Guide to power - Revision history

Florb: /* BUT HOW MUCH DO YOU NEED? */ updated higher laser power consumption

2021-10-05T17:52:07Z

BUT HOW MUCH DO YOU NEED?: updated higher laser power consumption

Florb: basically rewrote enitre guide: updated to give new engineers a scale for the different engines, power consumption and a fast guide to deal with outages

2021-05-08T13:36:09Z

basically rewrote enitre guide: updated to give new engineers a scale for the different engines, power consumption and a fast guide to deal with outages

Show changes

imported>Doerakpoes: /* APCs */ who wrote this?

2019-06-30T14:31:56Z

APCs: who wrote this?

imported>Lolman360: Started fixing problems with first half of page, adding refrences to Tesla/SM.w

2018-03-08T01:11:37Z

Started fixing problems with first half of page, adding refrences to Tesla/SM.w

imported>Somerandomguy: grammar fix

2018-02-20T14:19:49Z

grammar fix

imported>Factoryman942: anti-RIP

2018-01-25T16:51:50Z

anti-RIP

imported>Calzilla1: RIP

2018-01-25T02:32:59Z

RIP

imported>Iatots: /* Power Sources */ updated.

2017-04-13T12:24:13Z

Power Sources: updated.

imported>Meijerivoi: fixed some grammar, can't be bothered to do the rest because the rest of the page is mostly useless garbage.

2016-05-05T17:13:32Z

fixed some grammar, can't be bothered to do the rest because the rest of the page is mostly useless garbage.

imported>Atlanta-Ned: /* APCs */ linked header, removed "more info here" link

2016-03-02T21:44:01Z

APCs: linked header, removed "more info here" link

@@ Line 57: / Line 57: @@
 === BUT HOW MUCH DO YOU NEED? ===
 There are two different grids on a regular ship; Let's call one a '''high wattage Grid''' and the other a '''low wattage grid'''.
-*Reactors/Engines are wired to the high wattage one and connect to the input of the smeses, as well as the Armour well and on some maps even a shield generator and Phasers. The Armour well needs a constant supply of 3MWs, the Shield generator 15MWs. These are the most important things to keep powered as the ship WILL take hits in combat and need to either tank them with a shield or repair afterwards. The well only need to be powered when there is damage on the ship. Lastly for the energy weapons : They are adjustable in their power draw in three levels for the lasers and five levels for the phase cannon. Each level uses 75kWs of Power, so you are set if you have 375kWs of surplus on the grid.
+*Reactors/Engines are wired to the high wattage one and connect to the input of the smeses, as well as the Armour well and on some maps even a shield generator and Phasers. The Armour well needs a constant supply of 3MWs, the Shield generator 15MWs.
-  to sum up: ships with shields need roghly 19 Mws of power to have shields and armour well working at full capacity
-             ships without shields need around 4 Mws for the armour well to work and have access power to run apcs and other systems
+These are the most important things to keep powered as the ship WILL take hits in combat and need to either tank them with a shield or repair said damage afterwards/during combat with the armour well.
 *The low wattage grid is connected to the output of the smeses and powers apcs on the whole ship. This one is very important to keep powered as people actively need apc charged so their machines lights and doors work. A regular Consumption ranges from only around 60 kWs on smaller ships like the eclipse to 170kW or higher on bigger ships. Consumption will rise as new machines/lights etc. are built. (These values can be calculated by simply summing up the power draw of each apc on the ship on a power monitoring console. You also see which apcs are charged or not on said console.)
   to sum up: put the output of the smes/smeses up to the amount at which all apcs become fully charged
              if there is one low wattage grid for the entire ship a good rule of thumb is that a constant supply of 200 kWs from the smeses combined should keep everything powered (as long as you don't have phasers on said grid)
 === SMES ===
 [[File:SMES_Charging.gif]]

