[Big Reactors] Help with on/off system

[r0lyat]

Vanilla redstone sucks indeed
it's easier with ProjectRed but not as easy as one magical block

Regarding project red... my modpack has it available but ive disabled it because Ive read several places that it causes obscene amounts of lag? I've figured that if i simply didnt use much of it, only the very useful bits like for in this case, id be fine... but ive just played it safe. Do you know anything about project red being iffy for 1.7.10?

edit: atm, space isnt an issue so i dont need it to be compact. Would be nice for a later date although i assume by then id be able to have massive power banks and turbines so itd be a little redundant lol

 

[ChemE]

Because it is a startup script it only runs when the computer reboots. You'll need to manually reboot it this one time only since when it booted there was no script. Just hold crtl+r until you see CraftOS 1.6 and it should control your reactor forever.

 

[Someone Else 37]

I also just tried out @Chris Becke and the explanation of "reactor to turn off at 95% and only turn on again at 5%." is exactly what I'd like (assuming everyone elses ideas do the same but not sure since i couldnt get a few of them working ) however again I'm a noob at vanilla redstone mechanics beyond a T flip-flop and i made the rsNorlatch in his image but couldnt figure out how to conenct it to the on/off redstone port.

The redstone torches are the outputs. Connect one of them to the on/off port (or just assemble the latch so that one of the torches is always touching that port), and if that turns the reactor off when you want it to be turned on (and vice versa), reverse the settings on the other two ports.

 

[r0lyat]

Because it is a startup script it only runs when the computer reboots. You'll need to manually reboot it this one time only since when it booted there was no script. Just hold crtl+r until you see CraftOS 1.6 and it should control your reactor forever.

Okay, so i did that and CraftOS 1.6 showed up, but nothing happened to the reactor (tried turning it on/off manually to see if thatd trigger the computor but nope). the computor then goes unwriteable. I tried rebooting while in the edit startup screen and the return to home screen, the only difference is the latter gave a message nill something.. (idk if thats relevant)
:s i feel so stupid lol. sorry! thanks for bearing with me lol

edit: so after a few more playing around it seemed that it did turn off the system, but at like 62% full which i dont understand why itd do that according to your script lol

 

[ChemE]

Hey no worries, everyone has to learn it for the first time at some point. Is the back of the computer touching the reactor computer port or is it a different face?

 

[r0lyat]

Hey no worries, everyone has to learn it for the first time at some point. Is the back of the computer touching the reactor computer port or is it a different face?

yeah it is

 

[ChemE]

Oops sorry, I was writing that code off the top of my head while at work. Change the two 1,000,000 to 10,000,000. I didn't correctly remember the size of the RF storage in the reactors.

 

[r0lyat]

Oops sorry, I was writing that code off the top of my head while at work. Change the two 1,000,000 to 10,000,000. I didn't correctly remember the size of the RF storage in the reactors.

There we go! Thanks!! I didnt realise the difference between the 1,000,000 and the buffer either haha.

Thanks again @Someone Else 37 and everyone else that contributed. Ill be saving this thread, a lot of interesting ideas were discussed

 

[ChemE]

My pleasure. I adore CC because it is so simple and powerful and takes almost no processor time to boot. Enjoy!

 

[rhn]

Regarding project red... my modpack has it available but ive disabled it because Ive read several places that it causes obscene amounts of lag? I've figured that if i simply didnt use much of it, only the very useful bits like for in this case, id be fine... but ive just played it safe. Do you know anything about project red being iffy for 1.7.10?

How people can play MC without RP2/Project Red/equivalent is truly beyond me tbh.

Do people simply don't use redstone signals at all or do they dedicate entire rooms of their buildings for the logic circuits and wires lol?

 

[r0lyat]

How people can play MC without RP2/Project Red/equivalent is truly beyond me tbh.

Do people simply don't use redstone signals at all or do they dedicate entire rooms of their buildings for the logic circuits and wires lol?

