Bilge pumps information and questions

[Danielkrupski]

Hi all. How many members use bilge pumps for their sluice or highbanker. I'm wanting to know flow of the bilge pump and size and weight of the battery. Plus how long you can run it for and charging times. I have a spot that has pretty good gold but the weight of all my gear is killing me. I want to down grade to a smaller highbanker or power sluice plus the advantage of silence. I know absolutely nothing about electronics amps current and so forth so any info with be greatly appreciated. Cheers

 

[headbut]

Hi Daniel , I have a mini sluice that runs on a Tsunami 500Gal per Hour bilge pump (they also have up to 1200 per hour) & the CAR battery would last all day , no worries there. The box therefore cant be like the Walbanker, as no where near enough flow from these pumps , but smaller ones run well. You would have to test the flow for your setup. Instead of running a car battery, you can get small ones like Balx uses in some of his earlier videos, which will fit into a backpack. Below is my sluice that runs by bilge pump, with plastic scoopa to show size , Cheers Paul

 

[Ben78]

100Ah (Amphour) battery will run a 10A load (motor) for 10 hours, or a 5A load for 20 hours.

BUT You don't run a battery down completely or you'll kill it, halve it to be safe long term. If you have a 10A draw bilge pump and a 100Ah battery figure on 5 hours or so run time. BUT ( ) a 100Ah battery is gonna weigh the same as a petrol pump sooooooo....

 

[XIV]

I have a 2000 g/ph pump that I sometimes run.
It draws 7 amps/hr so out of a small car battery I get about 2.5 hrs out of it till it starts going flat.
If you get a deep cell battery it will run a lot longer. But they weigh a lot more too

 

[backcreek]

Hay Dan,
Here's a flow test report I did some time ago on some ebay bought bilge pumps and a super cheap pump.
I was testing them for a similar situation as you have. I have a house about 400m from where I digging.

Hi All,
Well, here are my results from testing my bilge pumps today.

All these pumps are sold as 2000 GPH. It is unclear if that is imperial or US gallons.

I have assumed they mean US gallons and that is what I have based my calculations on. If I based my calcs on Imperial gallons the results would look appalling.

So to my observations.
All pumps had three 15 second runs from one 60 liter bucket into a 25 liter bucket.
The water quantity in the 25 liter bucket was then accurately measured, multiplied by 4 to get L/min. then again by 60 to give L/hr. then converted to US GPH.

The best results for each pump are as follows:

Supa cheap 2000 GPH pump 925 US GPH

ozplaza.living 2000 GPH pump 1014 US GPH

Modified ozplaza.living 2000 GPH pump 1096 US GPH

So the results speak for themselves.
What you think you are buying is not necessarily what you get and unless you do the test you will never know.

I thought the supacheap pump would be better quality than it is. Looking at the impeller set up I thought it would flow better than it does.
When I opened the box the strainer was broken so it's back to Supacheap tomorrow.

I was going to run 2 of these pumps on my stealth banker project (see it running here https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=640&p=2 post #26) but I can't see me having enough water flow from 2, I may have to run all 3 to get the flow I need and that will cause battery run time problems. Bugger!!!!!!!!

Hope this little test has some value to someone.

Don't forget if you buy the ozplaza.living ebay pumps that you need to disassemble them and seal them up with silicone before you use them because they leak water into the motor case and will be junk in short order if left with water in them.

Cheers
Mick

 

[Ramjet]

Good info BC.
Thanks.
How do they get away with advertising a product that only produces half of the stated capability?
Buyer beware.

Ramjet

 

[backcreek]

Good info BC.
Thanks.
How do they get away with advertising a product that only produces half of the stated capability?
Buyer beware.

Ramjet

It's typical of Chinese junk, they have no standards, they can poorly copy anybodys proven product and put it on the market without any repercussions ie GPX5000's

The thing that really pushed my buttons on these ebay pumps is the fact that they leak internally.

Imagine you are out at Browns Mountain 45km out to sea and you have a wave come over the bow you turn on the bilge pump and nothing happens because the motor in the pump is rusted solid.

They should not be allowed to sell them, they are a safety item! GGGRRRRR.

 

[Ramjet]

I have a 750gph bilge pump which is perfect for my home set up. An AM grubsteak sluice. But... It surges. When it slows down it blows the collected material off the end of the sluice. Need a more reliable, constant flow.
Me thinks that... You get what you pay for.

 

[headbut]

Thats why I bought the Tsunami & have 2 of them, they are sealed very well , mind you , sold in the USA in Wal Mart for $15 , here $50 !!!

 

[backcreek]

I have a 750gph bilge pump which is perfect for my home set up. An AM grubsteak sluice. But... It surges. When it slows down it blows the collected material off the end of the sluice. Need a more reliable, constant flow.
Me thinks that... You get what you pay for.

Hay Rod,
I have a recirc cleanup sluice I made and I use a pump out of an old dishwasher connected with irrigation pipe and valve.

 

[Ramjet]

Thanks BC. I have been experimenting with various pumps.
I like to build stuff with what I have laying around.
I have used a pool pump from one of the plastic round pools.
I have 2 laying around. Used the larger of the 2 but it is too much flow.
I need to get a valve to control the flow.
I have not measured the amount that passes thru them.... Too Lazy
I need to apply more scientific methods.
Hate to have to actually PAY for a valve

I am still experimenting. Have processed The couple of buckets I brought home from GG and Tuena a half a dozen times.
I will continue to experiment til I am happy.

