Blue Bowl Blues

[Brian93436]

I recently purchased a Blue Bowl and had a chance to try it out with mixed results.

I classified the concentrate as recommended and had the water levels set as directed. The material I ran was classified at #12, #20, #30, #50, #100. The material from #12 through #30 worked excellent in the Blue Bowl and I recovered a fair amount of Gold. When I tried the #50 and #100 I started to see issues. I was not placing anymore than a tablespoon of classified material in the outer edge of the bowl at any given time, but what I saw happening was the speed of the water would increase as more and more tailings were sucked down the drain and as the speed increased the fine gold would also get sucked down the drain. All of my adjustments to the control valve were very deliberate and very minor (a habit from my Aerospace background) and the battery was at full charge so I assume the pump flow was steady. I can understand as more tailings get removed there is a smoother flow path for the water to travel through, but I was surprised at how readily the gold gets sucked down the drain following the directions to the "T" (water level, amount of material introduced, levelness, Jet Dry, Etc.). I was thinking maybe a metering valve would help, but feel that would not solve the entire problem since the removal of tailings from the bowl increases the water velocity with no valve adjustments.

Do any of you have any tips for using the Blue Bowl? Have any of you had similar results with the fine stuff?

The area I am prospecting is near Keysville on the Kern River with small nuggets, flakes and flour gold found there.

Thanks, Brian

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Upgraded Night Vision Monocular Digital Infrared Monocular Telescope for 100% Darkness with 8X Zoom - Grab it through Amazon!

[cosmic]

When using it on the fine classifications place some material in the bowl and then bring up the level of the water until you see the black sand just starting to move up the cone.. This can be 1-2" below what you normally run.. Also if possible move the valve as far away from the inlet as possible it will help the turbulence.. One more thing the battery cycles up and down so a voltage regulator for the pump would help immensely.. At home I use a aquarium pump on 110 household current and the fluctuation is minimal..
Ray

 

[aarthrj3811]

Hey Brian93436…I have my adjustment value 10 feet from the bowl so I have smooth water when it comes into the bowl. I also lower the water level as the material gets finer.
With the 100 mesh all you should see in the bowl is the gold dust. If the gold is getting on the cone your water level is to high. Another thing I do is shut the bowl down, pour the water off and let it dry for a day. I then bush this dust onto a white piece of paper….Art

 

[Brian93436]

I will most likely replace the supplied valve with a metering valve and move it further away from the bowl to reduce turbulence. I will also look at the power source and verify it doesn't fluctuate (maybe use a power conditioner?). Unfortunately I don't have commercial power and rely on Solar Power/Inverter for my 120v needs. I don't think I can afford to use up my energy stored in the Solar Power systems' batteries to run the Blue Bowl as I need that for lighting and will have to continue to use a large marine battery to power the pump for the foreseeable future.

Thanks for the advice, Brian

 

[Rob66]

I recently purchased a Blue Bowl and had a chance to try it out with mixed results.

I classified the concentrate as recommended and had the water levels set as directed. The material I ran was classified at #12, #20, #30, #50, #100. The material from #12 through #30 worked excellent in the Blue Bowl and I recovered a fair amount of Gold. When I tried the #50 and #100 I started to see issues. I was not placing anymore than a tablespoon of classified material in the outer edge of the bowl at any given time, but what I saw happening was the speed of the water would increase as more and more tailings were sucked down the drain and as the speed increased the fine gold would also get sucked down the drain. All of my adjustments to the control valve were very deliberate and very minor (a habit from my Aerospace background) and the battery was at full charge so I assume the pump flow was steady. I can understand as more tailings get removed there is a smoother flow path for the water to travel through, but I was surprised at how readily the gold gets sucked down the drain following the directions to the "T" (water level, amount of material introduced, levelness, Jet Dry, Etc.). I was thinking maybe a metering valve would help, but feel that would not solve the entire problem since the removal of tailings from the bowl increases the water velocity with no valve adjustments.

Do any of you have any tips for using the Blue Bowl? Have any of you had similar results with the fine stuff?

The area I am prospecting is near Keysville on the Kern River with small nuggets, flakes and flour gold found there.

Thanks, Brian

This may help.

Rob

 

[Functional]

Echo ....

This may help.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upcKLHSgsHs
Rob

F.

 

[1frozenhillbilly]

with my blue bowl in the extremely fine gold here in colorado i find that as i go finer mesh i hafta slow the water down, i use full city water pressure then use the valve that came with the bowl to control how hig it is in the bowl, i recove 100 mesh and smaller easily it just takes getting used to how you gold moves, and constant adjusting

 

[goldmadness14]

I just got the blue bowl and I think its a piece of junk. 70 bucks for a plastic bowl they dont even give you the clips to attach to your bucket what a rip off. Sure it gets some fines, fines so smalle you can barely see them. Not to mention it never gets rid of all the black sand so what are you gonna do suck up stuff noone can see with half of it being black sand. 1000 fines = one flake give me a break.

 

[cosmic]

Made mine compact and portable when on 12V.. I use a aquarium pump at home... Just my idea.. Also a shot of my feeder and tapped valve for it... Hope it gives you some ideas..

