2kw load overloading the conductive wire

This is also an issue with regular wire.  For some reason, running a wire at its rating is considered "overload."  Here's how to consistently produce the problem:

Build generators that can provide over 1kw of power.  Connect a battery and the high side of a 1kw transformer.  Put a battery on the 'low' side of the transformer.  Turn on the generators.  While the battery on the low side is charging, your 1kw wire will overload.

However, if you remove the transformer, the generators will recharge the battery at full power without overload.

SS with automation disabling the transformer:

In fact, you can have up to 999 watts of power consumed on the line without the line overloading -- even if your generators are producing more than 1kw of power to recharge the battery.  Once you cross that 1000 watt load threshold, however, you will start to burn out.

You can also prevent the burnout by removing the generators from the circuit.

 

So: Here's the bug as far as I can tell.  A battery is only capable of providing power that is being used by a load.  A transformer has a maximum power capability depending on its rating (1kw/4kw).  Batteries do not count as a load (and never have), so you can recharge them at any rate without overloading a wire.  You can also recharge them at any rate while you have 1 watt less in power consumers than the rating of your wire.  However, once your load hits 1kw, any power produced by generators on the line that exceeds that amount is suddenly considered overload.  

You're able to charge a battery with 3 hamster wheels without overloading a 1kw wire, even though they're producing 1200 watts.  You're also able to run a full 1kw load through a small transformer without overloading that same 1kw wire.  However, the combination of a battery, generators, AND load will burn out the wire.

I think this has something to do with how batteries are used on the 'low' side of the transformer. Specifically, you can put a full 1kw load on the low side of a transformer and still recharge the battery.  I haven't done any tests to calculate the rate that power goes into charging the battery, but I suspect its 1kw, meaning that while a battery on the 'low' side is charging, the transformer is actually "consuming" 2kw of power from the high side.  Since batteries don't count, this part of the load is never shown. It also doesn't appear to trigger overload if there are no generators on the "high" side of the line, despite the rates of recharge being identical.  It also doesn't trigger overload if the generators aren't capable of producing more power than the line can handle.  

Instead, it is only the combination of a battery, generator, and full transformer load that causes burnout.

 

4 hours ago, KittenIsAGeek said:

This is also an issue with regular wire.  For some reason, running a wire at its rating is considered "overload."  Here's how to consistently produce the problem:

Build generators that can provide over 1kw of power.  Connect a battery and the high side of a 1kw transformer.  Put a battery on the 'low' side of the transformer.  Turn on the generators.  While the battery on the low side is charging, your 1kw wire will overload.

However, if you remove the transformer, the generators will recharge the battery at full power without overload.

SS with automation disabling the transformer:

In fact, you can have up to 999 watts of power consumed on the line without the line overloading -- even if your generators are producing more than 1kw of power to recharge the battery.  Once you cross that 1000 watt load threshold, however, you will start to burn out.

You can also prevent the burnout by removing the generators from the circuit.

 

So: Here's the bug as far as I can tell.  A battery is only capable of providing power that is being used by a load.  A transformer has a maximum power capability depending on its rating (1kw/4kw).  Batteries do not count as a load (and never have), so you can recharge them at any rate without overloading a wire.  You can also recharge them at any rate while you have 1 watt less in power consumers than the rating of your wire.  However, once your load hits 1kw, any power produced by generators on the line that exceeds that amount is suddenly considered overload.  

You're able to charge a battery with 3 hamster wheels without overloading a 1kw wire, even though they're producing 1200 watts.  You're also able to run a full 1kw load through a small transformer without overloading that same 1kw wire.  However, the combination of a battery, generators, AND load will burn out the wire.

I think this has something to do with how batteries are used on the 'low' side of the transformer. Specifically, you can put a full 1kw load on the low side of a transformer and still recharge the battery.  I haven't done any tests to calculate the rate that power goes into charging the battery, but I suspect its 1kw, meaning that while a battery on the 'low' side is charging, the transformer is actually "consuming" 2kw of power from the high side.  Since batteries don't count, this part of the load is never shown. It also doesn't appear to trigger overload if there are no generators on the "high" side of the line, despite the rates of recharge being identical.  It also doesn't trigger overload if the generators aren't capable of producing more power than the line can handle.  

Instead, it is only the combination of a battery, generator, and full transformer load that causes burnout.

this 2 power transformer literly getting power from 2 smart batteries, nothing more. If you intrested i can make a video about it. This wire come from a iron vulcano tamer and If the system need energy its draw power from the main line and if its making more energy than used its start providing power to the main line (but the draining and providing cant happen in the same time i made some automations which has 20 sec safty time between providing and draining).

Edited March 15, 2020 by Vacuolum

I'm having similar struggles. Two small power transformers should, according to my knowledge, prevent the possibility of overloads on the producing side if they're the only consumers on the wire.

In my case I've setup 2 coal generators, 2 natural gas generators, 1 petroleum generator and 2 smart batteries. The NGGs and PG are connected to the same smart battery and the CGs are conencted to the other smart battery.

The wire can handle the NGGs and CGs producing at the same time. But when the PG kicks in (it gets supplied in short bursts) the wire suddenly overloads.

Also: note the power transformers registers as "1000 W" each in the first case and "1 kW" each in the second (overloading) case.

NGGs and CGs

PG and NGGs

Edited April 2, 2020 by Judas1337

Disabled PG and added another NGG. Overloading happens. Power Transformers specifies as 1 kW and not 1000 W.

I have the exact same problem. Here's my using of two small power transformers and 5 hamsterwheels.

It shouldn't overload at all. It's definitely a bug.

I have the same issue in one of my worlds. I went into sandbox and was able to get it down to this where batteries connected to a transformer with batteries on the other end will overload. The load on the left stated 1kw where as the load on the right was 1000 watts. 

Edit:
Additional Discovery -- The overload only occurs if there are 3 or more batteries of any type before the transformer. I was able to do use one or two total batteries and able to avoid the overload.

Edited July 10, 2020 by blazerdrive09

Agreed this is definitely a bug, i don't understand why Klei have not marked this as confirmed yet.

I have seen this on multiple play-throughs and needs fixing as its game breaking late game

This post even confirms the exact root cause in the code:
 

 

Changed Status to Fixed

Thanks for the detailed reports, we've tracked this down and it'll be fixed in the next patch!