Looking for so,e input on some updates

[G1sammons]

I have removed the crash box and it look like its gona be a lot easer for me to use a jet flair then narrow this up with the cash box .
Do ya see any reasons why a crash box would be a bad idea?

 

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[Goodyguy]

Crash boxes are great at busting up material way better than a flair.

Flairs are way better at pre separating and stratifying material before fanning it out across the sluice.
better at recovering fine gold due to less turbulence but due to the slower rate of discharge would be less effective at moving large cobbles down the sluice.

It's a trade off either way.
Plus the sluice would still need to be squared up to the jet flair to eliminate the build up in the low pressure areas off to each side like you have now with the crash box.

Probably the reason for the Y before entering the main sluice in the original design in the first place was to try to slow down the turblence from the crash box before the material hit the main sluice. And it worked! but the trade off is the build up of gravels there.

GG~

 

[G1sammons]

Well here's what I'm facing no 1 this box is huge and has a lot of surface area requires a lot of water compared to all other 6" dredges they use this same box set up with a 8" so iv have a new circle jet coming but the box is doing things I don't like it's collecting a lot of junk as in cons . It does a great job keeping the fine gold but it comes with a lot of cons ... Also hangs cobbles in main box, not real bad but you must have a tender plus the front punch plate plugging I believe it's because the crash box is droping right down onto it where as a flair is pushing across it .. So it think a flair would help that ... Iv never had the issues with punch plate plugging like that soo I don't know what els to think it is ... The crash box will be hard to narrow plus it discharges the water on the sides where you could see the pluging in the others pictures which would make it even harder to narrow when you look at how it's built. I use a blaster nozzle so breaking up stuff does not concern me ... In the side boxes I think I'm gona remove the riffles and go with gold hog scrubber matt or keene miracle matt bot have a shorter riffle and I think that will clean better .
In the main box in gona remove the riffles and go with #4 expanded and moss with woven classifier to drop more water in the front part instead of the punch plate .. That's the front part of the main box not the area that drops to the side boxes I'm gona leave the punch plate there in happy with the water flow to the sides and don't want to change it .. Here a few more pictures so you can see what I'm deal with trying to narrow the front ...

 

[Goodyguy]

Comes with the territory, bigger sluice = more cons. Going to more efficient mats vs miners moss or carpet will reduce the amount of cons. The problems arise when fine tuning the capture media to be compatible with the amount of flow and the size of the material being ran. Which in your case includes cobbles up to nearly 6" and gpm's into the sluice approaching 200 or more. Exactly what pump are you using? Are you using a pump designed for an 8" ? If not then perhaps the sluice is too big for the pump you are using. If that sluice is designed for an 8" and you are supplying it with a pump motor and hose designed for a 6" then there lies the root of the problem.

Easy to increase gpm but that doesn't increase overall volume.

I still don't see an issue with implementing the mod I suggested but I suppose that's because I'm comfortable at fabricating. Plus I've designed and built crash boxes from scratch. I do see that it would take a little more than just a simple L but nothing that I couldn't easily fab out of a couple pieces of aluminum and my little 30" brake. And I still dont see exactly how the side sluices are supplied.

Guess I'll just have to make a trip to TN to see it in person and bring some aluminum and my brake with me.

GG~

 

[G1sammons]

The pump is a keene p350s 650 gpm and 200 ft of head has a 24 hp honda this units was sold as a 6 and a 8" box wasn't different just the header box inlet! Everything els was the same . Keene use to put a 16 hp and the same pump on this unit as a 8" it had twin 16 or 18 hp both with the same pump I have... Don't know how it did with the duals ..
The picture with my foot in it and the gravel plugged that's where the water drops and go to both sides boxes and those gravels were all long like k -9 teeth about 3/4 to a 1" also had a lot of sticks stuck half way thu inside the crash box.. The reason I say it will be difficult is because the crash box slides over the first 8" of the punch plate. The gravels are on the sides ony because when the water enters the box in th center it hit the back part of the box where the unplugging hole is and washes to both sides and falls straight down where all those rocks were jamed in the punch plate....I could make the l no problem. But it will half to have a cap and be glued to the sides of the crash box because the front portion of the l will be inside the crash box .plus with the l in place there's no way to rivit or bolt the crash box back to the section where it splits to the side boxes...I'll go take ya some more pictures goody
Also I can fabricate i built dirt late models for many years both dom and chromoly tubbing we used to build chassis and tons of sheet metal work for the body. as we ran into everything every week it seems like...

 

[G1sammons]

Hers some better pics

 

[G1sammons]

This crash box is 28" wide the main is 22 and the sides are 16.

 

[Goodyguy]

Great! I see exactly how it works now. Thanks for being patient with me and taking the time to see that I completely understand your situation, as well as how your side boxes are supplied. It's crystal clear to me now.

The way I see it with the crash box re-installed and the punch plate inside the crash box. Nothing need be modified below the punch plate. However I still believe that by attaching the mod I've suggested from the sides of the main sluice extending in a straight line across the top of the punch plate to the crash box opening with the L closing off the 3" on either side of the crash box your gravel build up problem will be solved. and your side boxes will still be supplied from underneath the punch plate as well as from the top as usual.

Where the L butts up against the crash box opening a tab can be bent to conform to the area above the opening (will need to temporarily remove the flap to facilitate attachment) as well as a tab extending into the end of the opening at the edge of the crash box for easy water tight attachment. Use silicone to make a water tight seal before pop riveting the mod into place.

I would also create a tab at the bottom of the L to cover the holes in the punch plate where they are blocked by the mod, so water doesn't come up through them from underneath.

Do you see what I mean?
The tabs are in blue
Left side showing the mod.
right side showing the tabs in blue





GG~

 

[principedeleon]

I would rather go with 8" circle jet and run it with the same motor and change the punch plate. You could leave the crash box and modify it; even tho i like flare better.

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Ok now i think i see what you dredge heads are talking about. The problem is that low pressure points are being created! Just like the flair end of a stream sluice. The pressure on the sides directly adjacent to the flair is too low creating suction and no back pressure under the punch plate so the gravel gets built up from the adjacent sides building towards the middle of the jet. Very interesting how bigger equipment is much more temperamental. Ive never dredged yet...but do have some hydrology experience. Water is a cool medium with a vast range of characteristics. Does the gravel build up immediately or over the course of a dredge secession? If its a slow build up id imagine little more pressure would be needed. Maybe just a short 3" or 4" section of slick plate abutting the flair covering the first bit of punch?
Wow this is fun. Dredges are the best boy toys ever. Now that i have a unit all i want to do is learn everything about every dredge set up!