Pump issue with a Le trap sluice

[Shingles]

Hey guys! Just wondering if anyone is running a Le trap sluice? I recently upgraded to one and converted it to a high banker. But the old 2000 gph pump won't cut it. So need to upgrade to a petrol pump. Does anyone have any experience with a Le trap as a sluice? I'm thinking about a 7hp 1.5 inch Jobby. Not sure if this is overkill. Any advice appreciated! ?

 

[Tathradj]

Hi Mate, A photo of your setup would help a lot.

 

[Shingles]

Hi tathradj. Just joined the forum so I don't think I can post photos just yet, but I will take one this weekend ( away for work). The top resembles a walbanker, with the bottom being the Le trap. I ran a bucket of material through it from talgai, and got some really nice gold. Just under 2 grams. But needed a steep angle, the pump and 2 garden hoses just to get it to run.

 

[Beagleboy]

Drop riffle sluices are not ideal for high bankers. They don't like sudden surges of water when you shovel straight in to it. You will blow out your gold. It would make a good power sluice and your bilge pump should do the job. You will will have to feed it slowly and classify your material.

 

[G0lddigg@]

hi shingles,

I buy and test everything and have a le trap sluice in the shed, like all good sluices 2 inches of water is the trick, like beagleboy has pointed out the surge you generate in normal operation of a highbanker can he an issue so you have to make sure you don't clog the screen/grizzlies.

basically what you need is a dam and a flow valve of some sort, in order to control the flow and smooth out any turbulence. Its a bhattle getting these things right but i have to say i do love being able to have a little angus in the truck with some water and a bucket and can quickly run a bucket of dirt through that in less than 5 minute setup time off the car battery. so its worth the effort to put in if you're going to use it as a highbanker.

Problem is when you want to use it as a sluice too bad

heres some examples for you of flow control, yes its simple i like simple

this is an angus with simple baffle at the back and i jam this full of miners moss to slow the flow down and reduce pressure

this is a mod that would work well if you go down the path of a petrol pump, its a simple valve that holds back enough water to create the right release for this highbanker, you can do the same with the le trap. i would recommend going down the path of a 3500GPH pump with a decent speed controller switch.

'

 

[Shingles]

Thanks guys!! Golddigg, I have a similar set up on it at the moment, where all the water that falls through the classifier is caught by a second tray and forced to the back of the sluice. With a strip of rubber mat to flatten the water out evenly over the whole width. Seems to work ok. Panned off the tailings to make sure, and only found a couple of specks. Pity about the surges because I really would like to be able to shovel straight into it. I think with some clever designing and trial and error, I can get it to work. Do you think I could get away with using a 1" pump of about 4hp and 12000 lph? Mainly to keep the weight down. Thanks again, shingles.

 

[Shingles]

Drop riffle sluices are not ideal for high bankers. They don't like sudden surges of water when you shovel straight in to it. You will blow out your gold. It would make a good power sluice and your bilge pump should do the job. You will will have to feed it slowly and classify your material.

Hi mate. The problem with the 12v pumps is trying to get the 2000gph to the sluice. The best I can manage is about 800, by the time you add some hose half the power is lost. And the Le traps love the water.

 

[G0lddigg@]

Thanks guys!! Golddigg, I have a similar set up on it at the moment, where all the water that falls through the classifier is caught by a second tray and forced to the back of the sluice. With a strip of rubber mat to flatten the water out evenly over the whole width. Seems to work ok. Panned off the tailings to make sure, and only found a couple of specks. Pity about the surges because I really would like to be able to shovel straight into it. I think with some clever designing and trial and error, I can get it to work. Do you think I could get away with using a 1" pump of about 4hp and 12000 lph? Mainly to keep the weight down. Thanks again, shingles.

you cna do it mate, just make sure you have plenty of surface area for your water ot get throught the dirt maybe use a punch plate section in the whole hopper area where the water can get underneath and away.

yes a small pump will work fine problem with small pumps is they tend to be noisy

 

[Shingles]

Haha, those small pumps aren't good for the serenity,but a lot nicer on the back. Will take some photos for you guys to critique this weekend when I get home. Keep in mind, its only a prototype made from scrap to see if the method works. If it's all good I'll have a sheet metal place make it up for real. You've been a big help golddigg. Thanks a lot!! ?

 

[Beagleboy]

Drop riffle sluices are not ideal for high bankers. They don't like sudden surges of water when you shovel straight in to it. You will blow out your gold. It would make a good power sluice and your bilge pump should do the job. You will will have to feed it slowly and classify your material.

Hi mate. The problem with the 12v pumps is trying to get the 2000gph to the sluice. The best I can manage is about 800, by the time you add some hose half the power is lost. And the Le traps love the water.

You can't beat a petrol pump.

 

[Shingles]

Ok, so managed to spend some time tinkering with it on the weekend. Originally it was set up like this with a return feed to force the water back to the start of the box.

But it's not very efficient because you can't really change the angle of the sluice or the return feed doesn't work. So I've flipped it so it looks more like a standard high banker-

Now I know it looks rough because it's made from scrap I found in the shed. But, it's really solid because it's all made from 2mm aluminium. If I can work out the bugs I'll have it made up at a proper sheet metal place. Just didn't want to blow cash on something that's untested on a Le trap.

I bought my petrol pump too it's a 1.5 inch and pushes 25000 lph. Should be able to run it at idle.

 

[yobskin]

Should work a treat mate...go get some gold son...
Hahaha be good to see in action.

 

[Danielkrupski]

I know with drop riffle sluices you need constant flow to hold down the heavies that's why they are not so great as high bankers because of surging but I myself have always wondered that all these sluices being out of plastic and light as, if you had 2 sluices, like a long Tom. Most of the am sluices from angus mckirk taper in then flatten out and looks as tho the letrap opens up. Would the slowing of water when it widens help to stop the surging? Any thoughts guys?

 

[G0lddigg@]

the widening is to open out and offer slower lower flow and exchange for fines

 

[yobskin]

My mate smashed heaps of material through his while stomping around the water feeding it....causing water flux/serge ....it does drop out but it seems to hold the gold still? sucks it back in. We ran samantha below it and she didnt have any gold in her. Plenty of iron sand.... just test your angle and flow with material you choose to put through it! Should be apples.

 

[Shingles]

Yeah it does taper out,so should catch any gold displaced by a surge. My plan is to keep it as smooth as possible to avoid that happening. I'll get a chance to do some field testing in the coming weeks, so will report my findings. I do like the letraps because of how light they are and the easy clean ups. Thanks for all your help guys.