 

[cosmic]

Thanks, its a 5 gallon bucket and the drain holes around the top of the 2 gallon bucket is the tailing's bucket.. The leveler legs are attached to another cut 5 gallon bucket bottom and glued on the main one....

 

[goldmadness14]

I returned so I wont be going on ebay. The only thing the blue bowl gives you that panning won't imo are too small to matter and I never thought Id say that about gold. If youre losing alot of flakes when your panning I think you should work on your panning tecnique instead of buying a 70 dollar plastic bowl.

 

[kuger]

I think you need to do your homework.The bowl isnt going to make your dirt any richerIf you are expecting that I dont know what to tell you.If all that was in your sand was one small flake then thats all that was in it!!!!As far as better panning,you obviously dont realize how much flour gold can be in blacksand and just how next to impossible it is to pan it,the oldtimers couldnt even do it...they used Mercury.I am with you on the Blue Bowl kind of,I dont have the patience and have way too much material to use the bowl although I do have one and will tell you IT WORKS.I ran 5 five gallon buckets of blacksand over a shaker table and got over three ounces of POWDER gold (blacksand that I had already panned)just to give you an idea of what can be in that black sand.

 

[russau]

Ray (cosmic) has the answer with his setup! autofeeder,valve moved back(i went further back,but?)screen your material and run each screening seperatly,use a battery charger when at home,use a sufactant,jetdry,or dish soap.get your water level set for the size gold you have. the nuggets/flakes should have already been panned out....consistancey is everthing when captureing fine gold.water flow,feeding of material,and the location of where the material enters the bowl is another consideration.i was told to add your materil upstream of the valve, not downstream of the valve. fines are a different animal than nuggets.

 

[RetRmy]

i guess i'm using it corrrectly, adding my concentrates before turning on the water, I could see the lighter material slowly climbing the cone after the water ran for awhile, I didnt see the "star" that I was told to watch for but I may have had my water running too fast, kinda hard to regulate it to the right speed
At the end of it all, the black sands were in the bottom of the bowl and just about 3 tiny flakes, maybe I was expecting more flakes from the sand.
I still have mixed feelings about the blue bowl, sometimes I think I should have saved the $$ and used it on one of the magic genie bowls. Anyway, I think that patience is the best tool when using the blue bowl

 

[goldmadness14]

In fairness I was using regular sand not black sand, still I think its overpriced.

 

[flyspekau]

I all weighs and adds up figure it this way a lot of hard rock mines that process ore get small fines after crushing they dont throw it out they go through great extremes to get every single piece.

I will clean up about 15 gallons of fines that have been sluiced and panned out and I have my set up right here in my office/computer room and spend a lot of time here so while i'm online I throw a scoop in the bowl .

Its good for winter when you have the urge to get out and can't there's still gold to find in those sands why throw it out.

I just ran 1/2 bucket of blacks and got 1/2 gram of 50 mesh size gold that i missed after running through my cleanup sluice, that's a nugget I would have other wise thrown out. If you dredge theres a LOT of fines to go through I have the cleanup sluice first then a lot of blacks to go through and the blue bowl makes it a lot less tedious then panning and you dont lose as much.


And we haven't even talked about whats in the blacks theres still more stuck in the magnetite

 

[russau]

i ALWAYS rerun(2x 3x or more) my cons several times using a differnt method to capture that fine stuff. then theres that stuff i cant see anymore. thats something else!

 

[Mojave Jack]

I've had mixed results with my blue bowl also, but after reading this thread I decided to give it another try las night.

First, I moved my water pressure control valve back from my bowl about 2 feet by adding a piece of water hose. Supposedly, this allows the water to flow more evenly before it enters the bowl. Any kind of turbulence in your water will stir up the heavies that are trying to settle to the bottom of the bowl.

Second, I used a level and took the extra time to make sure the bowl was perfectly level. For the first time, the sand in ym bowl created a symmetrical star formation, so I think this helped.

The next thing I did was take some concentrates that I had already thoruoughly panned and classified them into some 30 mesh and 50 mesh material. finally, I added about 3 tablespoons of 50 mesh cons into the bowl and slowly turned up the water. I monitored the water pressure closely and gently tapped the side of the bowl as it worked.

When the material got down to a thin line along the bottom of the cone, I snuffered it up and put it into a finishing pan. Sooner or later it always seems to come down to panning. Within a couple of minutes I retrieved about 6 specks of gold from my 3 tablespoons of 50 mesh material. It's a slow process, but something to do on a cold, rainy evening when I can't get to the river.

 

[russau]

i still like the autofeeder idea for consistancy. then, once i have it adjusted correctly i can leave it untill the feeder needs tobe refilled. the more consistant action is, the better results i have! and that goes for any peice of equipment i use.

 

[jeepboy91]

i still like the autofeeder idea for consistancy. then, once i have it adjusted correctly i can leave it untill the feeder needs tobe refilled. the more consistant action is, the better results i have! and that goes for any peice of equipment i use.

Russau,

How does the autofeeder affect retention? I always thought that adding material without cleaning up the gold first would cause you to lose some... no problems with that, eh? How does it feed? Do you run water through your feeder?

Always looking for better ideas!

Thanks,

Dan