Thomas Wentling New Member Posts:71 
| 04 Sep 2018 03:26 PM |
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I saw an article where a guy was going to extend the classifier plate all the way to the end of the dredge sluice. His concern was that rocks rolling down the sluice box would pull the gold out. My Keene 2" dredge has a plate that is angled up. The rocks tend to build up on it so I stop to clean it off. I was thinking of running a solid smooth piece the rest of the way down so rocks would not go across the riffles. What do you think? does it matter? |
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JEFF W HIGGERSONNew Member Posts:28
| 05 Sep 2018 06:21 AM |
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don't run the plate to the end the rocks will not knock out the gold and if your plate has a bend going up then turn your plate so the bend is going down the plate should be flat or it mite have a bend to go over a riffle check out this link you might find some info there.
http://www.goldgold.com/s...gh-a-sluice-box.html |
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William Hall Buzzard Posts:660
| 05 Sep 2018 03:33 PM |
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Thomas,
If the plate is too long, water flow becomes an issue, or lack there of
Not enough flow to keep the lower section moving as well as the upper section
Jeff is correct, in that the classifier needs to lean if not level downward to keep the large rocks moving
Try this first, see how she works
If your seeing gold, you should see only the BIG stuff lower than the classifier
Any thing under the classifier "should" be in the first or second riffle, maybe third, anything past that, adjust the box in some fashion, slowing the flow, take little bites at a time
Flattin out the box, or lower the water flow (not recommended)
Bill
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Thomas WentlingNew Member Posts:71
| 05 Sep 2018 05:41 PM |
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The classifier plate is designed by Keene. It is low in the back and rises towards the front. It does catch the stones and all the water passes through the classifier plate before it reaches the end. I think Keene did this so it would hold the stones. I had to keep going back and cleaning it off. I could extend the plate using the same type. Flat with holes. The problem is that small stones tend to get stuck in the holes and stop the bigger ones from rolling on down. Since all the water has already passed through the classifier plate, I am considering going solid the rest of the way. It would make it a lot easier to push the stones of the plate with the holes and off the end of the sluice box. |
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JEFF W HIGGERSONNew Member Posts:28
| 06 Sep 2018 06:25 AM |
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does this dredge have a crass box or a flare tube and if it has a flare tube then the down bend of the punch plate should be in front and down to make a angle wall that the stones have to go over there will be some build up there but not much if you are running with enough pump speed and don't over feed it
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Thomas WentlingNew Member Posts:71
| 06 Sep 2018 09:12 AM |
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Thanks Jeff....There are the words I was looking for.... LOL... PUNCH PLATE. It has the crash box. The punch plate does angle up which holds the stones. The problem is, it can tend to get backed up. Like I had mentioned, the holes in the plate can hold smaller pebbles which in turn hold the stones. I bought the dredge used so there was no manual. Maybe I am supposed to clean the punch plate off once in a while. Do you think it matters if the stones roll down the sluice? I am using a 2" and it has a guard so nothing much over an inch goes into the sluice.
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JEFF W HIGGERSONNew Member Posts:28
| 06 Sep 2018 02:33 PM |
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does your punch plate have sides on it to hold it above the riffle and maybe a rib down the middle? it sounds like you got it upside down maybe a photo wood be helpful
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Thomas WentlingNew Member Posts:71
| 09 Sep 2018 01:26 PM |
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No sides on the punch plate. I don't know how to post pictures on here yet. It is the keene 2" gold buddy dredge. I don't know if you can find a view of the sluice on Google. |
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JEFF W HIGGERSONNew Member Posts:28
| 10 Sep 2018 05:58 AM |
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I cod not find a good photo of the punch plate but there was one that was good enough it looks like there is a rib in the middle and there should be ribs along the sides of the punch plate and the ribs are there to hold the punch plate off of the riffles you don't want to have the punch plate on the riffles and there should be a bend at the upper end and the bend should go down and touch the carpet and I don't know what is the air gap between the top of the riffle and the bottom of the punch plate that Keen uses but I use 2 to 2.5 times the hole size say your punch plate has 3/8 in holes there should be 3/4 to 1in ribs holding up the punch plate
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Thomas WentlingNew Member Posts:71
| 10 Sep 2018 12:09 PM |
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The plate touches the very beginning of the sluice box and angles up away from the riffles. The water washes off the stones as they rise up the plate. Once they get to the end, vibration tends to shake them off the end of the plate and they wash down the sluice. Since all the water passes though the plate before reaching the end, I figured I would just cut a solid piece of aluminum and run it all the way to the end. That way what ever stones do roll off the end of the punch plate will just keep going and not touch the riffles. |
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JEFF W HIGGERSONNew Member Posts:28
| 10 Sep 2018 01:54 PM |
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you should have about 2 to 3in of water running fast enough to wash all your rock down the box and off the end so it sounds like you are running your pump to slow or that you need a new pump or a bigger pump you should be able to fill the box full of water if you run the pump at full speed. and as long as you don't hog the material the box should clear just fine and there should be a 1in. drop per feet of sluice box that is where you start at then you can adjust for water speed and it is better to run it fast and losing 10% of the gold then run slow to try to get all the gold because you will have more gold in the end because more material more gold and you can check your tailing with a gold pan to see if you are losing much or after you clean out your box then you can run your tailing at a slower speed and see how much you blow out running fast if you can get 10% or less out of your tailing then don't slow down
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Thomas WentlingNew Member Posts:71
| 12 Sep 2018 06:14 AM |
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In the article I read, the guy was concerned that the stones falling off the punch plate and rolling down the sluice would pull the gold off. I think I had water speed about right ( sluice wasn't filling with material) and the stones that did fall off the punch plate were rolling off the end of the sluice. I will be going out again in Oct. I will check the angle of the sluice so I have about one inch per foot drop. Thanks for all the info and suggestions, everybody! |
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