I do a mix of both If i do ever use redstone signals yeah I'll dig up the floor and hide it under there haha.

I did install project red just before to look at the norlatch block - but just starred at it with a blank expression. I'm sure ill eventually use it though and i do like some of the structure generations and decorative blocks in it so I might keep it. Think it will cause any issues to my map/chunks if i load it in a pre-existing world?

 

[rhn]

Think it will cause any issues to my map/chunks if i load it in a pre-existing world?

I dont know if it will cause problems as such, but it has considerable world generation in all its gems, marble ravines, basalt volcanos, dyed trees etc. If you don't get troubles you might at the very least be lacking these spawns.

But then again lacking those things should not prevent you from using the wires and logic modules.

 

[ChemE]

How people can play MC without RP2/Project Red/equivalent is truly beyond me tbh...

I still miss frames from RP2. Funky Locomotion isn't a bad substitute but it isn't mature yet and passing redstone and tubes is a real pain compared to RP2 frames.

 

[Pyure]

Changing direction a little, this is generally the last passively cooled reactor that I build prior to making a turbine. I have yet to find a more fuel efficient design in the shall we say modest power output category. This puts out 11.3kRF/t which for me mid game is more than enough to run an Ender Quarry with the speed I upgrade and a nice AE2.0 system.

http://br.sidoh.org/#reactor-design...8C5X8C5X4C4O5C8O5C8O5C8O5C4O&modpack=defaults

I forgot to mention one nice thing about this is it only takes 4 buckets of gelid cryotheum because of flow.

This is an amazing design ChemE. In terms of efficiency, yeah, it blows anything else I've seen out of the water (passive-cooled notwithstanding)

Interesting notes:

• it works nearly as well with graphite/diamond if you dont have cryo ( i dont)
• You don't need the outer ring at all (in the event that you're using a non-flowing block such as graphite like I am)
  
• You *do* need 13x13 over 11x11 for reasons I'm not solid on. Even if you leave the outer ring empty, 13x13 works better.

Edit: Oh, leveraging #2, we can be really silly and one-up your reactor a tiny bit
http://br.sidoh.org/#reactor-design...X4C12O4C5X4C12O4C5X4C16O5C20O5C20O5C20O5C160O

 

[amirghorbani1334]

 

[epidemia78]

How people can play MC without RP2/Project Red/equivalent is truly beyond me tbh.

Do people simply don't use redstone signals at all or do they dedicate entire rooms of their buildings for the logic circuits and wires lol?

I almost never use logic gates and stuff. And when I do, its for some vanity project and not essential. I never shut down my turbines.

 

[GreenZombie]

I for one do prefer to use plain red stone if I can conceal it effectively. Using things like rednet controllers are just too easy.

@r0lyat the latch is quite simple. The two buttons are where you would connect the >95% and <5% signals.

Each time the <5% signal fires that side of the latch becomes active and stays active until the >95% signal resets the latch. So wire that side into the red stone io port to turn the reactor on.

Just make sure the reactor and the red stone circuit are all in one chunk to avoid any chunk boundary issues. (Well that advice applies to any control method. Big reactors that span chunk boundaries need to disassemble and reassemble as their chunks load and unload)

 

[asb3pe]

I didn't see anybody mention the simplest---and in my opinion best---solution.

Stick two rednet ports in it. Connect them with rednet cable. Set one port to rod insertion, set the other to power drain. That's it, you're done.

You don't need a PRC, you don't need any programs, scripts, or external logic hardware.

The OP specifically said passively-cooled, so I don't want to hear how this won't work for actively cooled. If I run actively-cooled I use excess power gen to produce yellorium so there is no reason to turn them off, ever.

