Exploding Machines IC2 Experimental, UU-Matter

[Bryantom]

All,

The problem of the day -- machines blowing up (IC2 Experimental):

My end goal is to craft Quantum armor. I built the Replicator a few days ago, connected it to my MFE with a glass fibre cable and found that I needed to build a scanner and Pattern Storage. I went to remove the cable and the machine blew up taking a few marble tiles with it. I thought it happened because a wrench is needed so I proceeded to build another. One Replicator, Scanner, and Pattern storage later, I connected everything, scanned the iridium, put it in the pattern storage, and tried to press the go button, but found I need to connect the Replicator to the UU-Matter tank. So, I started to remove the electric cable and...... boom went the replicator and MFE. I contacted the guy who runs the server and he said he would replace the items if it were a glitch, but proceeded to tell me I probably have wiring issues or voltage problems. I'm now thinking about those power conversions but don't know much about them. I've got a 3X3 Big Reactors reactor upstairs with a rednet cable connecting to the MFE. I believe at the time, I had a rednet cable connected from the reactor to the MFE, and a glass fibre cable going from the MFE to the Replicator. The scanner and pattern storage device were connected to the reactor by rednet. What am I doing wrong? I'm guessing I may have to upgrade the MFE to an MFSU? I'm still very new to this stuff and am just guessing how to wire and pipe things at the moment.

Thanks,
Bryan

 

[asb3pe]

I always try to match my cable to the machine's maximum power input. If the machine is 32 EU/t max, then I use Tin Cable. If it is 128 EU/t then I use Copper Cable. 512 EU/t gets Gold Cable, 2048 EU/t is Iron Cable and of course any thing higher gets Glass Fibre Cable.

The reason I do this is so that I never forget about power supply and machines blowing up. The cable type reminds me what "voltage" I'm working with. And it should be obvious, but If I put a Transformer Upgrade into a 32 EU/t machine, it just became a 128 EU/t machine, so you need to replace the cable to that machine.

After you use IC2 for a while, you get into the habit of removing the power cable BEFORE you place a new machine down and connect it to the power. Unless it's your first day with IC2, all your machines will have Transformer Upgrades installed (to speed up processing). But if you place the new machine down on a "live" power line, you haven't inserted the Upgrades yet, and the machine will blow up. Therefore, you always break the power cable, then place the machine down, then add the Upgrades to it, then finally you reconnect the power line.

Unfortunately I've never converted between IC2 power and RF power, so I don't know what went wrong with your Rednet. But essentially it all boils down to what I wrote above. Get into good habits with IC2 so you don't go thru the agony of machines blowing up! Be sure to check NEI for every IC2 machine, almost every one should list the default "max EU/t" (use a wiki or google if it isn't listed) and you can do the math from there based on how many Transformer Upgrades you are using in the machine.

Also, be sure to look up the power output of an MFE and and MFSU. I forget the exact numbers for each one. Use the appropriate cable, and if the EU/t exceeds your machines maximum, then use a IC2 Transformer (not the Upgrade, but the actual block itself) in between the MFE or MFSU and your row of machines, and set it to "step-down" mode

 

[Bryantom]

Is it ok to have machines power each other by putting them next to each other, or do I need to connect a wire to each of the machines in the back, top, or wherever they are supposed to connect? Also, what's the best way to know what voltage each machine requires before connecting? Also, do devices need things like an MFE to power them? Obviously I'm doing something wrong by connecting them directly to the rednet. Pictures of folks machines connected to each other would help me out.

Bryan

 

[Bryantom]

I just upgraded my MFE to a MFSU and am about to be finished with my third Replicator. Before I bring it online, can you guys and gals give me some advice how to wire up the Replicator and any other machines up to the MFSU? I looked up lead cable and did not find one.

EDIT:

Replicator complete. My end goal is to replicate Iridium. I've got UU-Matter in a glass tank. I've already scanned the iridium into a pattern. I believe unless I want to scan anything else, I'm done with the scanner.

Thanks,
Bryan

 

[asb3pe]

MFE's and MFSU's are basically like batteries, or capacitors - they're simply a place where you can dump - and store - your excess energy being produced by your various generators, and then pull that energy out as it is needed to run your machines - no different from a TE Redstone Energy Cell or an EnderIO Capacitor block. I try to have as many MFSU's as I can - before the Infinity server I was playing on went down, I think I had about 50 MFSU's scattered around my base.

