Pump Fed Sluice

[brendomac]

Hi All,

I was just wondering if anyone has some advice on the best way to setup a water feed from a pump to a sluice?

I have looked around a bit and found the pic's below, from MDV, Rotten Ron and WalnLiz.

My sluice has about a 60cm flair and is about a metre in length all up and has a 27cm main channel.

I originally setup using a spray bar (similar to what is specified in the 'Walbanker' thread) across the entry of the flair. But that didn't go too well. Maybe too much pressure versus volume? Water was flying everywhere!! I am using a 3hp 1.5" 4 stroke pump. The material is classified, 1/2 inch. All the bread crate clogged up.

The reason I am trying to do this is so I can take the sluice out where there is little water flow and/or do some at home.

So I guess the main thing I'm after is the best way to get the water into a sluice via a pump. Most of the stuff I have read is on highbankers.

Any advice is appreciated. I do plan to upgrade to a highbanker and get an Angus MacKirk sluice one day!

Thanks!

 

[Twapster]

Interesting, i've only ever used a high banker, looks like you are trying to create a river sluice....without the river so to speak?

In one of my aquariums at home I have a "waterfall style" filter.......with this in mind its possible that sort of system may work where you can adjust the flow of the water in terms of volume via the pump, but I can see if you increased the height of the waterfall it would create more pressure maybe?? So the right amount of volume and the right height may give you some help. Obviously the angle of the sluice will also dictate how much gets cleared out.

Bread crate would probably clog up because the flow wouldn't be powerful enough I would think. If you use spray bars it will probably spray all over the place and be too powerful.

 

[bend]

I've found the best way to make a power head has been to fold a box with a slot a little higher than you want your water flow, and then pack a couple of scouring pads in it to even out the flow across the slot, put a fitting on the back at the middle. Mostly I've used that on small sluices though and I'm not sure how well it scales up.
You could probably use a box with a slanted front like a damper plate too, pump into the box at the back aimed at the slope on the front, the outflows regulated by the height of the opening in front and the slope of the box stops it from making the flow too turbulent, that might scale up better. I think I've seen a similar setup on a highbanker on ebay actually.

 

[limpalot]

Hi brendomac,
Need to add some length to the top of the sluice to let the water settle to a straight flow through the sluice, this will give you more room to classify your material with lower flow. Could make something solid , or use pvc Truck tarp, folds up and if made long enough can use it to wash to material down to the sluice like a water race, saves walking. You can get the old side curtains off trucks cheap at sign printers.
Something similar to my Bedroll Sluice.

 

[brendomac]

Thanks for your tips everyone, I'll try these suggestions out this weekend and see how it goes.

That's an interesting setup you have there Limpalot! Super portable by the looks of it. How have you found the performance?

 

[bigdog]

Have a look on YouTube put in Bazooka headerbox in search box im not not allowed to post links. This could work for your sluice looks like it is getting enough water flow. I will be giving this setup a try on my bazooka only i will be using a small beige pump for the pipes in the fluid bed.

 

[brendomac]

Will do, thanks BigDog.

 

[Philthy]

This is what I knocked up for my sluice last year.

 

[limpalot]

Only used it a cuppla times on low flow at Reedy ck, caught all colour in top half of the mat. Setup is important, not to steep, I used rocks and gravel to form a channel, have a big classifying area. Good on clay as you can squash it around the mat to brake it up. Rolls up and carry on your shoulder, great for tough to get at places and just testing as you walk up a creek. Test a larger quantity than a pan a lot quicker.

 

[brendomac]

Thanks Limpalot, sounds like something I'm going to have to add one day, good tip about the channel too... But first I'll get my current setup going!

Thanks for the pics too, Philthy. They will definitely help for my build.

 

[bend]

This is what I knocked up for my sluice last year.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/3241/1468808916_1422602659_dsc_5303.jpg
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/3241/1468808916_1422602766_dsc_5302.jpg

I knew they were around, that's exactly what i was talking about with the box with a sloped front comment. Haven't seen Philthys particular version before but it looks good.

 

[brendomac]

Thanks Bend, I was picturing that sort of setup from your explanation (not exactly, but close to it )

 

[Occasional_panner]

This is what I knocked up for my sluice last year.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/3241/1468808916_1422602659_dsc_5303.jpg
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/3241/1468808916_1422602766_dsc_5302.jpg

Hey guys, sorry to sound like a goose, but how is a highbanker more effective than this setup?

 

[goldengoose]

Nothing wrong with the goose !

Great innovative ideas.
Would like to see comparative findings from each setup.

 

[bend]

A high banker self classifies, also probably breaks down clay better depending on the exact design. So long as you're not just dumping footy sized rock in your sluice classification isn't strictly necessary but it's a concentrating mechanism in itself, it also improves the performance of the sluice if it's not loading up with larger stone and being poked at to remove said stone.