As I said to the last guy who proposed this (in this thread): It is very ill advised to regulate the reactor on the control rods if you care the slightest about fuel efficiency. If there is a large power draw from the reactor it will without hesitation raise the temperature of the reactor as high as it can, completely wrecking your fuel efficiency. We are talking only getting 1/3 - 1/10th the power out of your fuel.

rhn, you are almost always correct (and incredibly helpful to all), however in this case I think a correction is needed. Using twisto's method (which I also proposed because I love how simple and easy it is), the reactor will NOT "raise the temperature of the reactor as high as it can". It's actually very simple. When the reactor power buffer (10,000,000 RF worth) is full (100%), then the control rods will be fully inserted, and the power output will be 0%. Conversely, when the power buffer is at 0 RF, that's the only time the reactor will power up to 100% of capacity. It's just an inverse relationship between the buffer storage and the control rod insertion percentage. If the reactor is 71% full, then the control rods will be inserted 100%-71%=29%. What I'm finding is that, for my base, the Reactor will settle into a more or less "steady state" power storage of around 2/3'rds full. Even if I place a huge power draw on the reactor, nothing will happen - it won't suddenly shoot up to highest temperature. In fact, nothing at all will happen... until the power level drops. As it drop, the reactor will correspondingly raise its output, but very slowly, to compensate.

This setup is so simple and so easy, it is a perfect way to avoid having to monitor the reactor constantly. A few days ago I didn't have the rednet ports installed and I forgot I had turned the reactor on... well I blew thru my entire stack of Yellorium in the reactor - I wasted it. Having the simple rednet ports hooked up like twisto suggests is the perfect "early-game" method of preventing such waste. Instead of a 3x3x3 reactor, I just build a 3x3x4 tall reactor, which gives me enough space to install the two rednet ports.

Before I get jumped all over here... yes, I am quite certain using the rednet ports in this manner is NOT the best efficiency method for running the BigReactor. But in early-game, I don't think we're so concerned about efficiency. For me, I'm much more concerned about the scenario I just laid out - forgetting to turn off the reactor once it gets to 100% full buffer.

 

[GreenZombie]

I

rhn, you are almost always correct (and incredibly helpful to all), however in this case I think a correction is needed. Using twisto's method (which I also proposed because I love how simple and easy it is), the reactor will NOT "raise the temperature of the reactor as high as it can". It's actually very simple. When the reactor power buffer (10,000,000 RF worth) is full (100%), then the control rods will be fully inserted, and the power output will be 0%. Conversely, when the power buffer is at 0 RF, that's the only time the reactor will power up to 100% of capacity. It's just an inverse relationship between the buffer storage and the control rod insertion percentage. If the reactor is 71% full, then the control rods will be inserted 100%-71%=29%. What I'm finding is that, for my base, the Reactor will settle into a more or less "steady state" power storage of around 2/3'rds full. Even if I place a huge power draw on the reactor, nothing will happen - it won't suddenly shoot up to highest temperature. In fact, nothing at all will happen... until the power level drops. As it drop, the reactor will correspondingly raise its output, but very slowly, to compensate.

This setup is so simple and so easy, it is a perfect way to avoid having to monitor the reactor constantly. A few days ago I didn't have the rednet ports installed and I forgot I had turned the reactor on... well I blew thru my entire stack of Yellorium in the reactor - I wasted it. Having the simple rednet ports hooked up like twisto suggests is the perfect "early-game" method of preventing such waste. Instead of a 3x3x3 reactor, I just build a 3x3x4 tall reactor, which gives me enough space to install the two rednet ports.

certainly if you were concerned about efficiency you'd be building a tad larger than 3x3x4.

At any rate... I actually prefer the control rod trick for my reactors. But then I build them large enough that my average draw keeps the control rods above ideal insertion.

 

[Pyure]

I've been having my own latch problems for the last couple weeks. Using a project red Toggle latch.

Sometimes I'll find the state is "backwards". I can only assume that the trigger goes below (25% in my case), trips the latch, briefly goes above it, goes back down below 25%, and trips it again (is my best guess)

Does this make any sense?