Proper use of redstone energy cell

[Juanitierno]

Hello!

So far ive been able to use this device as a means to MANUALLY store and relocate MJ.

Ive been using it with the redstone conduits, and ive noticed i have to set the conduit to either input or output energy, if i attach both ends the cell will just absorb and emit at the same time.

Is it sopposed to work this way?

I was sort of looking for an intelligent storage unit, like an IC2 batbox.

I Guess i can use the cell and perhaps BC gates to detct the status of the cell and turn on and off the engines appropiately, but was expecting the block to be a bit more intelligent.

Am i doing it right?

Thank you!

 

[Antivyris]

Trying to figure out what you are doing, and it's not exactly drawing in my head. Happen to have a picture of your setup showing where the cell is? Might be setup specific.

 

[Ldog]

Yes and no. Do not connect the input and output sides to each other or it will slowly bleed off power (because of the loss in the conduits) as it emits and recharges itself.

So (one of) the correct use(s) is to have engines with conduit supplying the cell and another conduit supplying machines (and even other cells). Again do not connect the 2 lines to each other.

 

[Meldiron]

You use it in exactly the same way you use an batbox.
Could you provide a picture of your setup?

 

[Juanitierno]

Ok, i think i understand now. I should use it like an IC2 batbox, not inline like a bluetricity batbox right?

Question: Will it emit MJ intelligently? Lets say i have ENGINE-->CELL-->MACHINES.
Will the cell charge up while the machines are idle and emit the needed MJ when they are active?
Will the cell provide the appropriate amount of energy up to the cap i set or will always provide the cap value?

I think im starting to understand better

This is my current (INCORRECT) setup... the cell & MJ are used exclusively in the smelting module of the sorting system, for now.

 

[Ldog]

Yeah, that's going to waste power. Move the ECell one space to the right so that it isn't touching the conduit supplying the furnace (blue one).
So you will have the output conduit on top as you have it.
Although we cant see it in the picture, presuming the input to the cell is underneath, move that away as well so that it doesn't connect to the output side. Otherwise everything is fine.

 

[Meldiron]

As long as you'r using redstone conduits and not BC conductive piping then it should only provide power when the machines request power.
Most machines will fill up an internal storage and then not require any more power exept for what's needed for operation.
When you place it as [engines -> cell -> machines] the cell will always be charing with the energy the engines provide, and always provide the energy the machines need, both up to the set max.

 

[Ldog]

As long as you'r using redstone conduits and not BC conductive piping then it should only provide power when the machines request power.
Most machines will fill up an internal storage and then not require any more power exept for what's needed for operation.
When you place it as [engines -> cell -> machines] the cell will always be charing with the energy the engines provide, and always provide the energy the machines need, both up to the set max.

Correct.

However when you have the cell able to provide and receive from itself it will lose power. I found this out by accident, because I tend to build in tight spaces.
Nothing was running, all machines at full charge, engines all shut down and the cell was slowly losing power.
Currently by default redstone conduit loses 5% of energy transmitted. So 50 mj was being extracted from the cell per tick. 5% of 50 is 2.5 so the cell was putting out 50 and getting back 47.5, every single tick.

This is also what our friend here is doing with his setup.

 

[Juanitierno]

Yeah, i though they worked like bluetricity batboxes, itll be corrected very soon

 

[Ldog]

Just to make it clear to anyone else who might be interested:

Good:

Bad:

The loop is circled in red. While it wont cause an explosion like BC pipes, it can waste as much as 5MJ/tick (if cell is set to 100/100)

 

[Juanitierno]

Improved setup:

 

[Ldog]

Now you got it!
I dont know why my images arent showing, I'll fix it when I get home.

 

[heavy1metal]

Loggers and other automatic farmers etc will continually pull power, even when they're doing nothing. Best to keep those separate / off your power grid and have them fuel/replenish themselves. TE machines are smart, won't pull power. Quarries and fillers too will stop drawing power when done.

 

[Juanitierno]

But they will either draw power or not, they wont draw as needed.

For example if a TE machine needs 1MJ and i have my cell configured to emit 50, itll waste 49 right?

So its a good idea to set the cell to the average consumption of the system right?

 

[Meldiron]

No, if the TE machine needs 1MJ it gets 1MJ from the conduits (conduits store a given amount of MJ), then the conduits get 1MJ from the redstone cell, no matter what the max output setting of the cell is.
This is true for all TE machines and most other machines, except farms and a few other machines as mentioned by heavy1metal.

 

[Juanitierno]

Thank you very much

I have a pretty good grasp on EU mechanics, but BC power always eluded me

Thank you!

 

[Ldog]

Railcraft machines will also continuously bleed power (at least the rolling machine, I dont use the crusher since it is ridiculous compared to pulverizer/macerator) as well.
By the time you have a bunch of forestry farms power shouldnt be much of a concern anymore, I just use a single cell for farms/harvesters and regulate the output to what seems reasonable.
Carpenters, stills, etc require more power so they get their own circuit(s).

One of the nice things with chaining the redstone cells together you can regulate your power distribution if you have to, let engines feed into 1 (per 100 MJ production) and then feed other cells with that, regulating their input and output. Feed the machines off of those.