Power bank

[TheEvilMango]

Is it better to run power from a power plant to your machines or is it better to have a Central power bank that distributes the power out? If so how do u set one up?

[Gurgel]

Depends. It is really up to you and your base-building style.

[TheEvilMango]

Well I've noticed that I've had some problems with wires breaking and some people have said that running it from a Central grid would help. But idk how to go about setting one up

[Xuhybrid]

This is how i set mine up lately. I produce my power near the battery bank and transformers. Cool it from below and use automation to prevent the transformers and generators over-working.

[Glassyfo]

1 minute ago, TheEvilMango said:

Well I've noticed that I've had some problems with wires breaking and some people have said that running it from a Central grid would help. But idk how to go about setting one up

 

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Something like that.

[TheEvilMango]

Ok cool. Thank u. And with this set up u don't blow any circuits?

[beowulf2010]

1 minute ago, TheEvilMango said:

Ok cool. Thank u. And with this set up u don't blow any circuits?

You still have to make sure each sub-circuit won't overload its wires, but at least if you screw up it only affects a small part of the base. 

[Xuhybrid]

Each conductive wire can hold 2000 or you can use the normal wires for 1000 capacity, just like in the examples. The point of the transformer is to split power into small chunks, so normal wires don't overload.

[lilibat]

I have been MUCH happier since I started running a heavy wire around my base in basically access tunnels.  I also use that for water and gas distribution.  Just tall enough for a dupe to run through so I'll line the walls with paintings to help offset the  decor hit because dupes LOVE to run through those levels for some reason. Probably the lack of doors.  I will occasionally have a distribution room instead of a bedroom (my dupes get their own rooms), here and there for transformers, a wheezewort if necessary, and a smart battery or decor object.

Since I started doing this I don't have catastrophic cascades of power failures anymore. I also don't have overloaded circuits that I have to keep reconfiguring as I add consumers, I can just add power distribution rooms. 

[KittenIsAGeek]

14 hours ago, TheEvilMango said:

Ok cool. Thank u. And with this set up u don't blow any circuits?

OK, here's a quick little tutorial about ONI electricity:

You have producers (generators), consumers (anything that uses power), and storage units (batteries).  You also have transformers that act like small storage units to limit current and isolate circuits.

If you have producers or storage units,  and you have consumers on the same circuit, and your consumers maximum draw is greater than the the amount of power the wire can handle, you might burn out wires during high draw times -- even if your total producers are less than the amount of power the wire can handle.

So, if you want to always avoid burnout, you can use the following ideas:

1. Check to make certain your total maximum draw from consumers is less than the power limit of the wires.  For example, if you're using conductive wire, never put more than 2kw of consumers on a circuit.
2. OR you could use a small transformer for regular wire or two small transformers in parallel for conductive wire to force a power limit.  This only works however if you have no batteries on the consumer side.
3. Remember: If you have batteries on the consumer side, the battery is able to provide as much power as the consumers need until your battery runs out of power.  This means that if you have a single small transformer driving a conductive wire circuit with one battery and 2200w of consumers, you will burn out your wire even though the small transformer is only capable of delivering 1kw of power at a time.

[fishoutofwater]

how about large power transformer?there is no 4kw wire, so how to use it wisely.

[ToiDiaeRaRIsuOy]

7 hours ago, bleeter6 said:

 

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Something like that.

That is a nice setup. I do wonder why you'd go for the big transformer instead of the small one, given you use the 1W wires? Small transformers emit less heat EDIT: I'm not sure anymore as the wiki states it being both 1DTU/s.

@TheEvilMango I think there isn't a wrong answer per se. Quite a few people make these neat, structured and centralized power banks. Me personally I produce power very locally, around its source, meaning I have a very decentralized power net, with power consumers on both the heavi-watt wire and the normal conductive wires, and thus I also have batteries on both wires. However, I only have 2 heavi watt power lines, one for the solar power generation and consumers, and one for everything below the surface, which usually runs from top to bottom of the map. The only times I got wires overloading is when I accidently connected normal wires to heavi watt wires, or when I tried to connect my 2 heavi watt power lines.

Like others said, whether you go for a centralized or decentralized power grid, you will have to calculate if your wires can handle the load. A centralized power grid allows that in an easier fashion, but is by no means a guarantee to avoid overloading.

[ChickenMadness]

I find that setting up a "power bank" makes everything much less complicated after the initial setup, coming up with a design. You just need to come up with something that's modular and stackable and you can keep stacking it as your base grows.

It's like having a bunch wall plug sockets in your house that you just plug things into when you need it.

I currently just build these transformer towers on the sides of my bases. It's connected to the main 20W power line.
Gives a lot of options for plugging in different power inputs and outputs, when you have multiple power stations. Without getting in the way of your base.
And I usually have a horizontal water tunnel that I send the 20W line through to the opposite end of the map. It splits my main base in half. It's for temperature regulation as well.

Not an actual 'power bank', I just call it a 'transformer tower', it's simpler to build . I've never gotten past the 1000 cycle stage and built gigantic power plants though so not had to build a big power bank. I usually restart the game so I can build a more optimized base lol.
 

 

[ONIfreak]

I never build power banks to be honest. My idea is to first make sustainable nat gas energy base (every i need to calculate how much "power" 1 geyser actually make, but usually build 6 nat gas generators and connect it to 5 small transformers). After having two of those i start petrolum power plant. you can build transformators on a side of your base (together with two wheezworts next to middle ones closed by insulated tiles)and take cables from there. stock your nat gas in reservoirs or extra room - to allow all nat gas to get out from geyser during active period (reservoirs are easier to monitor for me). smart battery after transformator with shutoff on main grid is enough to keep line powered.

