Need some drywasher advise

mamich

Jr. Member
Mar 6, 2016
37
84
Las Cruces, NM
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I was running some dirt today in the drywasher and was wondering what kind of angles and flows are best, the dirt is pretty dry but I run it twice to make sure. seems like I still get gold in the tailings and would like to get it all. Here's a picture of it in action. Also I curious as to what others see in the tray, like in my videos all the light stuff goes to one side, is that normal? I've always assumed it was the vibrations but I have to ask?
drywasher.JPG
 

I am also wondering what is a good replacement cloth for the tray on a blower type drywasher? Mine is starting to show some wear.
 

i also would like to know where tp get a replacement cloth.
thanks.
 

Do a search on Ebay for drywasher cloth. $19.95 shipped to your door in 3 days.
Have you tried leveling it -- I watch mine as it's running and if I don't like it I'll raise one side.
Mike
 

Yes, it is perfectly level when the picture was taken. Just seems weird to me the all the larger material hangs on one side but the discharge at the bottom seems to be an equal amount of material

I've seen the cloth for sale on eBay but am more curious about what the material is that is commonly used, maybe just getting it from a fabric distributor so I have extra for next time
 

Yes, it is perfectly level when the picture was taken. Just seems weird to me the all the larger material hangs on one side but the discharge at the bottom seems to be an equal amount of material

I've seen the cloth for sale on eBay but am more curious about what the material is that is commonly used, maybe just getting it from a fabric distributor so I have extra for next time

Check out muslin cloth for replacement purposes and you can get it anywhere fabric is sold. That is what is suggested for use for DIY dry washers.

For the lopsided appearance of the cons......probably vibration similar to tapping the edge of a gold pan especially if there is built in oscillation in the unit. From that, the waste pile probably has more coarse or heavier material on one side compared to the other (?).
 

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Thanks arizu I had seen the muslin mentioned in some of the posts but I thought maybe it was more for puffer style drywashers. I'll look more into the muslin for my next go around but I just finished talking with the OEM on the phone, great people. They are sending me some material for free, I felt so bad about getting the free stuff that I asked about a replacement punchplate for my machine which is what the material is glued to and I purchased one of those so now I have a spare for a while.
 

Hey Butch from Pa here, yep you definitely need to drop your box at least 3 links and maybe more. You don't want it to run off but you should have a good flow off. Trial and error works best and you do need to be level, If the big stuff is hanging up on the sides, it will roll the gold over and out. Mercerized cloth is what my gold bug has/had. You can get three or four out of a yard from any fabric store.

Butch
 

Since your using a Royal i would use the riffle tray material that it came with, Robert is very specific in his equipment designs. All you need to do is call and have them ship you a new riffle board which shouldn't cost much....quick and easy.

Almost always when material runs to one side or the other (in the tray) its because the machine is not level or slightly rocking back and forth while running. If not the case, call Royal and discuss the issue with them 'cause they may have heard it before with that drywasher and have a remedy at hand

In your picture, you can see the riffle outlines and that is good. Try this..... put your hand just above the material while the drywasher is running. If it feels little rocks are "pelting" the bottom of your hand, back off on the blower intake some and this should help catch more of the fines.

Forced air vibrastatic drywashers are not that efficient at catching fine gold period. If the area your working is known for lots of fines, I would switch to using a prffer
 

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Thx Butch and H P, I did talk with Royal on the cloth, need to call them back about the heavies running on one side. Royal was great I'm getting a replacement riffle cloth plate and they thru in a couple extra cloths for next time. Great Seevice. I will try a few of the suggestions and call them back if needed
 

I was running some dirt today in the drywasher and was wondering what kind of angles and flows are best, the dirt is pretty dry but I run it twice to make sure. seems like I still get gold in the tailings and would like to get it all. Here's a picture of it in action. Also I curious as to what others see in the tray, like in my videos all the light stuff goes to one side, is that normal? I've always assumed it was the vibrations but I have to ask?
View attachment 1446224




From the photo it appears that your material is not as dry as it could be. Your hopper looks pretty steep which may contribute to over feeding if your gate is open too much. (feed rate looks good in the photo)

As far as angle and flow goes, the material should look more like muddy water flowing over the riffles.
As Sherm posted, your box may not have enough angle. To me it does not appear to have enough angle in the photo.

If the box is overloaded it makes it harder for the gold to settle to the bottom and get trapped in the dead zone in front of each riffle.
That's why the angle is so important to maintain the proper material level. Yours appears a little too loaded to me.

Also drywashers are not as efficient as wet washing so there will always be some gold loss. You will never get all the gold drywashing or even wet washing for that matter. Overfeeding/overloading and material not dry enough are the main reasons for excessive gold loss when drywashing.

After zooming in on the photo it appears that perhaps the blower is too strong or your diffuser cloth is worn out, pretty good size particles are airborne. Should only be fine dust.


GG~
 

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I also run the same machine i think it just favors that side. Also do not get your cloth on ebay i went to the royal booth at the show in vegas and they gave me some cloth. It looks almost like lace i catch lots of fines with mine. I tried cloth that was to dense ot just gets cloged and pulls tje glue off. Mine runs just like yours i am not missin much the second is the cloth from royal should beable to find simliar at walmart or a cloth store. But i also bought a second deck for 18 bucks. Worth every penny to have a back up
 

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