Need Assistance With an Automated Boiler

[Jacobblue34]

Im currently attempting to run a fully automated RC boiler. I deccided to start with a simple 3x3 Solid Fueled Firebox, Max Size, and run it off a steve's carts tree farm. My friend helped me setup a logistics pipe system that took logs from the chest that came from the farm, auto-crafted it into planks, and then inserted it into a chest next to the boiler. I seem to have 1 Problem though. The steve carts tree farm cant seem to keep up with the boiler. After the last couple of weeks of being tired of the stupid thing not working and attemping to find a solution I decided I would come here for help.

What is a good set-up for an automated boiler that can: be expanded to several boilers, can produce a surplus that can be used as backup for the boiler, produces a good amount of mj (and possibly a way to convert it to eu) and is something that can be done in an underwater forcefield dome (not sure if this matters )? Thanks in advance guys!

 

[BeastFeeder]

You could run the logs through a sawmill first so you get six planks per log, expand the size of your tree farm, switch the boiler to liquid fuel and convert saplings to biofuel, make a second tree farm, etc.

Also, if you're constantly running out of fuel while in the warm up phase you'll be losing heat and steam, so its a good idea to have a bunch of planks or other fuel laying around before you start heating it. Once it's heated up all the way it wont need as much fuel to keep going. Your current size tree farm might be big enough (although I dont know how big it is) to maintain the heat, and it could just be thats it not big enough to get it up to max heat. Stopping the boiler long enough to fill up a chest with planks might be all it needs if it's sputtering out in the warm up phase.

 

[Jacobblue34]

My tree farm is 16x16, goes back and forth across the chunk with 2 spaces between the tracks so the trees are layed out in a checkerboard pattern between the tracks.

 

[JDCollie]

Im currently attempting to run a fully automated RC boiler. I deccided to start with a simple 3x3 Solid Fueled Firebox, Max Size, and run it off a steve's carts tree farm. My friend helped me setup a logistics pipe system that took logs from the chest that came from the farm, auto-crafted it into planks, and then inserted it into a chest next to the boiler. I seem to have 1 Problem though. The steve carts tree farm cant seem to keep up with the boiler. After the last couple of weeks of being tired of the stupid thing not working and attemping to find a solution I decided I would come here for help.

What is a good set-up for an automated boiler that can: be expanded to several boilers, can produce a surplus that can be used as backup for the boiler, produces a good amount of mj (and possibly a way to convert it to eu) and is something that can be done in an underwater forcefield dome (not sure if this matters )? Thanks in advance guys!

Those 3x3 boilers have an utterly massive startup fuel requirement. Since the fuel consumption goes down as the temperature rises, perhaps stockpiling fuel before you start the system up might work? Going into creative mode and figuring out exactly how much fuel the system will consume at optimum temperature might also help.

 

[duckfan77]

boilers are extreamly ineficiant when they are warming up, so although your tree farm my be able to supply a fully warmed up boiler enough fuel, you will need to double or triple the size of the tree farm unless you can build up a surplus. You could also give the boiler a fuel that gives more heat, i know blaze rods do, but to find others you can use NEI ( it is a tool tip on burnable items, and part of it will say "heat for railcraft")

 

[Jacobblue34]

Ok. Ill try that. Just thought it would be a good time to ask since Im moving my base to the middle of the ocean. Needed a plan of action before I rebuilt my power supply.

 

[zilvarwolf]

As stated, my recommendation is to make a large (gold is what I used) chest and stick it next to the boiler but leave the boiler unfinished until you get it done. Get that chest chock-plum-full of charcoal and coal coke. Charcoal is less efficient, per log, than stacks of lumber (especially when run through a sawmill), but much more efficient in terms of heat-per-stack. Since you need MASSIVE amounts of fuel to start it, stockpile what you can in advance. A gold chest with a good supply of coke and charcoal will give you a much better chance to get your boiler to the magic 1000 degrees that allows it to easily run off the product from your tree farm. Be prepared to supplement that chest though. I'm fairly sure that someone, somewhere, is crazy enough to do the math to tell you how long it would take and how much heat would be required, at a constant burn, to get the boiler to max, but I'm not that guy.