Its all a learning process.

Cheers

Ramjet

 

[kawman]

I am using 2 pieces of flat bar with holes drilled in the ends fitted around the discharge hose with nuts and bolts... the more you tighten it the slower the flow...

Thanks BC. I have been experimenting with various pumps.
I like to build stuff with what I have laying around.
I have used a pool pump from one of the plastic round pools.
I have 2 laying around. Used the larger of the 2 but it is too much flow.
I need to get a valve to control the flow.
I have not measured the amount that passes thru them.... Too Lazy
I need to apply more scientific methods.
Hate to have to actually PAY for a valve

I am still experimenting. Have processed The couple of buckets I brought home from GG and Tuena a half a dozen times.
I will continue to experiment til I am happy.

Its all a learning process.

Cheers

Ramjet

 

[Danielkrupski]

Ok so I think I have the hang of it now. So a 10amp pump with a 100 amp battery should last 10 hours. Taking into consideration that you don't run a battery flat take that to half so 5 hours it should be run for? Correct?? If so now all I need to do is match an angus mackirk sluice for flow rates of a pump that won't break my back carrying a battery for say about 3 hours running cos I think most of the day will be spent classifying. Any suggestions on angus model pump size and battery? Thanks

 

[slowflow]

More battery research required.
What type of lead acid, most lead acids only approach quoted cycle life if discharged to about 30%. ie 30ah from a 100 ah battery. What are you charging, AGM, wet cells & gel have different charge requirements and minimum voltages. Given the complexities, unless you need stealth put some serious consideration into a petrol pump.
To manage the cells correctly a device to measure charge/discharge amps and volts is required from new (Approx. $200) 120ah deep cycle AMG $320-400 or a Trojan wet cell about the same but with an acid hazard, gell cell can't handle fast charge, 4 stage charger to look after your investment approx. $250. Solar panel to charge $400 or generator $400 to whatever you care to spend.
Have just been through this evaluation process to support my camping needs Fridge etc. It appears most people increase battery storage dramatically & expect recharge from inadequate solar paneling. If you choose to rub a gen & charger to support the battery, you can spend more than buying a petrol pump.
A bilge pump that meets advertised flow rate, expect to pay 3 to 4 times the commonly advertised price. Some of the cheapies are good for a couple of sessions then leak water to the motor which dramatically increased brush wear & causes corrosion problems.
Lithium ions are another expensive options, lithium polymers are princess batteries needing lots of TLC and best avoided ( most frequently used in RC models.
The choice remains with you meeting your needs. Hope it goes well.

 

[Danielkrupski]

This is getting really confusing. I was just looking at getting a bilge pump set up cos of the distance I have to hike to get to a certain spot plus with some property's near by. I own an angus mackirk boss. Bought it for this very spot but now know that the creek doesn't flow enough to make it work so was looking into the bilge pump setup to try and make it happen. But the battery's will be too heavy to carry in to get a few hours running. I'm looking at down grading the sluice to a smaller model. My ideal running time would be 3 or 4 hours cos of classifying time. Know idea on acid type gel type battery just want one that will work for 3 or 4 hours using any of the angus models that won't break my back getting to the spot. Any suggestions? I do own a highbanker but its way to heavy to carry to this spot as me and my brother found out last time. Half the day being donkey the rest recovering like a donkey only a little digging.

 

[G0lddigg@]

theres some good marine style batteries that are designed to run bilge pumps, if you can get to a BCF or similar i'm sure someone can show you they are grey and you'd ahve no trouble loading two into your backpack should get 4 hours no probs

 

[slowflow]

How much will the bilge pump draw?
Have a look at the head vs discharge characteristics to choose the pump. Then we may be able to take a guess at battery capacity.

 

[Nugget]

Can anyone suggest a suitable deep cycle battery for my 1100GPH Rule Bilge Pump? I'd like to get 2-4 hours running time and need something reasonably light as I plan on carrying it long distances.

I don't know much about this sort of thing but here's the amp draw info listed on the box which may or may not be of help.
Amp Draw - 3.3 @ 12v / 5.0 @ 13.6v

 

[Reeks]

Can anyone suggest a suitable deep cycle battery for my 1100GPH Rule Bilge Pump? I'd like to get 2-4 hours running time and need something reasonably light as I plan on carrying it long distances.

I don't know much about this sort of thing but here's the amp draw info listed on the box which may or may not be of help.
Amp Draw - 3.3 @ 12v / 5.0 @ 13.6v

Nugget, deep cycle and light don't go in the same sentence.
2-4 hours is not long, I would suggest a motorbike battery or a small lead acid car battery.

For longer use a bigger lead acid battery would do (N70 size) or a proper deep cycle AGM battery at twice the weight and cost would last 15 hours before safely needing a recharge I'd say.

Cheapest option would be to visit a wrecker and grab a battery out of a late model small car or look for a newish battery amongst the rest of cars.

Reeko

 

[Nugget]

Thanks Reeks, I was only thinking deep cycle as it was suggested as being a better option for regular charge / discharge scenarios. A motorcycle battery would be great as long as it could handle this?