Bellows puffer style drywasher plans

[G0lddigg@]

another benefit of a leaf blower setup
obviously cant use them in Australia but would be very easy to knock one up if you had a mining lease with bedrock.

 

[aushunter]

I have started fooling around with Auto Cad inventor with regards to the plans supplied.
I will try and get to make some sense of it.
Just started tonite.


I will slowly get it together, just gotta work out inventor.
Cheers
Brad...

 

[MJB]

cool....I wish I knew how to use computers a bit better

 

[Nightjar]

Good start Brad,
Can't get past first base with Auto Cad, not a mentor, student etc etc.
Is there a way to download a free version?

Cheers
Peter

 

[Redfin]

Sketchup is quite powerful and free.
heaps of tutorials on the internet and uTube etc.
http://www.sketchup.com/

 

[gcause]

Looking good Brad.

 

[aushunter]

Good start Brad,
Can't get past first base with Auto Cad, not a mentor, student etc etc.
Is there a way to download a free version?

Cheers
Peter

Hey Pete,
You can download Inventor from the net free but you need to be a student, My eldest boy plays around with it a bit so we have the full blown version of it.
I am trying to come up with a more simple type of blower after I finish with the original model. Then maybe print out plans and distribute for free.
Brad....

 

[rc62burke]

I second the recommendation for "Scetchup" as a design tool, I have just started using it to design a trailer & after about 4 hours playing with it I was able to put together some plans. It's free

I will be using it to design a "Dryblower"
cheers
Lee

 

[gcause]

Ok finally got a chance to wire up the wiper motor.

The wiper motor I bought was from a GQ Nissan Patrol so I went over to the friendly folk at the nissan patrol forum and asked a few silly questions on how to go about wiring this up and they were very helpful even if I was way off topic for them.

Bet its not everyday they get asked how to wire up a Gold prospecting Dry Washer unit. :lol:

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/foru...-Windscreen-wiper-motor-for-my-Gold-Drywasher

Still they indulged my request and provided me with a wiring diagram as follows:

It seems wiper motors are mostly the same setup:

• There is a ground wire (normally a black wire for - negative), this wire usually runs direct from the motor to the casing of the wiper motor;[/*]
• There is a power wire usually a red (for + positive);[/*]
• There is a high speed wire (could be any colour);[/*]
• There is a low speed wire (could be any colour); and[/*]
• There is a park wire which returns the motor to where it started (could be any colour).[/*]

I didnt need the park wire so they pointed me at the low and high speed.

I only wanted the high speed so I wound up with just two wires to attach to the motor, those being the power (+ positive) and the high speed (- negative).

Added in a 20Amp fuse for safety as per the wiring diagram and a switch to turn it on and off, took about 5 minutes to hook it all up ready for testing.

And here is the wiring all setup ready to test the motor out:

Made a small mistake on what they told me to do as I need to move the fuse over to the other side of the switch. :8

However it worked well enough for testing the motor. I hooked it up to the anderson connector at the back of the troopy and waited for the fireworks to start. But they didn't and I am glad to say its all working.

I will have to swap that fuse over to the other side of the switch direct to the battery for the final wiring.

Now I just have to work out how to mount it on the dry washer and attach it to the bellows mechanism.

Hope this helps someone else with their build when it comes to wiring up the wiper motor.

 

[Redfin]

So how goes it everyone.
Anyone up and running yet?

 

[Nanjim]

Bump.....

What's happening with this build.....

Cheers Nanjim

 

[ballarat_gold]

I dont remember where i found this clip, but tis a pretty cool drywasher .. Says im not allowed to post links till ten posts but thought it'd be k, delete if not sry..

[video=480,360]Https://youtu.be/zNZ02kyXuus[/video]

 

[Nightjar]

Here is my latest dryblower, bought it for $50.00 another $50.00 for much needed overhaul and conversion to wiper motor drive.
Works an absolute treat, all the super fine gold + a few lead shot were retrieved behind top riffle.
BTW the riffle cloth is a double thickness of a Christmas ham bag.

 

[thedigger]

Well you have been busy,it has come really well.
At the moment mud seems to be a bit of problem in the west.

Regards Frank

 

[Geo2]

From my research into the subject most people seem to recommend the bellows over the blower, noise and the amount of dust generated being a big part of that. Mostly reading the American forums.

I just wanted to make the bellows type because I love the history and it is closer to the way they used to do it out on the goldfields. Call me old school but the bellows unit just appeals to me

I also wanted a quieter unit and I am only considering using the leaf blower motor to run it because my brother had one available (someone was going to toss it out) and he spent time on it getting it going for me. I like to use what I have to hand and then improve on it over time if needs be. Also I was considering making a blower version later so I could compare how effective each is. So there is potential for reuse of the blower motor. If I can get my hands on a wiper motor I will try that as it should be a lot quieter.

The cost of a new Keene unit $2000 - $2500 is just way out of my reach right now.

I'm building the drywasher unit as a lot of the places I go only have water for a limited amount of time each year and it cuts the gold getting season short for me. Hopefully with this I can go out all year round.

Grant, me too I do like the quite click clack of the puffer/bellows style drywasher :lol:

As most of the gold in Sudan found in the desert, and since most of the easy bigger nuggets already gone ! Prices of Minelab units has dropped signaficantly , small miners turned into using drywashers instead. Another cause is the open pit mines (deep shafts) are very dangerous to work in (there is no support to walls whatsoever ! ).

Here the new hot items on use are Big blower dry washers

Clouds of dust can be seen from distances, also roaring little Chinese made engines that provide air for those units !

Like this one, they are based on American drywashers , modified locally and fed by front end loaders :

 

[Guest]

One of my most recent builds' fits into a small tin toolbox.

 

[Dug]

Great peice of work ,how does it go Zuke ? .
....lovin this thread by the way ,the area we go most of the time has been well sluiced. One of these for spring summer would be a great addition.

 

[G0lddigg@]

One of my most recent builds' fits into a small tin toolbox.
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/1377/1433840589_image.jpg

Awesome hand operation i love it

 

[Guest]

Yeah goes aright' surprising how much it will process I originally built it just to sample but might be the only one I build at this stage, the hopper box has been tucked in to lift the catch tray but holds nearly a bucket.

 

[MJB]

That's a great looking little blower there mate and awesome looking diggings too...perfect for the dry blower. How is the recovery rate on that thing?