Ultralight Fluidbed Sluice

[tinpan250]

Guys dont know if I can mention the name of the fluid-bed sluice I am looking at? Let me know if I can.It uses a venturi on the bottom and weights in at less that 4 lbs ,it dosent have the traditional pipes in the bed . Wondering if anybody has used one and how their experience with it turned out,I have been told they have brisk sales at the gold shows,some guys loading up with more than one and guys on u tube seem to like them alot. I would rather pack cons then equipment as every year I have to hike father and farther back to get good ground and away from the crowds.

 

[Dallasb84]

I think I know the one you are referencing. Looks really neat but extremely small.... Wonder how well it would work moving lots of material?

 

[tinpan250]

They claim the small unit will keep 1 to 2 guysbusy and the larger one 3 to 4, wonder if they were old farts or pro shovelers, During a GPAA outing Tom came over to ask us why we were on the biggest trommel on the dig for the second day in a row, did we like shovels or just easy to get talked into doing it.

 

[winners58]

https://youtu.be/RjIMIx59auE
looks like a copy of the Schmidt gold trap with the patent now assigned to Todd Osborne, as in Bazooka Gold Trap...
Analytics for US Patent No. 5,476,177, Sluice trap

are they licensed or just selling their own BGT?

 

[arizau]

There is a whole thread on this forum about this sluice and Kevin in Colorado and others tested and reported on it in the thread. Maybe they will point to the thread so you can read their conclusions.

 

[KevinInColorado]

The AMP sluices are very small, not truly a fluid bed and are rather flimsy construction. They use a punchplate instead of grizzly bars and use side ports to inject water...both weak design points. The maker strongly recommends classifying to protect the flimsy sluice from damage They work but I wouldn't recommend them. The Bazookas are far superior overall.

 

[Goldwasher]

its not a fluid bed there is no fluidization of the material. It actually fills to a point and relies on scouring to remove tailings from the recovery area. It has to be cleaned out often.

The production capacity given is a joke. If you ran the biggest one like you can run a sniper...you could easily bury it under a pile of material. It is also not user friendly because of the side plenums. if you need a wing dam or are in fast water any rocks you use block flow into them affecting the already poorly working recovery area.

You would be better served with a drop riffle or normal stream sluice.

 

[Duckwalk]

Notice in the video that there is a rock sitting on top to hold it down. The issue with that is, for the deck to clear, you have to classify smaller than the gap between the deck and the bottom of the rock. Also, its nearly impossible to get any type of dam build for this. The plenums on the side cannot be blocked as it will prevent the bed from being active. You have to have sufficiant water to run it "effectively" i was also a tester of the smallest of these sluices and i was so fed up after 2 days trying to get enough water that i gave up and went back to the 30" bazooka sniper. You can dam up the sniper and run material larger than the small amp as you do not have to hold the zooka down with a rock.

 

[tinpan250]

What I just notice on the amp is the smooth side of the ABS is on the sluice feed side rough side on the outside,to me that dosent promote any break up or scrubbing action and the side venturi are open front and back? what is going to force the water thru a side-hole that has no interruption of side flow ,other than maintaining a water level in the box via low pressure in the box, just decreasing the exit versus the opening is not going to boil the box,it is going to take the path of least resistance right out the front,where BGT have the pipes in the direction of flow as the exit , water has to fill the pipes and squirt out the holes in the pipes,Just mt 2 cents for what it is worth Thanks for the responses made me look closer and there really isn't that much weight difference between the comparable sized units to me. I guess it all go back to super light weight you have to give up something