@@ Line 227: / Line 227: @@
 [[File:APC2.gif]]
-APCs, or Automated Power Controllers, are found in or, more likely, in maintenance just outside every room with power. They can be used to turn on or off the room equipment, lightning and environmental (a.k.a. ventilation) systems.
+APCs, or Automated Power Controllers, are found on the walls of the room they're powering or, more likely, in maintenance just outside the room. They can be used to toggle the room's equipment, lighting and environmental (a.k.a. ventilation) systems on and off.
 = Concepts =

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 == [[Supermatter| Supermatter Engine]] ==
-The supermatter is a giant pile of exotic material capable of emitting both ionizing radiation and (flammable) gasses. While the generation of these elements is normally rather low, the supermatter can be "activated" into releasing more by, well, most anything: even gasses can start the delamination process if they hold enough energy (heat, usually). You see where this is going? That's right, self-induced chain reactions. Your main job as an engineer will be to cool the supermatter down to prevent it from exploding (luckily a very easy job), while simultaneously exciting it to harvest radiation pulses. It's not an unforgiving engine, some would say it's even too stable to sabotage in a timely manner; read the [[Supermatter| Guide]] carefully and it will be hard to mess it up.
+The supermatter is a giant pile of exotic material capable of emitting both ionizing radiation and (flammable) gases. While the generation of these elements is normally rather low, the supermatter can be "activated" into releasing more by, well, most anything: even gasses can start the delamination process if they hold enough energy (heat, usually). You see where this is going? That's right, self-induced chain reactions. Your main job as an engineer will be to cool the supermatter down to prevent it from exploding (luckily a very easy job), while simultaneously exciting it to harvest radiation pulses. It's not an unforgiving engine, some would say it's even too stable to sabotage in a timely manner; read the [[Supermatter| Guide]] carefully and it will be hard to mess it up.
 == Singularity/Tesla Engine ==
@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 === [[Singularity Engine]] ===
-The harvestable power emitted by a singularity takes the form of ionizing radiation pulses. These can interact with the misterious substance called "plasma" so as to generate electricity. The more plasma available, and the stronger and more frequent the pulses, the more power is generated. The net power output can be measured directly by using a multitool on the collector's wire, checking the first SMES unit connected for available power, or by looking it up on a power monitoring console (though the latter will give skewed results if other power sources such as solars are connected).
+The usable power emitted by a singularity takes the form of ionizing radiation pulses. These can interact with the mysterious substance called "plasma" so as to generate electricity. The more plasma available, and the stronger and more frequent the pulses, the more power is generated. The net power output can be measured directly by using a multitool on the collector's wire, checking the first SMES unit connected for available power, or by looking it up on a power monitoring console (though the latter will give skewed results if other power sources such as solars are connected).
 === [[Tesla Engine]] ===
-This giant ball of incandescent energy regurarly regurgitates power in the form of electric arcs. These arcs can be partially captured by tesla generators, and will generally flow along the most conductive/least resisting path. Metal structures are prime target for its strikes, and grounding rods are the safest there is, drawing arcs to themselves and subsequently dissipating them into the whole station. The latter are regularly used to direct lighting through tesla generators, and are best deployed between the engine and anything you hold dear.
+This giant ball of incandescent energy regularly regurgitates power in the form of electric arcs. These arcs can be partially captured by tesla generators, and will generally flow along the most conductive/least resisting path. Metal structures are prime target for its strikes, and grounding rods are the safest there is, drawing arcs to themselves and subsequently dissipating them into the whole station. The latter are regularly used to direct lighting through tesla generators, and are best deployed between the engine and anything you hold dear.
 == Solar Arrays ==
@@ Line 76: / Line 76: @@
 ==== Wiring to the Grid ====
-Wiring the solar arrays directly to the grid is often used as a more straight-forward approach to hooking up the solars, which benefits the Engineer by bypassing the intricacies of the SMES and generating a generally larger power output but at the expense of a less steady, less modular electrical source. This is often helpful in the emergency circumstance when the singlo is loose or otherwise not available, effectively making the solar arrays the primary power source.
+Wiring the solar arrays directly to the grid is often used as a more straight-forward approach to hooking up the solars, which benefits the Engineer by bypassing the intricacies of the SMES and generating a generally larger power output but at the expense of a less steady, less modular electrical source. This is often helpful in the emergency circumstances where the supermatter crystal has delaminated, taking out the whole of Engineering with it, or when the Singularity or Tesla gets loose.
 To achieve this, the Engineer usually just wires together the cable leading from the array directly to the cable leading out from the solar maintenance room. Typically, insulated gloves are a necessity since the Engineer will need to tap the solar power lines into the main power grid. However, as easy as that sounds, rookie Engineers tend to mangle the wiring so much that the array power lines never make it to the grid.
@@ Line 94: / Line 94: @@
 Initially, the Engineer would want to charge the SMESs enough to where they could give an adequate supply of power. Then, if the Engineer is skilled enough at wiring, both the SMES and the solar arrays can be wired to the grid at the same time. Since the station only draws about 150 kW, but the solars wired to grid produce 180 kW, there's a spare 30 kW to split between the Solar SMESs for recharging. Setting all four Solar SMESs to charge at 6 kW is feasible (reduced from 7.5 kW to account for broken solar panels). The output setting on the SMES can be any value so long as the station draws full power from the solars wired directly. This effectively makes the Solar SMESs a backup power source.
-The drawbacks though are that the Solar SMES input levels should not be put higher than 6 kW since a Solar SMES located at an array going through the night cycle will attempt to draw power from a Solar SMES higher upstream in the [[#power queue]], cannibalistically draining that SMES.
+The drawbacks though are that the Solar SMES input levels should not be put higher than 6 kW since a Solar SMES located at an array going through the night cycle will attempt to draw power from a Solar SMES higher upstream in the [[#power queue]], cannibalizing the power from that SMES.
 Also, the 2 conventional Backup SMESs can't be charged for the same reason of the power queue. However, since the 4 Solar SMESs act as backups, this trade-off is in favor of the dual-wiring of the solars.
@@ Line 132: / Line 132: @@
 |}
-One PACMAN generator is located in the SMES room, with plasma located in secure storage, and it is suggested to use it while setting up the singularity to prevent early release.
+One PACMAN generator is located in the SMES room, with plasma located in secure storage, and it is suggested to use it while setting up the singularity or tesla to prevent early release.
 == Power Cells ==

