User:Florb
Introduction
Understanding the intricacies of the power dynamic in the ship is key to keeping the ship in order. Many, especially the HoP, believe that the Captain is the seat of power on the ship. This is untrue as having the Captain wired into the ship's power grid provides minimal power at best.
The real source of power comes from Engineering because without Station Engineers to set up the power sources at the beginning of a shift, the ship would cease to function normally and devolve into a degenerative society with no more power than a uncivilized horde of lowly Assistants, who, it should be noted, also provide even less power when wired directly to the grid.
Power Sources
The Stormdrive Engine
The Stormdrive uses input gases to output Power directly in the range of multiple Megawatts. Your best bet on producing more power is usually to juggle with the input gas mix to squeeze out more power
The Nuclear Reactor
Similar to the Stormdrive it produces Power if provided with Cooling and Moderator gases. Its output ranges in the Megawatts. Similarly you may want to change the moderator input to produce more power.
Supermatter Engine
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 Guide carefully and it will be hard to mess it up.
The Radiation emitted from the crystal can be collected in Radiation collectors, but the Power gained by this only ranges in the hundreds of Kilowatts to some Megawatts. On many ships the crystal is paired with a TEG to instead produce power that way.
Singularity Engine
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).
Again an Engine reliant on Radiation, therefore relatively weak in comparison to the alternatives. This will produce a couple of hundred Kilowatts.
Tesla Engine
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 ship. The latter are regularly used to direct lighting through tesla generators, and are best deployed between the engine and anything you hold dear.
As the Tesla produces Electricity directly with Telsa zaps going into grounding rods and striking the tesla coils it produces a lot more power. The tesla can make power in the range of a few Megawatts with multiple tesla balls.
Solar Arrays
See Solars.
The solar arrays act as a secondary power source. They are composed of 60 panels per array and there are 4 arrays on the ship. 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 ship 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 ship revolves around the star (which, again, is unseen by the player), the solar arrays often land in the shadow of the ship 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.
The solar arrays can typically power the entire ship on their own, once the arrays are wired properly.
| Maximum | Average | |
|---|---|---|
| per panel | per array | per array |
| 1500 W (1.5 kW) | 90000 W (90 kW) | 45000 W (45 kW) |
Gas Turbine Generator
See: Incinerator
The gas turbine generator is a tertiary power source that was recently installed in the incinerator. By utilizing the temperature differential between very hot air and very cold air, the turbine generator is able to create a nominal amount of electricity. The hot air is created by burning plasma and oxygen gas mixtures. The cold air is creating by passing air through cooling tubes located in space.
Although it's usually the last power source set up on the ship, it's the only power source that can be accessed by Atmospherics. Also, they're the only ones who can turn on and mix the gas feed needed to sustain the generator without the use of gas canisters. The exact gas mixture for optimal power generation is unknown at this point, but some Engineers have reported values as high as 100 kW and in typical Engineer fashion forgot to write down their recipe. Be prepared to field questions from overprotective proactive AIs who notice plasma in the mixtank.
Portable Generators
Portable generators are failsafes when all other systems fail. They require fuel that is fed directly into the generator by hand. The type of fuel is dependent which type of generator is being used.
Portable generators can be upgraded using parts created by a protolathe. New ones can also be constructed with printable Boards once researched.
| Type | Fuel | Power produced |
|---|---|---|
| P.A.C.M.A.N. Portable Generator | Plasma | 40 kW - 160 kW |
| S.U.P.E.R.P.A.C.M.A.N. Portable Generator | Uranium | 120 kW - 480 kW |
| M.R.S.P.A.C.M.A.N. Portable Generator | Diamond | 320 kW - 1.28 MWs |
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.
Different P.A.C.M.A.N. generators:
P.A.C.M.A.N.
S.U.P.E.R.
P.A.C.M.A.N.
M.R.S.
P.A.C.M.A.N.
Thermo-Electric Generator
Present on some ships, often in combination with a supermatter crystal this generator produces electricity from a difference in input gas temperatures. As usual source for the hot gases are a burning chamber or fusion. The expected Power of this Engine is *starts laughing hysterically more than you could ever need. Note that abusing freezers/coolers to heat or cool gases of a teg is very much frowned upon; so much so that these setups regularly are bombed by admins.
Power Distribution
Power Grid
To most people they're just wires that burn the shit out of you when you try to cut them without wearing insulated gloves. But really, the power grid is the electrical backbone of the ship, powering everything from the emitters containing the singularity to the APC that controls the bathrooms in the locker room that you never go to. Also, it burns the shit out of you if you try to cut it without wearing insulated gloves.
System Power
System power is the amount of power available to the ship at any given time. Power is made available through charged SMESs outputting power and through immediate power from power sources wired directly to the grid.
(System Power) = (Total Output Power of SMESs) + (Power Sources Wired to the Grid/Engines/Reactors)
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. 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.
- 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)
SMES
A Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) Cell is the spess version of a giant rechargeable battery. Building a SMES involves:
1. a wiring input from an Engine/Reactor (high wattage), or from the power grid itself. (Connected with the terminal)
2. a wiring output to the local power grid (low wattage), or to a closed system like the AI or mining ships. (Connected with a cable node under the SMES unit)
SMES Properties
SMES have a modifiable storage capacity, dependent on the power cells installed in the SMES upon fabrication. All SMESs present at the beginning of a typical shift have a default capacity of 3.33 MW.
SMES input (charging) and output levels can be modified using capacitors. All SMESs present at the beginning of a typical shift have a basic capacitor with default i/o levels of 200 kW.
SMESs will only charge when the input power is equal or higher to the input levels specified on the SMES settings panel.
Likewise, SMESs will only output when the level of charge is above the output level specified on the SMES settings panel.
APCs
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. If there isn't enough power in the grid to charge all APCs at once, the ones closest to the local smes will be charged first.
Power Cells
Power cells are used to power devices smaller than the ship such as APCs and cyborgs. Constructed with a protolathe, typical power cells come in several different flavors, in increasing capacity: the default power cell, the high-capacity power cell, the super-capacity power cell, or the hyper-capacity power cell.
There are also atypical cells such as a potato cell and a slime core cell.
| Type | Capacity (W) |
|---|---|
| Typical Cells | |
| Power Cell | 10000 |
| High-Capacity Power Cell | 15000 |
| Super-Capacity Power Cell | 20000 |
| Hyper-Capacity Power Cell | 30000 |
| Atypical Cells | |
| Potato Cell | 300 |
| Slime Core Cell | 10000 |
What to do in case of a power outage
Sooner or later, on every barely functional space ship, the power will go out. This is where you come in and call out to recall that shuttle because you can fix it! Power can go out for many reasons. Your first port of call should be the Power Monitoring console in engineering, assuming it still exists. Then, ask yourself what's going on:
- Power goes out everywhere, but gradually, section by section? This means there's a problem in Engineering itself as the rest of the ship 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 ship.
- Power is out across a small area? This is most commonly a broken wire in maintenance, 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 in 1 or 2 rooms This is most likely an APC that has been tampered with/blew up. 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 ship. 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.
- 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.
- The smes'es cycle between getting power and not getting power for seemingly no reason Bug. admin help it. Can be fixed by admins by restarting the master controller.
- Power isn't actually out? Either someone is crying wolf or something else has happened like for example an electrical storm, which blows out all the lights of an area so people may think power went out.
Now that you know what's wrong with power, it's your job to fix it!
sooooon TM
