Hand Crevice Sucker Pump

[HeadsUp]

A couple of things I can see and foresee with this.

It is a suction device and by all descriptions is a dredge as it uses a separate pump which sucks water and gravel into a storage device and would be illegal to use anywhere in Australia. You can not even use an eductor dredge in Australia which is one that relies solely on water suction power via gravity siphoning so I can't see this being legal!

Those pumps, even the good quality Jabsco and similar will not take any solids or sand thru them for long

Has anyone yet seen how much gold actually made it up that long pick up and into the PVC catch tube? Unless you are able to pump more than the volume of water which is in that hose on each stroke so that the wash is moved from the riverbed to the catch device in one continuous movement the weight of the gold will have it fall back down and out the hose.

Cheers Ric

dredges were banned because they were disturbing aquafauna by dumping their sluice tailings straight back in to the river

The crevicing pump above fills a container which you then take up to the riverbank and pan or sluice away from the waters edge

No turbidity is created

There is nowhere i have seen a law that excludes their use in NSW but i dont have information on the laws in other states

did you check out his photo that shows how clean the rocks are after he finished ?

If the device was called an " Acme portable dredge " i would be concerned , but the fact its called a "crevicing pump" does give some distinction between the two dont you think ?

 

[Marked]

To stop the gold falling back out if one pump of the lever didn't move the gold all the way to the collection tube, all that would be needed is one loop in the hose - gravity would then have the gold stay at the bottom of the loop until the next pump sucked it all the way up.

From the photos of the material collected, material falling back out doesn't seem to be too much of an issue anyway.

 

[HeadsUp]

ps , dredges are still used all over australia for extracting gravel used in concrete batching plants and for making harbours deeper

but as soon as you mention " mining for gold " oh no you cant do that . not allowed !

lol

and as for your eductor dredge , they spit turbidity straight back in to the river at the outlet end of the hose , so how can people expect them to be approved if a powered dredge is banned ?

the method above is pretty damned safe environmentally in my opinion , and i am a greeny kind of guy

when you create good habits it takes the same , or minimal extra effort to do things in a "green" way and keep your conscience clear anyway.

 

[Marked]

Certainly, the turbidity of outflow and extreme volume of it was the issue with powered dredges - this "manual" alternative would surely be acceptable keeping in mind the reasons the powered versions were banned for prospecting?

 

[Syndyne]

Hi Syndyne, I went out today and build one of these. Thanks for the inspiration. Just a question. How long should the bottom pipe be (where all the gravel falls). I haven't glued that part together yet as I wasn't sure. I have also bought bilge pump from ebay and planning to finnish it off once I get it. You said you are using 1" hose. Is it 25 mm or 19 mm? Thanks.

G'day Beagleboy and all,

Apologies for the late reply, I forgot to subscribe to the thread but it's all sorted now.

My hose is all 25mm clear reinforced the same as yours by the looks of it Bb. As I haven't yet put this version into action I can't offer a decent answer to the lengths of hose needed, but we did use between 1.5 - 2metres on the original model.
You will definitely need to use a cut down nozzle on the gravel intake side. We opted for a plastic silicon gun nozzle that we cut the end off to leave a 12mm (half inch) opening. This can be altered to suit your needs but should prevent the 25mm pipe from blocking.

Trial and error will soon work out any kinks in the system. I hope it did the job for you with minimal fuss. They work a treat when cleaning up a small area.
Looks great in the photos. Nicely done!

On a personal note: If I was ever told not to use mine while out prospecting (under whatever correct ruling could be produced that this was in violation of) I would simply oblige. For me personally, I look at it this way... it's 100% hand operated and is only used to clean up a small area then basically dump the few handfuls of gravel into a bucket/catchment container. From then it still needs to be shoveled/troweled out by hand into the sluice, HB or a pan. The most gravels/wash we ever pulled out of even a large crevice would be equivalent to about half a small pan full. Maybe five or six handfuls at most (as opposed to the several yards a day some of us can move in a creek/river with a shovel alone).

If you have any concerns at all about the legality of using one then simply err on the side of caution and give it a miss. No harm done.
Kindest regards,
Shauno.

 

[Beagleboy]

This is not power operated so i dont think i can get in trouble but if a ranger would convince me that i cant use it i would not argue with him and put it away. Although you will make much more mess digging with showel than with this device and that is allowed. Little common sense.
I have made few design alterations and i am going to try it out properly this weekend. I will let you guys know how it goes.
I tested it very briefly and did not notice anything falling out of the suction tube. I have instaled mesh in the outlet so all that comes out is water and nothing seems to get in to the pump. Thats why i used clear hose.
Once i get it working, i will take it apart and take a photo so you can see what i have used to build it.
Thank you all for your coments and help so far.

