Traps in Wasteland

[theFlu]

Scenario: You want a light to turn on only if 2 different switches are turned on.
Setup: Connect switch 1 to a relay and then to switch 2 and then to the light. The light will turn on if both switches are turned on at the same time.

Minor potential confusion, switches (Switch -blocks) aren't triggers
While this specific setup works with either, actual Switch -blocks don't require the relay in between, triggers do.

For a decent example, you might want to have your defenses activate only when you're in your bunker (Cam) while also sparing ammo on a Dart Trap (Trip Wire).
Power to Cam (set to detect self/allies) to Relay to Trip Wire (x2) to Dart Trap.
This way, if you point the Cam well, you can freely walk over the trip wire yourself without getting darted.

 

[Lax]

The potential for some of these circuit setups is giving me Space Engineer vibes where you can actually run scripts to program automation. Fun stuff. Need to play around with this more.

 

[Suxar]

What are any of you using for power? I know we have generators, battery banks and solar banks. Any reason for your choice of power? Anyone using a combo of all 3? That would be interesting.

Each power source has its pros and cons. Unfortunately, you can't use them all in the same system. All electrical components have only one power input, meaning you either use a generator or a solar panel.
The main advantage of a solar panel is that it requires no maintenance—you just plug it in and forget about it. However, it produces exactly half as much power (using quality 6 batteries) as a generator.
A generator produces more power and is easy to assemble, but it must be periodically refueled. The amount of fuel consumed will depend on the load connected to the generator.
Batteries. These are primarily needed when using solar panels, as they don't work at night. They consume 5 watts when charging, but if there's input power, they won't supplement the generator's output if it's insufficient. They only charge when the power source has surplus power.

Which one to use depends on many factors. When playing on a server, I only use a generator as a last resort, since the server runs regardless of whether I'm online or offline. In single-player, it's the opposite, since elements become available for purchase quite late in the game, making it much easier for me to make a generator.

I hope the developers will rework the electricity system sooner or later. I'd like to see a similar implementation to Factorio, where I can combine different sources and they work seamlessly.

 

[Suxar]

I didn't even see a solar bank for sale until around the third week with 2 hour days. I may have missed them, of course. But I was trying to keep an eye out. Without that, you can't do solar at all.

As far as I can tell, the merchant's inventory depends on either the player's level or game stage. When I checked the merchants at level 110, almost everyone had solar cells for sale, and many were level 6.

 

[Riamus]

As far as I can tell, the merchant's inventory depends on either the player's level or game stage. When I checked the merchants at level 110, almost everyone had solar cells for sale, and many were level 6.

I know. Solar cells were available for a long time. Solar banks didn't appear. Remember that I said the third week on 2 hour days. That's late game. I already had almost entirely tier 3 quality 6 equipment by the time I found one for sale.

 

[Lax]

Trying to figure out exactly how the "Timer Relay" works. I have a Battery Bank powering all devices and a Generator to recharge the Battery Bank.

I want the Battery Bank to turn on around 8 or 9pm to power all defenses. Then I want the Generator to turn on at 4am to recharge the Battery Bank.

Then finally I want both to power down after batteries are fully charged, then rinse and repeat the next night.

Can't get it to work right. Can you use two separate Timer Relays to turn on/off the Battery Bank and Generator? Do I also need Switches to turn both devices on/off. Any suggestions? Thx. Having a lot of fun with this.

 

[Riamus]

Trying to figure out exactly how the "Timer Relay" works. I have a Battery Bank powering all devices and a Generator to recharge the Battery Bank.

I want the Battery Bank to turn on around 8 or 9pm to power all defenses. Then I want the Generator to turn on at 4am to recharge the Battery Bank.

Then finally I want both to power down after batteries are fully charged, then rinse and repeat the next night.

Can't get it to work right. Can you use two separate Timer Relays to turn on/off the Battery Bank and Generator? Do I also need Switches to turn both devices on/off. Any suggestions? Thx. Having a lot of fun with this.

You need power for a timer to work, so you can't control the generator with a timer. As far as the battery bank, it will only power things if the generator is off/out of fuel. It's just a backup when combined with a generator. It's main use is for solar so you can power stuff at night.

Also, keep in mind that things that aren't powered don't use much power (if any), so you won't go through a ton of gas if stuff is off. You can easily see power consumption from the generator or battery bank and compare with stuff on or off.

 

[theFlu]

Can't get it to work right. Can you use two separate Timer Relays to turn on/off the Battery Bank and Generator? Do I also need Switches to turn both devices on/off. Any suggestions? Thx. Having a lot of fun with this.

Riamus is correct in that you can't turn off a Generator with a timer, but you can use one to do the charging cycle just fine. The Generator is always running, having just a connection to the charge timer.
Generator -> Timer (on at 8, off at 9) -> Battery Bank -> all the actual equipment.

IF you have plenty of engines and fuel, there's no need for that battery bank; but if you want to squeeze out extra per gallon, or maybe setup two power circuits with less-than-twelve engines, you save tons with a charger setup. Tons of fuel, and the charging genny only needs one engine.