I always matched my generators to my MFE's or MFSU's. I typically power my IC2 stuff with fuel (refined from oil) so I ran Semi-Fluid Generators which puts out 32 EU/t. If I run a whole stack, that is 64*32 EU/t = 2048 EU/t. Not coincidentally, 2048 EU/t is exactly what an MFSU puts out, which is precisely what I'm looking to match. If my machines are pulling the maximum power out of the MFSU, the 64 Semi-Fluid Generators can fill the MFSU back up as quickly as it is being depleted.

You don't HAVE to do the math and match the numbers like this. It's overkill, quite honestly... but I love my numbers and I love math, so it's just what I do. Everybody plays different, but I hope this helps you in some way.

 

[asb3pe]

Replicator complete. My end goal is to replicate Iridium. I've got UU-Matter in a glass tank. I've already scanned the iridium into a pattern. I believe unless I want to scan anything else, I'm done with the scanner.

One last tip, I think I mentioned it before but I'll re-state it... you will start by making Iridium Ore (the thing that looks like a ball), but if your focus is on making Advanced Solar Panels (which I think is the only use for Iridium in Infinity) then at some point you WILL want to use that Scanner again, and scan in an Iridium Plate. This basically saves your diamonds, since Iridium Plates require both Iridium plus a diamond. Once I noticed my diamond supply was shrinking, I changed my pattern over from Iridium Ore to Iridium Plates.

 

[Bryantom]

Thanks everyone. I finally got my system running. This is going to take a very long time as I'm not going to make a UU-Matter farm -- I've got two recyclers going, I now have an MFSU for the replicator, and another for the mass fabricator. Sorry, my end goal is not iridium, it is Quantum armor.

Thanks again,
Bryan

 

[Type1Ninja]

What pipes did you end up using for the UU? EnderIO, Thermal Expansion, or Buildcraft? Also, I highly recommend making a UU farm; all you really need is an XU transfer node cobblegen hooked up to your recyclers and it'll be MUCH faster. You could, of course, do something more elaborate just for the fun of it, which I also highly recommend.

 

[GreenZombie]

Always use an Electric Wrench - in lossless mode - hold "M" and right click while holding the wrench to change its mode.

And... thats strange. The apparently offical wiki indicates that most of the dangerous functionality of the power system is disabled (by default at least):-
http://wiki.industrial-craft.net/index.php?title=Recipes_and_Resources_(experimental). There is no power drop off over distance. It seems from the page that Tin can carry unrestricted EU/t. The uninsulated cables do no harm if touched. And machines don't explode.

Which pack has some of these things turned on?

 

[KingTriaxx]

He may have turned it on manually.

Last time I used IC2, I ended up running power into individual batteries. So each machine that ran on low voltage had a bat box, and each one that ran Medium had an MFE, etc. Because as long as the power coming in is lower than what the battery can handle incoming, output doesn't matter. Plus if you run into a machine that uses a lot of power quickly at a specific voltage, is to have an MFE, and leave it one block away from the machine and only plug it in when it's all ready to run.

 

[GreenZombie]

He may have turned it on manually.

Last time I used IC2, I ended up running power into individual batteries. So each machine that ran on low voltage had a bat box, and each one that ran Medium had an MFE, etc. Because as long as the power coming in is lower than what the battery can handle incoming, output doesn't matter. Plus if you run into a machine that uses a lot of power quickly at a specific voltage, is to have an MFE, and leave it one block away from the machine and only plug it in when it's all ready to run.

I generally start IC2 with very low power output - water mills and then geothermals. I also play as though power dropoff rules were in effect so my initial power is heavily buffered with batboxes - and I tend to just expand that out. Most machines end up sharing an appropriate bat box / mfe / energy storage just a few meters away with a small number of other machines, and arrays of transformers are used to step down the EU in stages from my backbone supply - which itself is the lowest quality cable that can take my 'peak' power due to the curious way IC2 used to do the EU loss which made it more efficient to use a lower quality cable if you were transporting smaller EU packets than the cable was capable of.

 

[KingTriaxx]

I was playing last in 1.5, where they'd still explode in your face if mis-handled. Before that, I was in Ultimate with GT and it's high return Glass Fibre cables, so everything was plugged in with those, regardless of power requirements.