highbanker pump, refueling?

[Picker]

Watched a few vids of highbanking and it was said in one of them that when you stop and restart the highbanking, the material is swirled arround alot more therefore you can lose material. This was proven by showing an example where all the black sands made it's way to the end of the sluice after a restart. So it got me worried and on the weekend I did a clean up after the tank ran out. But I would rather have running for alot longer. So I am now curious, is it possible to refuel the highbanker whilst it is running, when the fuel gets low? Or is this a big no no? My pump is only small 2 stroke petrol pump and needs refilling after 40 minutes of run time. Cheers

 

[y4k]

Im no expert and theres every chance ill be corrected by someone lol but i dont see any reason why after an elapsed period of time u couldnt just open the tank and top it up on the go...ive done it several times with a mower and never had a problem. The only time it MAY is if the level has gotten so low that it starts taking air but even then i suspect it may only cough and splutter a bit until it gets it fill of fuel again. As i say im no expert with water pumps though and am curious to see other opinions.

 

[PabloP]

The issue is overfilling or splashing fuel on the hot engine exhaust and cause a fire or explosion. Yes it can be done, but from an OH&S point of view it shouldn't be done. Your choice, but I suggest care is needed anyway.

Rob.

 

[mdv]

I see no reason why you cannot stop your pump when using a HB - before you switch off the pump put a pan under the end to catch anything that might drop out unexpectedly. And keep the pan there when you re-start the pump.

With my Walbanker, I switch off the pump regularly. I have never seen any gold drop out into my pan - such is the effective holding capability of the Walbanker design (matting plus bread crate).

On the other hand, using a pump with an Angus MacKirk sluice and switching off the pump will certainly spew out fines and gold.

 

[yobskin]

Just level out your highbanker before you shut the water off..and reset it after you have water flow... or setup a 2nd fuel tank with a tap...? Dont mess with petrol!!! All it takes is fumes and Kaboom!!!! Hot exhaust will do it. My dad blew up the man cave filling a running engine....he was very lucky 7 broken ribs minor burns hahahaha he looked funny with no hair what so ever for months....

 

[blisters]

If you are concerned either way get yourself a larger external tank that will last the day.
Jon

 

[Terrraaustralis2014]

Just started doing this last week. I'd personally also be wary of the fumes opposed to the petrol itself.

...just a reminded for caution.

 

[Goldtarget]

Just pop the pan under the end mate, also configure in a tap to reduce the flow. Having a regular shutdown is not a bad thing, after a leg sinking in the mud and an all too curious kid pushing mine over I like to do a regular cleanup. Also if running mats you can reach a saturation point. Just grab a 20l bucket wash the mats and crank up the pump again. Too easy. Best to have the mind and attention on the job refueling, good luck mate!

 

[G0lddigg@]

Couple of options to you for a thirsty pump. As has been said above best idea is to get a pan or large wide bucket at the end of your banker and switch off. This way you can check on your heavies accumulation. Nothing worse than digging like a maniac to find you've hit a pocket of leadshot which has overloaded yoir primary catch area. Happens all the time around here.

Second option and i have done this when working 80 meters up a cliff and for obvious reasons was going through fuel at a rapid rate. Plumb a second fuel source with a lenghtly hose at least a meter to be safe and have this source above your main pump.

Theres a few little tricks to this like replacing your standard fuel cap with a non breathing cap drilled to guage your second fuel source. Best to have a inline fuel filter as well. When your engine burns fuel it should draw from the second source. Make sure the second source has a breather cap and make sure your filter remains submerced.

Third option is much easier. Get a larger fuel tank. The manufacturer made your pump look nice. You can modify it to suit your needs. Ebay is your friend

 

[WalnLiz]

Personally I've never had a problem when the banker runs out of fuel whilst shoveling. Nothing should travel down the sluice when the engine cuts off while feeding the banker. The problem with most guys is they refill and leave the throttle in the same position on restart, and the initial high volume blast on restart can cause over flush of the wash. Before restart just turn the throttle down to 1/3rd working volume and slowly increase to full capacity. This will alleviate the problem.

Wal.

 

[G0lddigg@]

Depends on your setup i think you would agree Wal. If you're running riffles especially the vortex once gone causes alot of poorly made riffle setups to flush and run clean. Any drop style vortex system like yours shouldn't be an issue but there's alot of people running riffles over expanded. Even some gold hog configurations will flush out if you dont wind your flow down.

Maybe use a drop riffle or two at the end of your run if its a problem.

 

[Brumble-Gum]

Personally I've never had a problem when the banker runs out of fuel whilst shoveling. Nothing should travel down the sluice when the engine cuts off while feeding the banker. The problem with most guys is they refill and leave the throttle in the same position on restart, and the initial high volume blast on restart can cause over flush of the wash. Before restart just turn the throttle down to 1/3rd working volume and slowly increase to full capacity. This will alleviate the problem.

Wal.

Agree with you Wal, I turn my pump back down (turtle) when I refill. When I start I slowly bring the throttle up to where it was before I refilled.
Small price to pay for hours of shoveling.

 

[Picker]

Thanks guys some very handy pointers to help this noob along the way, cheers.

 

[Picker]

I see no reason why you cannot stop your pump when using a HB - before you switch off the pump put a pan under the end to catch anything that might drop out unexpectedly. And keep the pan there when you re-start the pump.

With my Walbanker, I switch off the pump regularly. I have never seen any gold drop out into my pan - such is the effective holding capability of the Walbanker design (matting plus bread crate).

On the other hand, using a pump with an Angus MacKirk sluice and switching off the pump will certainly spew out fines and gold.

its the eldorado banker mate, don't trust it for quids, design is not up to walbanker standards. Cheers