Aquatuner Liquid Pipe Bypass Problem

[Muggins]

Please help:

- I have 2 aquatuners

- The one on the right is flipped

- Piping for both is identical

- I'm using a pipe thermo sensor to activate or deactivate aquatuner

 

Problem 1: on right aquatuner random packets bypass despite all being the same temp when aquatuner is activated.

(I assume this is because the bypassed packet temporarily blocks the output of the aquatuner. However, the first packet that initially arrives always bypasses.)

 

Problem 2: on left aquatuner no packets bypass when aquatuner is deactivated.

(no idea why this doesn't work for the left one but does for the right one)

 

Does pipe behaviour depend on the orientation of the machines (flipped/unflipped) and/or the screen direction of flow (from left to right/from right to left)?

 

Please help Muggins understand this confusion!

[suxkar]

Problem 1 is most likely a bad initiation, should be solved by emptying all pipes and refilling them while the aquatuner is forced to work. After the circuit is full, disconnect the input and you can let the aquatuner resume normal automation.

Problem number 2 I honestly don't know, doesn't really make sense to me. Very curious to know as well.

I can't take a photo of my setup right now, but there is a better layout with the overflow bridge starting from the input pipe and ending in the output pipe so that it gives priority. I'm sure some1 will show you soon. Never had a problem with it as long as the initiation takes place as I discussed in problem 1.

[Blazing Falken]

Two things to try:

Add an extra length of pipe to the output of the aquatuner before it meets the bridges.

Have the bypass pipe go into the bridge output instead of the in. (May need extra bridge in loop to ensure flow)

[DarkMaster13]

38 minutes ago, Blazing Falken said:

Two things to try:

Add an extra length of pipe to the output of the aquatuner before it meets the bridges.

Have the bypass pipe go into the bridge output instead of the in. (May need extra bridge in loop to ensure flow)

That's usually the standard practice for me too.  I always leave at least one pipe section gap between the output and any connections to make sure there isn't any blockage.

[SharraShimada]

Its rather simple:

Problem 1: the aquatuner backs up, and every second pile flows the still free path around. As far as i can tell, there is no easy solution for that.

Problem 2: the system gets confused, because the liquid can flow from the aquatuner to the bridge, but also up, and back to the input, which is also fed from the right side, which causes a stop signal in the code. This one is easy to fix. Remove the middle upper pipe tile, and place a bridge from left to right instead. Problem solved.

[Lilalaunekuh]

Here is an example of how I design my bypass.

[cblack]

Alternatively, you can run your bypass outside of the steam chamber, which is what I do.  It has some trade-offs though.

Pros:

• Less piping within the steam chamber, allowing you to fill it with other pipes (e.g. for metal refinery cooling)
• Easier to work on piping, as you don't need to take it out of service by purging the steam chamber
• Less time for coolant to transfer heat to the steam; though if you're using pipe made of insulation this may not be a concern

Cons:

• Cannot immediately shut down the AT without leaving fluid in pipes within the steam chamber.  I just tolerate a slower shutdown.
• Less compact if you don't need to run additional pipes within the chamber

So it's really up to your needs which makes more sense.

[bzgzd]

7 hours ago, Muggins said:

 

Please help Muggins understand this confusion!

I believe both problems are caused because you use simple pipe junction where bridge white input is. Two pipes coming together and continue through bridge.

On one side aquatuner is on the left joint and on other on the right.
I almost never use those junctions and always use bridge to add one pipe content to another.

On this image is same flipped situation with different result. One time oil is first on another water first to exit.

(at one side first is coming from right and on other from left, probably that pipe graphic indicates that?)

Ideal aquatuner bypass has one more pipe segment when going through aquatuner because when going around one 10kg water block will stay inside.

 

[Xuhybrid]

While it doesn't address your direction problem directly. Do not use automation to toggle the aquatuner. It's unreliable as liquid stays in the machine while it's off which also delays new activations.

[KittenIsAGeek]

6 hours ago, Muggins said:

Looking at your pictures, here's the problem I see: The output of the aquatuner can split at the bridge to go back to the aquatuner input.  Both of your strange issues are symptoms of the same problem.  Here's a solution:

The extra bridge after the bypass forces the fluid to only go away from the bypass.   However, this itself has an issue: There isn't room for output from the aquatuner and bypass liquids, so they bunch up and cause stuttering.  Here's  a better solution:

This gives priority to the packet being processed by the aquatuner.  In the event that the aquatuner doesn't take a packet, one from the bypass will take its place. There are enough pipe segments between the point of bypass and the point where they merge that ensures a packet from one or the other will always be available -- so long as you don't have a backup on your output line.

35 minutes ago, bzgzd said:

Ideal aquatuner bypass has one more pipe segment when going through aquatuner because when going around one 10kg water block will stay inside.

 

This is also a very nice solution.  The bridge ensures that fluid can only flow away from the point of bypass, and the extra pipe segment lets the packets merge back together without causing stuttering.

[Muggins]

Thank you all so much for taking the time to shine some light on this situation. As pretty much all of you suggested, bridging into the output pipe whilst leaving an extra pipe segment to avoid blockages has done the trick. 

Muggins is overwhelmed with gratitude. 

[Majestix]

1 hour ago, cblack said:

Alternatively, you can run your bypass outside of the steam chamber, which is what I do.  It has some trade-offs though.

Pros:

• Less piping within the steam chamber, allowing you to fill it with other pipes (e.g. for metal refinery cooling)
• Easier to work on piping, as you don't need to take it out of service by purging the steam chamber
• Less time for coolant to transfer heat to the steam; though if you're using pipe made of insulation this may not be a concern

Cons:

• Cannot immediately shut down the AT without leaving fluid in pipes within the steam chamber.  I just tolerate a slower shutdown.
• Less compact if you don't need to run additional pipes within the chamber

So it's really up to your needs which makes more sense.

That's what I do, too, but you can avoid the first Con by linking the automation to a shutoff (which also sits outside the steam chamber) instead of to the aquatuner: shutoffs work like bridges in that the water will try to go through the shutoff if it can.

[cblack]

4 hours ago, Majestix said:

That's what I do, too, but you can avoid the first Con by linking the automation to a shutoff (which also sits outside the steam chamber) instead of to the aquatuner: shutoffs work like bridges in that the water will try to go through the shutoff if it can.

Right, that's what I was referring to.  My ATs are set to run as long as they don't go past a thermal limit and their is either enough steam or enough water in the chamber.  The way I "turn them off" is simply restricting any fluid going into the loop.

This means it has to cool down 110 KG of coolant to flush the inlet pipe after the shutoff valve as well as the coolent currently in the loop.  I could speed things up by shortening the inlet pipe slightly, and overriding the loop so it always kicks out fluid regardless of the target temperature.  However, I never need to shut off an AT that quickly, and thus the negatives outweigh the slight benefit.