All I know is that I had a gold chest full of planks and charcoal and couldn't get over 500 degrees before the chest was empty. I had to supplement with 10 stacks of coal coke and extra stacks of charcoal to get to 700-800 degrees, and somewhere around that point the planks were able to keep up.

 

[Jacobblue34]

Ah. Ok that makes sense. Definetly going to stockpile possibly use barrels... Does anyone know if boilers will pull out of barrels? But definetly going to stockpile... That makes sense guess a chest full of logs turned into planks wasnt enough...

Anyone have a good setup that may or may not be better than mine?

 

[zilvarwolf]

Ah. Ok that makes sense. Definetly going to stockpile possibly use barrels... Does anyone know if boilers will pull out of barrels? But definetly going to stockpile... That makes sense guess a chest full of logs turned into planks wasnt enough...

Anyone have a good setup that may or may not be better than mine?

I doubt barrels will work (if nothing else, you're only supposed to be automatically able to pull from the bottom, and the barrel would have to be side-on). A barrel-pipe setup would work, but it defeats the purpose of the attached chest (being easy and automatic with no entities floating around is probably better for the server).

Based on the Boiler Heat-Up Calculator by Forecaster, a full gold chest of charcoal is insufficient to start the boiler. A gold chest full of coal coke maxed out the temp in about 6 hours, and that took 50-something stacks to do. I imagine his math is dead on, but I still did manage to get mine lit without THAT much coal coke, so there's probably some fudge factor

 

[Jacobblue34]

geez... I had it heated up once but I had goofed and didnt get the tree farm chunkloaded. Just the boiler derp Now to try again.[DOUBLEPOST=1363641445][/DOUBLEPOST]Although... I thought the LP boiler went only to 500 degrees...

 

[zilvarwolf]

It does, you are right. I missed where you mentioned it was an LP boiler. Those are much easier to heat up.

 

[Jacobblue34]

Thats good.

 

[duckfan77]

If you need other help with boilers, I know that Omicron has a thread about them, I will add the link as soon as a find it.

Edit: found the link, Here it is.

 

[baw179]

Barrel works just fine. Put it against the bottom layer of the boiler casing, attach wood pipe underneath and makes sure it's orientated the right way so the thick end is under the barrel and the thin end attached the fuel box, then get a basic autarchic gate and attach it to the wood pipe, set the gate to 'low fuel - pulser'. Whenever the main stack of fuel drops below a stack in the boiler it'll pull out from barrel.

 

[Jacobblue34]

ok thanks guys. your information is helping a lot.

 

[Peppe]

boilers are extreamly ineficiant when they are warming up, so although your tree farm my be able to supply a fully warmed up boiler enough fuel, you will need to double or triple the size of the tree farm unless you can build up a surplus. You could also give the boiler a fuel that gives more heat, i know blaze rods do, but to find others you can use NEI ( it is a tool tip on burnable items, and part of it will say "heat for railcraft")

Beware blaze rods were nerfed pretty hard in boilers, so they give very little heat now.

 

[Jacobblue34]

Yeah. Blaze rods were nerfed, then slightly un-nerfed to 800HU

 

[duckfan77]

Oh, sorry about the blaze rod info, I got it from a direwolf20 video

 

[un worry]

Ah. Ok that makes sense. Definetly going to stockpile possibly use barrels... Does anyone know if boilers will pull out of barrels? But definetly going to stockpile... That makes sense guess a chest full of logs turned into planks wasnt enough...

Anyone have a good setup that may or may not be better than mine?

I used RP Filters under my barrels to provide a stack of logs to TE Sawmills, on a redstone signal from a gate/structure pipe when Sawmill.InventoryEmpty. The Sawmills in turn auto ejected to the firebox and output sawdust to my Locomotive depot (sawdust->compressed sawdust->charcoal for my choo choo)

If you like, will post pictures when I get home

 

[Jacobblue34]

That would be very helpful Thanks!