Finally started work on the quad jet....step by step with pics.

[Reed Lukens]

Ok, now I'm thinking 6 3/16th jets might be on the perfect ragged edge with just a bit of fudge room for my mini pump running a 2.5" dredge. Enough flow, and vacuum drag to pull/push to small rocks and silt off the bottom and put gold in the sluice..........?? My dredge nozzle will either have a 2" restrictor ring or more likely a pin through the middle to keep the big stuff out.

Now I need to start thinking about sluice size and setup (hint 9"wide x ? )with gold hog mats that I still need to order.

To many jets... If you figure that a P100 uses a 5/8 opening and you are running a lot less than that I would think 4 - 3/16" should be plenty because you want the most pressure that your pump can handle going through the jets. And honestly, going more than 4 is just making more welds on a pipe that will need to be re-straightened after anyway. To me - more than 4 looks like more work and overkill that's not needed. I would think 3 - ¼" id square tubing jets would be easier to use

 

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[mike(swWash)]

Just wait and see.....no welding on the jets....just a drill press and any size bit to fit the pump and pipe size, a whole new idea coming up.

Lead on Kai, show me the way......

 

[425jesse]

You guys heard the HB1162 is dead for this legislative session, right!!!!



Dredge On Washington!

 

[mike(swWash)]

OK, here's the real thing that I'll be using this summer. 5" outside casing, 2.5" suction tube, 1.5" pressure feed.....and for the jets, 6- 3/32" orifices or is it orifie...any way here's a couple pictures to try to give you the idea.

2.5" i.d. X 3.5" o.d. UHMW tube drilled at 11 degrees

with the inlet and outlet pipe inserted before welding the ends

one end is flanged for easy removal an replacement

There it is and it's easy to modify the jets by simply redrilling or using a different cartridge and # of jets. I could even add 6 more to this one if I ever get a bigger pump.

I'll post more pictures after I cut a couple rubber gaskets and show the re-assembly pictures. Right now I'm done for the day and taking a break.

 

[mike(swWash)]

I couldn't stand it. It was so close to being finished I had to go back out to the shop.

Here you can see the jets path

The inlet end showing the pipe and collar that presses the cartridge down over the outlet pipe that's welded on the other end and the gasket that's inside to seal it off. The inlet end fits very tight and has to be hammered on.

Sliding it inside the pressure chamber

It's all bolted together and done and still only weighs 5.5lbs

 

[Reed Lukens]

Now that looks great Mike I've never even heard of UHMW coming in a tube. Great idea!

 

[Timberdoodle]

Nice job Mike! I like that it will be easy to change and test different configurations of the jet. Good job!

 

[russau]

Mike I don't know if you've notice or thought about it , BUT your jet holes are not completely straight but are kinda twisted ! Reggie Goulds jet has the same idea on this. Reggie says (and I agree) this twist in water will spin the slurry to help breakup clay and the stratify your material better! I really like using the UHMW for some projects myself and are glad to see you using also. it is 7 times more durable than steel. this jet (to me) looks like itll work just fine depending on your pump you use. if I were you, id get a liquid filled vacumn gauge to tune the pump/jet to get its maximum performance and install it on the leading edge of your jet. one othe thing id do would be to taper the leading edge of the UHMW so that you have a smoother edge into the tube to help prevent and plugups inside the jet.

 

[mike(swWash)]

First off I want to thank everyone for the advice and encouragement for this project. It's my 1st dredge build so it's been interesting to say the least. So much info to digest and decide what will(or might) work with the ideas I wanted to incorporate.

I came up with the new jet idea after seeing some millwrights replace some small worn out brass bushings with uhmw........ding, light bulb!
I ordered the uhmw tube and huge washers from zoro.com. I bought a 12" long tube so I had enough left over to make a couple more cartridges to test other jet configurations, I can always thread the old jets and put plugs in them and re-drill between them if needed. I picked up the steel pipe from a local muffler shop to keep things light, next time I'll use stainless but the cost goes up substantially. Boring out the large washer so the tube would fit thru took the most time to do, but what you see I got done in one 8hr day.
I now need to get the 1.5 pump intake hose, foot valve and 2.5" suction hose and connectors so I can see what I can get out of this thing before I decide if I need to make a new sluice box.
I'm going to order some matting from Gold Hog... Downdraft, Razorback and probably Scrubber. Once I see my flow results I'm going to contact Doc for advice to be sure.

Now that the threat of a ban this year in Washington is gone it's full speed ahead for this years season.

 

[mike(swWash)]

1st trial with the pump and the 6-jet educator. I'm ordering the hose next week, then I'll do some real testing of orifice size and number of jets. It's a lousy video since the sun was reflecting off the stainless but I wanted to try out the pump to see what kind of pressure It'll do for now. It emptied the pool in 3 seconds or so, blasting water 10-15'.

 

[Bill_saf]

Mike I think that should do it can you say jet sluice. dang it man hehehe

 

[mike(swWash)]

I want to thank timberdoodle and every one else for all the helpful info on this project.

I realize there will be a lot of loss of suction once I add 12' of intake hose. I'm going to do some testing with smaller jets on the 6 pack as well as making a 4 jet version for comparison. I only managed 30# of pressure at full throttle. I am going to try for at least 40# with smaller jets to see how well this baby can suck......but I have to admit, I was impressed with what I saw using this little 20lb. pump

 

[mike(swWash)]

I've already made a mini monster jet. Once I find the best jet setup in the prototype, I'll drill the new shorter cartridge and give it a try as well.

BTW my welds suck

 

[russau]

Mike it looks like you got it!!!

 

[Timberdoodle]

Looking good Mike! Glad I could help. One of the things to keep in mind when testing is to make sure you have at least a foot of hose length after the jet since it looks like the exhaust length is short. This will ensure you have transferred all the energy evenly to the hydraulic piston and you may notice a reduction in suction loss when adding the hose to the front. I often find running between 25-28psi actually works very well for a dredge, 40psi is better for a highbanker when you need the extra lift. The cartridge idea is awesome and I can see it will help dial this baby in without too much rework. I'm just dying to try a new 3" stainless jet I made for the Honda/p90 to use possibly in a highbanker/dredge combo.

 

[russau]

now youll need to tune the eng/pump to the jet! and installing a vacumn gauge to the suction side of the jet and a PSI gauge to the output will enable you to tune this to your pumps ultimate capabilitys! I really like your project!