Need help building highbanker

[Huelten]

I currently have a 10x36 proline sluice that I am going to be converting to a highbanker. This will be my first experience with highbanker as all I've used are stream sluices. My question is regarding the water pump that will be needed for the highbanker. I'm going to use a 12v submersible pump, currently I own a 1250 gph pump. Is that to small to run enough water? If so, some advice on what gph I need to run would be greatly appreciated. I'm set on a 12v pump and not a gas pump however

 

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[Goldwasher]

40 gpm for bank run material.

 

[Hoser John]

Prepare for failure then as NOT near enough water/psi/gpm. Buy a gas pump and go to Proline website and copy their hb setup. lotza luck-John

 

[AzViper]

I currently have a 10x36 proline sluice that I am going to be converting to a highbanker. This will be my first experience with highbanker as all I've used are stream sluices. My question is regarding the water pump that will be needed for the highbanker. I'm going to use a 12v submersible pump, currently I own a 1250 gph pump. Is that to small to run enough water? If so, some advice on what gph I need to run would be greatly appreciated. I'm set on a 12v pump and not a gas pump however

Huelten,

Welcome to T Net. You have come to the right place to ask your questions and its member's are willing to help. You will need lots of water to get your sluice to operate correctly. First you have to remember a pumps output is based on total output at no head height. For every inch the pump has to pump above its intake you loose GPH's. I suspect that you have an Atwood pump, nice pump but does not have the GPH's you will need. A 1250 GPH pump pumps 20.8 GPM, 2000 GPH delivers 33.3 GPM, etc.

Although I am not operating a highbanker in the terms you plan to use, I am operating a trommel / sluice and my pump of choice will deliver 133 GPM. It's all about flow.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Welcome to the forum Huelten.

The guys are right. I run a highbanker all the time as a recirc system and it's all about the flow. Well, angle comes into it as well but we'll get into that later.

You need enough flow for the water to move the materials through the sluice box. It's the width that is going to determine how much water you're going to need. The wider the box, the more water it's going to take to move the materials. You want enough water flow to keep the water AT LEAST 1/2 inch above the top of your riffles if not more. If you don't have that much water then your riffles can clog up easily and you end up "flat boarding" your materials and loosing gold out the end. If you put some materials into the system you want them to clear out of it in about 5-7 seconds.

I mentioned angle earlier and it's just as important as the water flow. Try to keep the downward slope as close to level as you can, but still have enough to help the water clear out your riffles. Again the 5-7 second clearing time. You can make up (to a point) for not enough flow by increasing the angle a bit but that will only work so much. My box is 12"X48" and I run it at 4-1/2 to 5 degrees of downward slope. If I go much more than that I start blowing gold out the end.

It's much better to have too much water and install a valve to adjust the flow to what you need than to go strictly by the so called "output" rating of a pump. Get the biggest pump you can afford and then experiment with flow and angle settings until you're happy with your recovery rate. Ir sounded like you were going to have it set p as a recirc system so you can always go through your tailings to see if your sluice missed any of the gold. I've seen 12V pumps up to 4000 GPH rating. They're pricey but they are available.

EDIT: There's nothing that say you can't run more than one 12V pump. That's how I have mine set up. One for the header box and another feeding the box itself. Since you're going to have to block off the feed end anyway you can set it up for a second water supply off of another pump. PM me for details if you want.

 

[Huelten]

golden irish man:
thanks for the info. my reason for wanting a 12v pump was not to set up a recirculating system but to avoid any regulations and laws with gas pumps. i understand laws differ from state to state but what are the general guidelines for gas powered highbankers? i liked the sound of your plan with the two 12v pumps, but it seems after buying two pumps and two batteries it would essentially be cheaper and more effective to go gas.

 

[AzViper]

golden irish man:
thanks for the info. my reason for wanting a 12v pump was not to set up a recirculating system but to avoid any regulations and laws with gas pumps. i understand laws differ from state to state but what are the general guidelines for gas powered highbankers? i liked the sound of your plan with the two 12v pumps, but it seems after buying two pumps and two batteries it would essentially be cheaper and more effective to go gas.

No need to have two batteries. Just one battery will do what you need provided you have the correct Amp Hour battery that can handle the load for the amount of hours you plan to run your system. As for using gas pump you need to check your state as all states are different.