In regards of overloading - it all depends what is connected to it. Doors, metal refinery, carbon skimmer takes power when they are working, while lights, refrigerators, pumps (unless pipe is blocked) are constantly take power. With all "all time consumers" you have to really keep 1k W limit, with other - you can exceed it and just monitor what machine is working too much or to often - and move it to "all time consumers".

Using this method i never had single overload on cable (bear in mind that machine which require more then 1k W - metal refinery) needs to be connected by conductive cable - you can combine two transformers to and merge them with one conductive cable.

After petrolum kicks in - there is no more problem with power (unless you are running our of oil).

Ah i forgot to mention. keep heavi wire in between walls (sort of tunnel above or below corridors - ideally vacuum) - it will not have impact on decor

[Glassyfo]

6 hours ago, ToiDiaeRaRIsuOy said:

That is a nice setup. I do wonder why you'd go for the big transformer instead of the small one, given you use the 1W wires? Small transformers emit less heat EDIT: I'm not sure anymore as the wiki states it being both 1DTU/s.

@TheEvilMango I think there isn't a wrong answer per se. Quite a few people make these neat, structured and centralized power banks. Me personally I produce power very locally, around its source, meaning I have a very decentralized power net, with power consumers on both the heavi-watt wire and the normal conductive wires, and thus I also have batteries on both wires. However, I only have 2 heavi watt power lines, one for the solar power generation and consumers, and one for everything below the surface, which usually runs from top to bottom of the map. The only times I got wires overloading is when I accidently connected normal wires to heavi watt wires, or when I tried to connect my 2 heavi watt power lines.

Like others said, whether you go for a centralized or decentralized power grid, you will have to calculate if your wires can handle the load. A centralized power grid allows that in an easier fashion, but is by no means a guarantee to avoid overloading.

Because eventually i plan to swap for conductive around the entire base. I don't want to have to deconstruct parts of my grid to do so.

[ToiDiaeRaRIsuOy]

17 minutes ago, bleeter6 said:

Because eventually i plan to swap for conductive around the entire base. I don't want to have to deconstruct parts of my grid to do so.

Well, that does make sense as the wires are much easier to replace. I'm usually not confronted by that problem due the already chaotic nature of my power grid, plus I tend to really rush for conductive wires.

[Nitroturtle]

I've been making these little power rooms in my bases, usually one in each corner as shown here.  I try to build the first one as soon as I have enough refined metal.  They make it very easy to run power lines wherever I want.

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Here you can see them in each corner of my base.

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[Glassyfo]

@Nitroturtle You're losing 1k charge each time you shut off the transformer, not sure if you're aware of that.

[KittenIsAGeek]

6 minutes ago, bleeter6 said:

@Nitroturtle You're losing 1k charge each time you shut off the transformer, not sure if you're aware of that.

True, but if your transformers are off most of the time, that really isn't much of an issue.  If you're cycling them rapidly, it can become a problem.  5 or 6 times a cycle is about the threshold where I start using alternative methods.  That said...

with the recent changes both large and small transformers produce only 1k DTUs of heat, so leaving them on isn't quite the heat problem it used to be.  Smart batteries generate half the heat, so it all comes down to what you need most: Power or less heat?

[Nitroturtle]

18 minutes ago, bleeter6 said:

@Nitroturtle You're losing 1k charge each time you shut off the transformer, not sure if you're aware of that.

Yeah I'm aware, I just don't really care.  Power isn't an issue in the slightest, as I'm about 95% solar.

[Glassyfo]

40 minutes ago, KittenIsAGeek said:

True, but if your transformers are off most of the time, that really isn't much of an issue.  If you're cycling them rapidly, it can become a problem.  5 or 6 times a cycle is about the threshold where I start using alternative methods.  That said...

with the recent changes both large and small transformers produce only 1k DTUs of heat, so leaving them on isn't quite the heat problem it used to be.  Smart batteries generate half the heat, so it all comes down to what you need most: Power or less heat?

With an automated shutoff switch you get both.

[fishoutofwater]

9 hours ago, Nitroturtle said:

I've been making these little power rooms in my bases, usually one in each corner as shown here.  I try to build the first one as soon as I have enough refined metal.  They make it very easy to run power lines wherever I want.

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Here you can see them in each corner of my base.

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may I ask for save file sir?please

[Nitroturtle]

On 1/4/2019 at 9:22 PM, fishoutofwater said:

may I ask for save file sir?please

Here you go:

 

Planet5.sav

[Nitroturtle]

1 hour ago, Nitroturtle said:

Here you go:

 

Planet5.sav

Forgot to mention, if frame rate sucks, restrict access to the door before the jet suit docks.  It should help significantly.

[SakuraKoi]

Power Bank? Is that tasty?

Seriously, I don't use any more than one smart battery to control each very sizable chunk of Natural (95), Coal (35) and Hydrogen (5) Generators (with Coal backing up Natural and Hydrogen backing up Coal which is literary never used).

Solar Energy is for me either supplementing or simple for the surface station and not quite applicable here. I prefer to just use it for the surface and waste a lot because I'd actually like to get rid of Natural Gas.

Petroleum Generators I do not use, they'd be after Hydrogen.

Steam Generators I may use someday for cooling, not energy.

 

Admittedly, I once used a very sizable power bank, with jumbo batteries... it was hell, literary and there was no merit.

Power is wasted, heat is produced, space is taken and ultimately once run dry, it was difficult to fill back up because there was no back up plan(t).

 

To answer thee question: Central Power Plant indeed. Only the logistics can become a PITA if you do not reserve enough space for transformers and wires hence why a long heavy watt wire like above may quite be advisable that decentralizes distribution.