Simple Modifications To The Blue Bowl Gold Concentrator For Better Gold Recovery
Simple Modifications To The Blue Bowl Gold Concentrator
For Better Gold Recovery
I have had the Blue Bowl Gold Concentrator for about 8 months now and have used it quite a bit during this time. Where I live in Michigan there is a lot of fine flour gold deposited by the glaciers that went through long ago. I get about one flake of placer gold per shovel on average. Sometimes I find more, sometimes not. It is like this just about anywhere I have checked so far.
The Blue Bowl Gold Concentrator is one of the most popular tools to concentrate out your fine gold from black sands. But as just about everyone knows, using the Blue Bowl is quite a task and can take a lot of time to keep it adjusted correctly.
The Blue Bowl Gold Concentrator
There are some variables that need to be considered when using the Blue Bowl. You must adjust your water flow to match the grain size of the cons you are running through it. Larger grains require more water flow to get them cleaned out while finer cons require much less water flow.
One of the variables that you are always dealing with is adjusting the flow rate by moving the input valve. The valve that ships with the Blue Bowl only has 1/4 turn from wide open to fully closed. This is not much range of motion which makes it harder to adjust precisely. So the first thing I did was to buy a valve with 1 1/4 turns to it from wide open to fully closed. This gives me a fine adjustment so I can set the water flow precisely and leave it there.
Improved Water Flow Valve For The Blue Bowl
Another issue you will often see when running off a battery is the changing voltage of the battery as it runs down. If you put a battery charger on it, the voltage is constantly changing until it is fully topped off. Every change in battery voltage will vary your water flow rate as well. This makes it quite frustrating to keep the water level in the Blue Bowl at the right setting for the cons you are running through it. I lost a nice flake of gold when I connected the battery charger to my battery.
Piece Of Gold I Lost
In an instant, the water flow gushed up higher and that flake of gold went down the center hole before I could react.
My first solution was to put a battery charger on the small battery I was using and just leave it in place the entire time I am running the Blue Bowl. But as most of you know, even with the battery charger on all the time, the voltage can vary a little bit sometimes. This is not a perfect solution for running a lot of cons through my Blue Bowl.
Keep The Battery Charged For More Stable Water Flow
I dug out a 12 volt power supply from an old printer. You can find them laying around somewhere or buy one for the job. The idea is to get a very stable voltage to power your water pump with precision at all times.
Stable Power Supply For Stable Water Flow
If you are out in the field and have to use a battery, take the largest deep cycle battery you can get your hands on and make sure it is charged before you head out. In time you will need to adjust your water flow rate as the battery discharges but it will be much easier than when using a smaller battery.
With the modifications I made, I am finding very fine flour gold now in my black sand cons. I have classified this down to 25 mesh which is pretty fine. Check out some of the flakes I found.
Improved Blue Bowl Gold Recovery
20 Mesh Flour Gold
Improved Blue Bowl Flour Gold Recovery
I will be working on a stable 12 volt regulator to connect to a battery so stay tuned for updates. I will put a link here when I get it finished. I will be selling them so watch for the link.
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About the Author
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Troy Reid |