@@ Line 339: / Line 339: @@
 *'''Power goes out everywhere, in under 10 seconds or so?''' This is most likely a power sink. Power sinks have the odd quirk of still powering the area they are placed in, so your best bet is to get searching for somewhere where the lights are still on, or if it's in maint, where you don't have to crowbar the doors.
 *'''Power goes out everywhere, but gradually, section by section?''' This means there's a problem in Engineering itself as the rest of the station is being topped up with charge. It'll be immediately obvious if the engine isn't on/has escaped. Your next port of call should be the SMES cells. Check they're outputting enough power to overcome the drain OR if no APCs are showing on the Power Monitoring computer, it means a wire has been cut either inside or immediately outside the Engineering area and is not being supplied to the rest of the station.
-*'''Power is out across a small area?''' This is most commonly a broken wire, the easiest way to find it is with familiarity with the power-net and using that in conjunction with the power monitoring computer. If an area has had all wires sending power to it snipped, its APCs will no longer show on the power monitoring computer. For example, if Medbay as a whole has lost power and isn't showing any of its APCs on the power monitor. The wire cut is most likely in the maint tunnel behind Medbay. The more familiar you become with the power nets, the quicker you will be able to work out where the break is and be able to recognize common spots used.
+*'''Power is out across a small area?''' This is most commonly a broken wire, the easiest way to find it is with familiarity with the power-net and using that in conjunction with the power monitoring computer. If an area has had all wires sending power to it snipped, its APCs will no longer show on the power monitoring computer. For example, if Medbay as a whole has lost power and isn't showing any of its APCs on the power monitor, the wire cut is most likely in the maint tunnel behind Medbay. The more familiar you become with the power nets, the quicker you will be able to work out where the break is and be able to recognize common spots used.
 *'''Power is out across 2 small rooms or in one room?''' This is most likely an APC that has been tampered with in some way. Either hacked by an AI/Saboteur, destroyed somehow or just had its cell ripped out. Again, if the APC doesn't show up on the Power Monitoring computer, it means it's been severed from the power net and wire either inside that room or very close to the APC has been cut.
 *'''Power is intermittent across the station. Stuff turns off for a while, starts working, then goes off again?''' Your SMES aren't outputting enough power to keep the APCs charged. This happens most often when the output is just under the drain so therefore some APCs get enough power, while others don't.