 

[SuperPeter]

Closed

Open
How the valves look. No it won't work upside down when installed. It need to b used so gravity helps the ball fall downwards to cover the hole and seal with the pressure put against it from u using the pump. Flows real good and does clog every so often, but a shake usually fixes that fast enough for me. Any more info just ask

 

[Guest]

You can get replacement rubber washer packs for between $6 and $12 at Most fishing stores.

 

[Tige]

Hi guys, do these hold more material than standard yabby pumps, I use a normal nipper pump but u have to b quick before material runs out.. ( oh ... I think I just answered my own question he he.)

 

[Beagleboy]

Today I have modified the pump I made a while ago. I have not been able to try it yet but when I pump it sucks in air so it should work. I will test it later this week and let you know if it works. I am trying to make it so one person can operate it.

 

[joe]

Beagleboy - that looks very neat mate let us know how she performs

 

[HeadsUp]

looks good

does it have a bit of fine mesh covering the inlet of the hose that comes out of the PVC pipe before it goes to the pump ?

( to stop pebbles from getting sucked up into the pump )

dont use too fine a mesh or it might restrict the sucking force . maybe 2 - 3 mm mesh if you can find some ?

 

[Marked]

Looking good there - do you think you'll need something to stand on to keep it steady in the water?

 

[Beagleboy]

looks good

does it have a bit of fine mesh covering the inlet of the hose that comes out of the PVC pipe before it goes to the pump ?

( to stop pebbles from getting sucked up into the pump )

dont use too fine a mesh or it might restrict the sucking force . maybe 2 - 3 mm mesh if you can find some ?

I have used a plastic cupboard vent from Bunnings. It fits perfectly in to the fitting. The holes are about a millimeter in diameter. If it works I will take the whole thing apart and post some photos so every one can see all the parts.

 

[Beagleboy]

Looking good there - do you think you'll need something to stand on to keep it steady in the water?

I usually put it in a bucket full of water with few rocks. I have not tried it yet with the pump attached to the top so I hope it will work.

 

[toad84]

Hi guys im new here and ive built one of these had a few teething problems at the start but have since fixed them so I just thought id throw a curve ball in to the idea has anyone thought of using a 12v bilge pump to suck the material into the catch tank to you have both hands free to clear the end of the suction hose and make it a bit easier to use by your self? Yeah yeah i know it then becomes a suction dredge and probably illegal in some states but lets face it weall want to make it easier to get the yellow into our pans just a thought. Dont know it the pump would actually be able to suck through the setup without cavitation you could even have the outlet of the pump return around to the suction end into a venturi and use the full potential of the pump. Then setup a solar charger on your battery to keep it topped up while you pan out cons. I dunno just a thought

 

[Chewy]

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=6145

 

[Chewy]

I this link should help answer any questions.

 

[GaryO]

Hi guys im new here and ive built one of these had a few teething problems at the start but have since fixed them so I just thought id throw a curve ball in to the idea has anyone thought of using a 12v bilge pump to suck the material into the catch tank to you have both hands free to clear the end of the suction hose and make it a bit easier to use by your self? Yeah yeah i know it then becomes a suction dredge and probably illegal in some states but lets face it weall want to make it easier to get the yellow into our pans just a thought. Dont know it the pump would actually be able to suck through the setup without cavitation you could even have the outlet of the pump return around to the suction end into a venturi and use the full potential of the pump. Then setup a solar charger on your battery to keep it topped up while you pan out cons. I dunno just a thought

Good thoughts But .... u might get away with a hand pump but once u start using anything motorised the line has been totally crossed and authorities wouldn't show any leniency at all before issuing the appropriate penalties .

 

[Chewy]

Yep sorry to be a wet blanket about this. Don't get the wrong idea, a lot of the members have discussed this before, and many would love to dredge on a small scale. Unfortunately as discussed before in the link, dredging is illegal in Australia. Every state and territory. There are reasons which you might agree or disagree with(Environmental). But the main reason you shouldn't do it, is it's illegal and if ppl get caught they will cop having the book thrown at them, but also the govt then will further restrict prospecting or can it altogether. That, would make me for 1 somewhat unhappy.