 

[Riamus]

Riamus is correct in that you can't turn off a Generator with a timer, but you can use one to do the charging cycle just fine. The Generator is always running, having just a connection to the charge timer.
Generator -> Timer (on at 8, off at 9) -> Battery Bank -> all the actual equipment.

IF you have plenty of engines and fuel, there's no need for that battery bank; but if you want to squeeze out extra per gallon, or maybe setup two power circuits with less-than-twelve engines, you save tons with a charger setup. Tons of fuel, and the charging genny only needs one engine.

Yeah, I almost put that you could use the timer on the battery bank (assuming the battery bank is connected to a generator or solar panel and not the sole power source), but didn't bother with that. I can't think of any reason you'd only charge during a certain time if the generator is always running anyhow. Does power consumption for charging the batteries go away or remain the same if the batteries are charged? In other words, if the batteries are charged are you still using the same amount of gas as if they aren't charged and are being charged? If so, then you might want to disable the battery bank so you aren't using as much gas.

 

[theFlu]

I can't think of any reason you'd only charge during a certain time if the generator is always running anyhow.

If your gennie is always running, the battery bank is dead weight. When it gets power from anywhere, it stops powering anything itself, and merely consumes 5W. So you never want a battery bank in the chain, it's just a loss of 5W.

If you have one engine and 6 batteries, you can setup that one engine to charge the batteries. It'll cost only 5W to charge, for less than an hour. From that you can power the full load of those batteries for the rest of the day. Not sure if that's exactly 300W, for 23h, but it'll work for a scale. At the cost of 5W for an hour, in fuel and engines. Or the eventual solar panel.

Batteries being full doesn't change a thing, only when they're empty.

 

[Riamus]

Batteries being full doesn't change a thing, only when they're empty.

Thanks. I wasn't sure. I don't really pay attention to it and never use it with a generator. I just use it with solar and it's always there for that.

 

[Suxar]

Riamus is correct in that you can't turn off a Generator with a timer, but you can use one to do the charging cycle just fine. The Generator is always running, having just a connection to the charge timer.

Yes and no. There's no way to turn off the generator, but if there's no load, it won't consume fuel. Any relay or switch draws power, so you can't completely shut off the consumption. However, it will be so minimal that it can be ignored.

 

[theFlu]

Any relay or switch draws power, so you can't completely shut off the consumption. However, it will be so minimal that it can be ignored.

Ye, that's kinda my point with the "5W for an hour", but I could've been more explicit.

 

[Lax]

Can you "daisy chain" generators together to get 600w available instead of 300w? I'm sure it's not really needed just curious.

 

[Riamus]

Can you "daisy chain" generators together to get 600w available instead of 300w? I'm sure it's not really needed just curious.

No. Only one power source (generator or solar bank) per circuit. Even when a battery bank is part of the circuit, it only works when the main power source (generator or solar bank) isn't working. You need to do multiple circuits if you need more power.

 

[Lax]

It would be cool if the engines had "quality" ratings like the batteries and like they did in older versions. Then if you had 6 quality 6 Generators you could get more wattage. Or maybe with a higher quality engine your motorcycle would run faster.

 

[8_Hussars]

It would be cool if the engines had "quality" ratings like the batteries and like they did in older versions. Then if you had 6 quality 6 Generators you could get more wattage. Or maybe with a higher quality engine your motorcycle would run faster.

NGL, I like the idea of weapon and vehicle "parts" with quality ratings and different performance ratings.

 

[theFlu]

With the battery charging idea, you can in theory max out the genny AND the battery bank, giving something like 500W total. But you'd have to balance the load such that half the stuff is connected to the genny before the battery bank.

Might be a decent setup, you could set some "extra oompf" to run off the batteries and trigger that manually. Or just have lights and other quality of life stuff from the batteries, while keeping defenses up all the time.

The load balancing is a bit weird though, it relies on the order you connect things in, unless you manage to chain everything in one line.

 

[Riamus]

With the battery charging idea, you can in theory max out the genny AND the battery bank, giving something like 500W total. But you'd have to balance the load such that half the stuff is connected to the genny before the battery bank.

Might be a decent setup, you could set some "extra oompf" to run off the batteries and trigger that manually. Or just have lights and other quality of life stuff from the batteries, while keeping defenses up all the time.

The load balancing is a bit weird though, it relies on the order you connect things in, unless you manage to chain everything in one line.

That shouldn't be possible, at least with the current setup in vanilla. The battery bank shouldn't be supplying any power if there is already power to the circuit.

 

[theFlu]

That shouldn't be possible

Well, today is a good day, for you learned something new!

Arbitrary numbers, 300W for max Generator (genny), 200W for Battery Bank (BB):

Genny -> (Circuit A 200W) -> Timer -> BB -> (Circuit B 200W)
Circuit A is always running as long as genny has power.
Whenever Timer is on, Circuit B has no power from BB, but it has 100W from genny, so it's partially running.
Whenever Timer is OFF, Circuit B has 200 W from BB.
Timer "uptime" can be 23h per day, thus you can run the full 400W, or even 500 if you add to Circuit A, for the absolute majority of the day.

Whenever Timer is off, only Circuit A is burning fuel.
When it's on, Circuit B is burning the "leftover" power, causing full fuel consumption at genny.