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 == Singularity/Tesla Engine ==
 [[File:Singularity_engine.png|thumb|300px]]
-The singularity and tesla engines are the primary source of power no current station. By harnessing either the radiant energy produced by a locally-controlled cosmic [[Singularity]] (otherwise known as a man-made black hole), or straight-up capturing the electric arcs from a giant ball of lightning, an enormous amount of energy can be generated for the station.
+The singularity and tesla engines are the primary source of power only on [[PubbyStation]]. By harnessing either the radiant energy produced by a locally-controlled cosmic [[Singularity]] (otherwise known as a man-made black hole), or straight-up capturing the electric arcs from a giant ball of lightning, an enormous amount of energy can be generated for the station.
 === [[Singularity Engine]] ===

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 = Power Sources =
-== Singularity Engine ==
+== [[Supermatter| Supermatter Engine]] ==
 [[File:Singularity_engine.png|thumb|300px]]
-The singularity engine is the primary source of power on the station. By harnessing radiant energy produced by a locally-controlled cosmic [[Singularity]] (otherwise known as a man-made black hole), and converting the radiation to electrical power via [[#Radiation Collectors|Radiation Collectors]], an enormous amount of energy can be generated for the station.
+The singularity and tesla engines are the primary source of power of some station. By harnessing either the radiant energy produced by a locally-controlled cosmic [[Singularity]] (otherwise known as a man-made black hole), or straight-up capturing the electric arcs from a giant ball of lightning, an enormous amount of energy can be generated for the station.
-''See [[Singularity Engine]] for how to activate the sing without fucking up.''
+=== [[Singularity Engine]] ===
-=== Singularity ===
+=== [[Tesla Engine]] ===
+This giant ball of incandescent energy regurarly regurgitates power in the form of electric arcs. These arcs can be partially captured by tesla generators, and will generally flow along the most conductive/least resisting path. Metal structures are prime target for its strikes, and grounding rods are the safest there is, drawing arcs to themselves and subsequently dissipating them into the whole station. The latter are regularly used to direct lighting through tesla generators, and are best deployed between the engine and anything you hold dear.
 == Solar Arrays ==

