment and edification,not to get rich. Thanks all for sharing your ideas.If anything shows in my pan I,ll post it.

Are you ready? Get yourself a deep cycle battery. 400 amp hours, or put together a li-on pack. Get an inverter. Get some solar panels and charge controller and a bunch of 10 gauge wire. Put the panel(s) in the sun. Run the wire from the panel to the charge controller, from charge controller to the battery. From the battery to the inverter. You want to keep these wire runs fairly short or you will have to use thicker gauge.
The good thing is once you get to the inverter you can plug in an extension cord. Run your shop vac off the inverter. As long as you don't turn it on and forget it, you should be able to sporadically suck it up all day.
If you shop right, (used panel, reconditioned battery), you should be able to put it together for less than $300.00. Charge controllers and inverters are pretty cheap. Factor the cost of gas and it will pay for itself in a season or two. Sounds complicated but it really isn't. Or bypass the 110 volt and go to any big truck stop and pick up a 12 volt vac.

 

[605dano]

I was thinking of something small and light where you could just scratch and zip up the material. Maybe build a nozzle that would reach into the crack, with a carburetor that you could feather to send suction to small tip. https://www.techgearlab.com/topics/floor-cleaning/best-cordless-wet-dry-vacuum A link to some I was looking at. I need something for my shop, so thought I could kill two birds with one stone.

 

[RTR]

I was thinking of something small and light where you could just scratch and zip up the material. Maybe build a nozzle that would reach into the crack, with a carburetor that you could feather to send suction to small tip. https://www.techgearlab.com/topics/floor-cleaning/best-cordless-wet-dry-vacuum A link to some I was looking at. I need something for my shop, so thought I could kill two birds with one stone.

If your going that route get the one with the biggest/strongest battery made.

 

[russau]

But small enough for the charger to be able to charge it fully !

 

[Vance in AK]

Just grab a little Ryobi from Home Depot & give it a try!

 

[crashbandicoot]

Are you ready? Get yourself a deep cycle battery. 400 amp hours, or put together a li-on pack. Get an inverter. Get some solar panels and charge controller and a bunch of 10 gauge wire. Put the panel(s) in the sun. Run the wire from the panel to the charge controller, from charge controller to the battery. From the battery to the inverter. You want to keep these wire runs fairly short or you will have to use thicker gauge.
The good thing is once you get to the inverter you can plug in an extension cord. Run your shop vac off the inverter. As long as you don't turn it on and forget it, you should be able to sporadically suck it up all day.
If you shop right, (used panel, reconditioned battery), you should be able to put it together for less than $300.00. Charge controllers and inverters are pretty cheap. Factor the cost of gas and it will pay for itself in a season or two. Sounds complicated but it really isn't. Or bypass the 110 volt and go to any big truck stop and pick up a 12 volt vac.

Thanks Tom,that,s a great idea and I understand the hookup part.Only problem is this will involve a lot of walking and climbing around on rocks.Google a picture of Dam 2 on the Arkansas RIver and you,ll get a better idea.On the downstream side of the dam.I,m thinking a small vacuum or a crack sucker I believe they,re called.manually operated,looks kind of like the old things they used to use to transfer 90W gear oil from the 5 gal. buckets to the transmission with. Climbing around with a heavy battery at 70 years ain,t my cup of tea. Good idea though,thanks.

 

[Ohiogoldfever]

Unfortunately I don’t have a great deal of experience with any of the current battery powered vacuums however as a contractor I am very familiar with all the main name brands of battery powered tooling.

Over the years I have come to buy only Milwaukee tooling. They all have their pros and cons though the Milwaukee seems to hold up the best and the batteries tend to take a beating for years.

That being said I try and buy only the larger (thicker batteries) and if you stay with a single brand you may be able to use a few batteries with multiple tools. Not just your vac.

Hope it’s of some help.

 

[Tom Emery]

Thanks Tom,that,s a great idea and I understand the hookup part.Only problem is this will involve a lot of walking and climbing around on rocks.Google a picture of Dam 2 on the Arkansas RIver and you,ll get a better idea.On the downstream side of the dam.I,m thinking a small vacuum or a crack sucker I believe they,re called.manually operated,looks kind of like the old things they used to use to transfer 90W gear oil from the 5 gal. buckets to the transmission with. Climbing around with a heavy battery at 70 years ain,t my cup of tea. Good idea though,thanks.

After reading the information 605dano posted, I'm ready to buy one of those suckers. I'll keep the solar panel on the roof of the RV...where it belongs. Ha ha.

 

[xracer550]

someone else had the same idea

 

[et1955]

Nothing beats out a gas powered vac pac, I got one just before the ban on motorized mining equipment in california. Sadly any motorized , Electric or gas is illegal.

 

[Tom Emery]

Nothing beats out a gas powered vac pac, I got one just before the ban on motorized mining equipment in california. Sadly any motorized , Electric or gas is illegal.

What a great state....of insanity.