Here is a Johnson 4000 GPH pump. It will set you back between $140.00 to $180.00 depending on where you buy it. Its one of the best 12VDC pump you can buy.

Another thing you need to consider is PVC valve for controlling the flow and ID of tubing. If you restrict the pump you lower the output while raising the PSI. Bottom line. If the pump has an ID opening of 1" you will want to keep the tubing size ID 1" and in this case you would need to use a 1-1/4" PVC ball valve to keep the ID throughout the system to keep the flow at the highest flow rate. As Golden said the valve will control your flow. If you throttle the valve down you will increase pressure, but you also increase the amp draw on the battery and the increase amps on the motor could harm the motor if amps climb above the amp rating on the motor by 15 to 20 percent.. With a gas pump you do not need to worry about all these variables as you do with a electric pump.

 

[Huelten]

Azviper:

after looking up the laws it appears the laws are the same regardless of gas or electric, i just had to dig deeper than i had before. so with that being said i looked into some gas pumps, whats your opinion on this pump from harbor freight.
Powerful 212cc 4-stroke overhead valve gas engine
9540 (GPH) (gallons per hour)
Total head lift: 97.5 ft.
Suction head lift: 26 ft.
Low oil alert
Recoil start
$179.99


or this one

Powerful 79cc 4-stroke overhead valve gas engine
2220 GPH (gallons per hour)
Total head lift: 105 ft.
Suction head lift: 26 ft.
Low oil alert
Recoil start
120.00$


one seems to small and the other too big, any advice?

 

[AzViper]

The Predator engine used is a knock off of the Honda engine. I have the 212CC engine in my trommel. It starts on the first pull. In the Go Kart forums the kids and parents love the engine. I have no issues with the engine. I can't comment on the pump section of this gas pump. The reviews appear to be solid. Like any pump you will need to restrict what flows through the pump impellers.

Had I not gotten the pump I have I was going to purchase the 212cc pump.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Thanks for covering that base for me Keith. Not only did it save me some typing but I'm not all that up on gas powered pumps anyway. Better to have someone that knows the equipment give the man an answer that to have me make a W.A.G. on it.

 

[Huelten]

yeah i plan on pulling from a stream, i believe the pump will have to be at least 25 feet away from the waterline.

 

[AzViper]

Remember you will need to use a hose on the intake designed for suction for the gas pump. On the end of the hose I would purchase a piece of 6" PVC, 6" end cap, and a 6" to 2" reducer. Maybe a 3ft section of PVC. Glue the end cap and reducer to the PVC pipe. Next I would drill as many 1/4" holes that you can drill all over the pipe and rear end cap. This will be your filter to keep crap from being sucked into the pump. You will want to keep the tube completely submerge under water and off of the bottom of the streambed. You will need to check the tube once in a while to clean the outside surface.

 

[Huelten]

i heard a good trick on keeping the intake clean is to put it inside a 5gallon bucket and submerge the whole thing in addition to building a filter like youve suggested.

 

[AzViper]

This is my pump. The 12 two inch holes will be covered with wire mesh. This will sit inside a 55 gallon barrel cut down..



This will give you an idea what 133 gallons per minute flow is...

 

[Huelten]

thanks for all the info, i am getting started with construction next Tuesday, will post if i run into any problems.

 

[Huelten]

quite a lot of water there, im looking for about half, but that can be solved with a simple valve to regulate flow on my hopper correct? like i said this is my first experiance with involving any pumps,piping, ect, in my mining so im just trying to learn as much as i can

 

[AzViper]

Correct on the valve. You can also place a hose bib as I did so you can have a garden hose and sprayer to wash everything down. If you have any questions feel free to PM me. Also if you buy the gas pump give me a shout on breaking in the motor. In my setup I will be using two of the Predator engines. My buddy bought a generator with the 212CC engine of which will power my pump on this system,

​

 

[Huelten]

very neat, i cant wait to get started, just have to find myself the right pump

 

[AzViper]

Thanks for covering that base for me Keith. Not only did it save me some typing but I'm not all that up on gas powered pumps anyway. Better to have someone that knows the equipment give the man an answer that to have me make a W.A.G. on it.

Jeff no problem. Hey we both like to help fellow members.

 

[goldenIrishman]

When are you going to be field testing that thing Keith? You've got to be close to finishing it up. Let me know when you're going to take her out and I'll be there!