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 Understanding the intricacies of the power dynamic in the station is key to keeping the station in order. Many, especially the [[Head of Personnel|HoP]], believe that the [[Captain]] is the seat of power on the station. This is untrue as having the Captain wired into the station's power grid provides minimal power at best.
-The real source of power comes from [[Engineering]] because without [[Station Engineer]]s to set up the power sources at the beginning of a shift, the station would cease to function normally and devolves into a degenerative society with have no more power than a uncivilized horde of lowly [[Assistant]]s, who, it should be noted, also provide even less power when wired directly to the grid.
+The real source of power comes from [[Engineering]] because without [[Station Engineer]]s to set up the power sources at the beginning of a shift, the station would cease to function normally and devolve into a degenerative society with no more power than a uncivilized horde of lowly [[Assistant]]s, who, it should be noted, also provide even less power when wired directly to the grid.
 = Power Sources =
@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 === Singularity ===
-The radiant energy produced by the singularity is dependent on its size. The exact amount of energy is estimated implicitly by measuring the power available provided by a bank of Radiation Collectors (here, the 6 used in Engineering) with filled [[Plasma Tank]]s. The power output can be measured by looking at a connected SMES status screen (such as the Singlo SMESs), or by measuring the wattage directly from the power lines from the collectors using a multitool.
+The radiant energy produced by the singularity is dependent on its size. The exact amount of energy is estimated implicitly by measuring the power available provided by a bank of Radiation Collectors (here, the 6 used in Engineering) with filled [[Plasma Tank]]s. The power output can be measured by looking at a connected SMES status screen, or by measuring the wattage directly from the power lines from the collectors using a multitool.
 {| class="wikitable"
@@ Line 46: / Line 46: @@
 The solar arrays act as a secondary power source. They are composed of 60 panels per array and there are 4 arrays on the station. Each panel can produce 1.5 kW of power for a total of 90 kW per array.
-The solar arrays only produce power when directly facing the local star. (The star is off-screen from the station and cannot be located by the player directly.) A solar tracking module can wired into the solar array circuitry and, with the help of a solar power console, the solar panels can be made to automatically track the local star, which maximizes the power generation for each panel. However, as the station revolves around the star (which, again, is unseen by the player), the solar arrays often land in the shadow of the station which prevents solar power generation at the affected arrays. This effectively gives the solar arrays a solar day-night cycle, where it generates power during the day cycle and does not generate power during the night cycle. Because of the solar cycle, a given array will be able to generate power about 50% (estimated but unconfirmed) of the time, which can be translated to an average 45 kW per unit time, rather than the full 90 kW.
+The solar arrays only produce power when directly facing the local star. (The star is off-screen from the station and cannot be located by the player directly.) A solar tracking module can be wired into the solar array circuitry and, with the help of a solar power console, the solar panels can be made to automatically track the local star, which maximizes the power generation for each panel. However, as the station revolves around the star (which, again, is unseen by the player), the solar arrays often land in the shadow of the station which negatively affects solar power generation at the affected arrays. This effectively gives the solar arrays a solar day-night cycle, where it generates power during the day cycle and does not generate power during the night cycle. Because of the solar cycle, a given array will be able to generate power about 50% (estimated but unconfirmed) of the time, which can be translated to an average 45 kW per unit time, rather than the full 90 kW.
 The solar panels themselves can be, and often are, broken by debris floating in space. Each broken panel reduces the total power generation of the array.
@@ Line 81: / Line 81: @@
 If more power storage is desired, say in the initial stage of the set-up, the engineer may want to reduce or even eliminate power output for the first few solar cycles, before setting the long-term power output.
-Once all four Solar SMESs are adequately charged and outputting long-term power, they will provide a very dependable power output with almost no oversight needed. In our example, the station would receive 160 kW (4 arrays x 40 kW SMES output) from solars, which is usually more than enough to sustain the station on its own without the singlo. This system is also modular, so that even if only three out of four Solar SMESs are used, the total power output is reduced accordingly but still completely steady.
+Once all four Solar SMESs are adequately charged and outputting long-term power, they will provide a very dependable power output with almost no oversight needed. In our example, the station would receive 160 kW (4 arrays x 40 kW SMES output) from solars, which is usually more than enough to sustain the station on its own without the engine. This system is also modular, so that even if only three out of four Solar SMESs are used, the total power output is reduced accordingly but still completely steady.
 That being said, if unchecked, power sinks can drain the solar SMESs, which if depleted would need to go through a solar cycle again before being able to provide steady, adequate power to the station.

@@ Line 240: / Line 240: @@
 Likewise, SMESs will only output when the level of charge is above the output level specified on the SMES settings panel.
-== APCs ==
+== [[APC|APCs]] ==
 [[File:APC2.gif]]
 APCs, or Automated Power Controllers, are found in or, more likely, in maintenance just outside every room with power. They can be used to turn on or off the room equipment, lightning and environmental (a.k.a. ventilation) systems.
 = Concepts =