Placer Claim Mined Out?

[desertgolddigger]

I belong to a local club that owns a claim. This club has had this claim for many years, and acquired it after the old timers had mined it previously, and others after they commercial outfits closed up.
I walked quite a bit of the 160 acre claim, and noted that just about every wash had been worked. Most of the surface nuggets has also been detected by those with gold detectors. In other words, this place has been picked over and over and over.
But I m a stubborn type of person, and I figured, just watching how people ram their puffer and blower drywashers, that some gold was just being blown through them. maybe not much, but some small stuff that never got a chance to settle behind the riffles.
I know many of you would never go to the effort of digging for three to four hours through the tailings in these washes. Again, I'm a bit stubborn, and anyway, I just wanted to have some fun locally, instead of driving 300 miles roundtrip to something that gives a little more for less effort.
I've spent the last three weeks, digging a few times a week along about 30 yards of wash, and have recovered just about a gram of gold. That might not seem like much, but I have only dug up 5 grams, not counting this one gram in almost 20 years out here drywashing in the desert of southern California.
As you would know, things always seem to go wrong. My gas powered blower motor decided it was time for the repair shop, and haven't heard from the shop in two weeks. So I purchased a WORX WG521 corded electric leaf blower to use with my Royal Large drywasher. I'm using a portable generator to provide the power. And it actually is working better than with my old gas powered blower. I have to run the blower on the lowest speed, or I just blow everything through the riffles. Results are very good, as I am getting gold specks so small that I will have to use the Blue bowl in order to recover them.
I'm not only getting a little gold, I'm having some fun, and I am getting a good workout. I've lost 10 pounds since I started. So things are going well.
I'm still digging test holes around the old time hard rock mines in the hope I will find where the gold has drifted downhill below these mines. So far just a couple specks here and there. I figure I just have to move laterally one way or the other before I get something better Of course, I' don't really know if the old timers stripped the hillsides. Even if they have, they apparently aren't as thorough as I am. I hope that I may be lucky and find a larger piece of gold that the old timers, previous placer miners, and detectorists have missed.
Hope everyone is having as much fun as I have been having.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Caley, I'm not sure I understand the connection between the on/off switch and the amp rating. You should buy the correct motor horsepower, regardless of the switch. Then install a switch with enough amp rating to handle the motor you bought. With most induction motors what usually goes out is the start capacitor. That's under the "lump" on the side of the motor. Not hard to replace....just get one to match the one that's in there... usually shown in microfarads....like 50mfd, or something. The other thing that goes bad are bearings, but less often.
Jim

 

[desertgolddigger]

Caley, I'm not sure I understand the connection between the on/off switch and the amp rating. You should buy the correct motor horsepower, regardless of the switch. Then install a switch with enough amp rating to handle the motor you bought. With most induction motors what usually goes out is the start capacitor. That's under the "lump" on the side of the motor. Not hard to replace....just get one to match the one that's in there... usually shown in microfarads....like 50mfd, or something. The other thing that goes bad are bearings, but less often.
Jim

I needed a quick way to turn the motor on and off. I got a power cord that has a rocker on/off switch. Cord and switch supposedly can handle up to 20 amps. That problem solved.

I'll look for the capacitor you mentioned, and check the thing with a volt-ohm-meter. If bad, I'll try to find a replacement capacitor, and install it. If that's the fix, I guess I will have a spare motor.

Like everything that goes wrong in my life, they always happen in bunches, never just one every once in a while

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Usually, the symptom of the bad cap is the motor just hums, but doesn't turn. Caps are hard to test with a VOM, unless they're shorted.
Jim

 

[russau]

Using a V.O.M. to check the capacitor, it should have a charge on it (if good ) set the V.O.M. for V.D.C. and place the pos. lead on one side of the Cap and the other lead (neg. ) on the other side of the Cap . If no reading switch the pos / neg. leads in reverse and you (if good ) should get a blip on the V.O.M. meter ! this is from the charge that is built up in the cap. If NO reading here your cap is bad other wise keep looking for the problem. Good Luck in your looking for the problem.!

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Using a V.O.M. to check the capacitor, it should have a charge on it (if good ) place the pos. lead on one side of the Cap and the other lead (neg. ) on the other side of the Cap . If no reading switch the pos / neg. leads in reverse and you (if good ) should get a blip on the V.O.M. meter ! this is from the charge that is built up in the cap. If NO reading here your cap is bad other wise keep looking for the problem. Good Luck in your looking for the problem.!

The only weakness of that test method is that it will show capacitance, but not how much capacitance, and that's the main thing, other than a short.
Jim

 

[russau]

Jim your correct , BUT it's better than putting a wet finger tip onto the cap terminals to check it out ! As a joke in any electrical shop don't ever pick up a cap that's been left laying on a bench and people are sitting around and obviously don't have anything to do ! DON'T touch the connector's on this cap OR your have everyone laughing ! I know because I've been there and it was done to me ! everyone had a good laugh , including me when I got up ! and getting back on topic , I don't really think that a location is ever really all worked out , but it is to a point that the pickins are real slim and the prospector is tired of getting by with the minimal gold color's he's getting. If he can't make wages then he will move on! Nature has her own way of replenishing itself every year to a point !

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Jim your correct , BUT it's better than putting a wet finger tip onto the cap terminals to check it out ! As a joke in any electrical shop don't ever pick up a cap that's been left laying on a bench and people are sitting around and obviously don't have anything to do ! DON'T touch the connector's on this cap OR your have everyone laughing ! I know because I've been there and it was done to me ! everyone had a good laugh , including me when I got up !

LOL...reminds me of radar tech school in the Air Force, Russ.....a guy was trying to short a big cap with a pair of long-nosed pliers. But, he got across the mains input leads, without shutting off the power, instead. Blew the end of the pliers across the room, and embedded it into the wall. Flash was like a lightning bolt. The look on his face made me laugh outloud. Lucky he didn't hurt somebody. messing with caps, especially in DC circuits, can be deadly. Capacitance testers are so cheap now, everybody that does electronics work should have one.
Jim

 

[desertgolddigger]

I found the capacitor. I thought it would be a tiny disk with two leads sticking out. My knowledge of capacitors date back to the early 60's. Shows how much I understand technology of today.

I looked for something printed showing capacitance, but nothing but the fact it was manufactured in China..\

As you Guys are joking about getting zapped by picking the thing up, I had already thought of that yesterday. I am deathly afraid of electricity. I got knocked backwards about 10 feet when my body tried to make a full circuit. I was about 13 years old. Was told I was lucky to get knocked out of the circuit.

I think I just have another piece of garbage to throw away because of that fear.