Red, you need to get on this: I assembled my unit from the parts kit just a few weeks back and have had some trouble with the bucket lid popping off after the seal mangled itself (or one that fit a little too well tore the lip of the bucket). At a recent gold show in Salem, OR, I think I found a solution in the Gamma Seal twist-top lid that snaps in place. I showed one to Red and hopefully he procured a sample to work with. It isn't without it's own set of problems, but it definitely stays in place and the trade-off seems to be worth it. The female threaded ring that snaps onto the bucket rim somewhat permanently creates a flange that impedes smooth pouring of all the sand, but a turkey baster or something else could deal with that. The cross- shaped contour for gripping/twisting the lid creates four recesses approxiamately an inch deep(haven't got one in front of me) where I made four 1 & 1/2 inch vent holes with a handy step drill bit. I think the four vents instead of two will help the outflow "breathe" easier, reducing incidences of the hose popping off, and seal/valve strain. On the underside, the corners of this cross shape are a little too close together for the conduit lock ring used to secure the combination elbow as provided. My solution at this point has been a double-barb elbow retained by "lavatory mack washers." These are rubber, with a cross-section I can only describe as a topless tophat.

(Now here's something I did that may have been a case of solving a problem where none existed, and creating another: I was seeing some black sand flowing out of the vent holes and over the lid, and I wanted to capture that. So I made filters by folding some generic green scouring pads double-thickness, trimming them a little to fit the lid radius, and retaining them over the underside of the vent holes with scrap 1 & 1/2 inch lengths of 3/4 inch PVC pipe pressed into the aforementioned cross shape. Then it occured to me this only helps retain sticks and crud, and last I checked there wasn't much demand for sticks and crud on the commodities market. The heavies ought to do what they do, and fall instead of floating out, and now there's those four recesses on the topside to ease my paranoia of losing precious dust.)

I had a bucket split it's bottom, so I made use of it by cutting off the upper half or so(top is now scrap), drilling four 1 & 1/2 inch drain holes in the bottom, and jamming that onto my fancy new collection pail as a sacrificial bottom to deal with the hard knocks. Now go do a search for "gamma seal 2 gal". You're welcome.