Now I can post here too!

[goldenIrishman]

Well guys and gals, Jan and I just scored a used drywasher with an Echo blower from one of the members of our prospecting club. It's not real pretty and has a couple of minor issues that I'll need to address but the price of $75 was a deal we couldn't let pass us by. Heck, the blower alone is worth that! The guy we got it from was the second or third owner of it and his health prevents him from drywashing any more. It does work but could be made much more efficient with just a little work.

The main issues with this little washer is that the plenum box/riffle tray is a bit too heavy to get a good vibration going with the little fan in it, and the mounting system the box it is overly complicated and hard to level out. Other than that the rest is purely cosmetic. I'm thinking that I can lighten the plenum box up quite a bit as well as increase the size on the fan weight. I'm not wanting to put an offset arm on the weight at this point as I think that would make it harder for the fan to start turning.

I'll keep posting on how the repairs and mods are going as I get them done.

 

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[Hard Prospector]

Still waiting for a report on that Banjo pan Jeff

 

[goldenIrishman]

I did one on my journal thread Rob. In a nutshell... Worked good with coarser material but when we hit some really fine/powdery stuff the mat section clogged up pretty quick resulting in a "flat boarding" condition. All in all it does work but you have to keep an eye on the mat when running dusty stuff.

 

[goldenIrishman]

I've gotten all the repairs made on the little drywasher we picked up done now and it's working pretty good. The repairs/mods include the following:

1. All air leaks on the plenum box/riffle tray sealed up so the air goes through the cloth instead of into nothingness.

2. 3-1/2 inch fan replaced with a 5 inch one and the offset weight increased from 19 grams up to 42 Grams. By increasing the arc and the amount of weight the riffles have a much better vibration rate.

3. All connectors tightened up and the legs are now much more stable.

4. Plenum suspension improved by adding springs as well as relocating the anchor points to make sure that the box can move freely.

All in all it's been a real learning experience but for $75 I think I've now got a good entry level washer. The next step is going to be to find a nice deposit to work and get enough gold out of it to pay for something that will allow me to process more materials faster.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Still waiting for a chance to take the drywasher out and give it a really good test drive. Seems like every time I think I'm going to get to go, either something comes up or the rain comes down. What's with all this rain any way? This is SUPPOSED to be a desert! The ground hasn't even had enough time to dry and they're talking possible rain this weekend! Guess I'd better hit it before gets soaked down again.

 

[rodoconnor]

Still waiting for a chance to take the drywasher out and give it a really good test drive. Seems like every time I think I'm going to get to go, either something comes up or the rain comes down. What's with all this rain any way? This is SUPPOSED to be a desert! The ground hasn't even had enough time to dry and they're talking possible rain this weekend! Guess I'd better hit it before gets soaked down again.

In wet years I had a couple of desert canyons that with a little effort, I could run a 2 1/2" dredge. I freaked out a few dirt bikers in my wet suit. Enjoy the rain while you can Jeff.

 

[goldenIrishman]

YEEEeeeah..... I can see trying to justify a dredge to Janice here Rod. That would go over like wings on a hog. Now I could most likely be able to swing one of those little tow-able backhoes. They only use a 9hp motor to drive the hydraulics. It's small but will move a lot more dirt in an hour than I can with a shovel.