So tell me why this is a bad idea - Vibrating Gold Pan

If you're crazy, then so am I. Been mulling the same concept for some time: a bank of cell phone vibration alert motors in a casing that's mounted to the base and near the lip of the pan (removable housing for ease of repairs), a little control box/battery compartment that's either in the same housing or remotely mounted. Control box allows selecting which motors buzz, maybe even a rhythmic pulse pattern mode so you can choose the amount and type of vibration required depending on the amount of concentrates in the pan. Waterproof the works to IP68 and away you go!

An easy way to beta test this concept would be to purchase an adult toy with vibratory control and duct tape it to the bottom of the pan, but I can't bring myself to do that.   :

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Study up on the concept of liquification to see the optimum frequency and energy required for doing this. Too much and you will have everything floating around. Too little and it does nothing. Most of the automatic panning tables use a very slow vibration with movement visible to the naked eye.

This is a concept that has well and truly been done before on a scale that allows for automated panning by machine. I don't know if anyone has tried to do it with a small pan. I believe that the mass of the pan or sorting table is important. You need to be able to move the pan with just the right amount of movement for your conditions and your hands will dampen the action. Lots of things to consider.

Good luck.

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A single cellphone vibration motor won't be enough to shake up a "normal" amount of fine classified material. As there are many types of such motors around with diverse offset weights, experimentation is required to find the ideal number of motors and placement which will shift the heavies down, and the lighter stuff towards the edge of the pan. If your test run can shift a decent amount of iron sand, it'll probably work well for gold. Avoid vibrations from the motors cancelling or partially nulling out each other.

Waterproofing's the easy part. I can suggest gluing a waterproof bag to the bottom of the pan. Dicapac, Aquapac and Hypergear makes small bags suitable for the purpose. A base for the rig with 2 "C" rails can be made from acrylic or spare bits of metal; this base is glued to the inside of the waterproof bag, ensuring good (indirect) contact with the bottom of the pan.

The motors are mounted in the desired placement pattern on a piece of acrylic (lets call this the sub-base) and slid into the base. Ensure tight contact between base and sub-base. If your batteries and controls are externally connected to the rig by wires, use a cable gland (IP68 waterproof rating) to allow ingress into the waterproof bag. You'll have to make some kind of fixture to attach the portion of the cable gland to the base, otherwise an undue strain will be put on the waterproof bag's material. Add a few dabs of silicone around the cable gland's base for added safety, toss in a sachet of silica gel to absorb any moisture in the waterproof bag, and you're done!

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How about a radial mounted motor with about 10-20 grams of weight, mounted to a suction cup?
The weight slides and locks on a rod to adjust intensity?
Stick it on the bottom of any pan and tip away!
This would oscillate the pan from center, in a circular motion relative to the pan.
My fertile imagination tells me that this would work quite well

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sounds like a good idea

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