Question about GregTech (energy cable)

[mbbkraft]

Hello,

I'm playing on Resurrection to try to learn greg but there is something i'm not sure : it's the energy cable system but not at 100% because i already know how IC2 work, so i know that machine should not receive more than the voltage they need and i also know there is some loose on energy for each type of cable.

So my question its mainly for gregtech amp : should i look these amp in the same way i look Applied Energistic channel system ? I mean :

If i have a 4x tin cable relied to all my machines, if is run more than 4 of them there will be a "not enough energy" issue ?
So if i'm right the best thing to do to cable everything without expecting problem is to do something like :

Generator -> 4x cable then on the cable 4x I connect 4 battery of the lower tier and
4x cable -> 1x battery -> 1x cable -> 1 machine
4x cable -> 1x battery ->1x cable -> 1 machine
4x cable -> 1x battery ->1x cable -> 1 machine
4x cable -> 1x battery ->1x cable -> 1 machine

This i why i made this thread, i'm not sure and i would really appreciate to have more explanation on it (i'm deaf, so even if i try to understand how mods work on video it's really harder without sound ^^)

Thanks in advance

 

[immibis]

If you put too many amps through a cable, the cable will explode melt (there's a difference; melting cables won't take out any blocks around them, though they might start fires).

All generators that I know of output 1 amp. Putting 5 generators through a 4x cable would be likely to cause them to melt. Putting 5 machines on a 4x cable is fine, since it's the generators that cause power to flow through the cable.

You will get "not enough energy" issues if you don't have enough energy - nothing strange there.

 

[mbbkraft]

Hmm ok but by example, if my cable have only 4 amp and i need to use 5 of my machine wich are using 1 amp each, so because there is only 4 amp there will only 4 energy source giving power to 5 machine so machine will stop if i dont feed the battery more than i take power i'm right ?

So 1 amp = 1 energy source or it's juste "1 amp" ?

I'm asking that because for now i have 1 big boiler with 3 basic steam turbine that feed 1 4x Battery buffer then i cabled a line of (about 6 / 7 machine) that i will need to auto process my ores a second line with machine needed to craft some item and in the last line my firt blast furnace. In total i have :

1 Big boiler ---> 3 Basic steam turbine (LV) ---> 1 4x battery buffer (LV) with 4 Lithium battery ------> my 7 machine -> battery again -----> machine for craft (plate, wire....) -----> blast furnace

But with this setup i'm starting to need more energy but i'm still brainstorming and i was thinking to switch on MV but for this i need to recraft all my machine with MV machine hull and to craft this i need aluminium with take 2 million EU per ingot in the blast furnace and i'm far from having this power so i was maybe thinking about making more turbine but it seem that the boiler (permanently full of charocoal) is generating just enough steam for my 3 turbine so again i dont really what to do now ... maybe replace by 3 MV turbine with a transformer ? Anyway, i'm stuck, still searching how to have more power.

Also a little question about overcloking machine : the more it have power ther faster it process or i need to add IC2 upgrade ?

 

[immibis]

As far as I know the amps and volts don't make a difference to how much power your machines get, only whether they explode or not. If you add up all the EU/t requirements of everything on the line, and say you get 128 EU/t total, then it doesn't matter whether you have 1A and 128V or 4A and 32V. (But 4A at 32V will melt your cables if they're not 4x or higher, and 1A at 128V will explode your machine if they're not MV tier or higher)



GregTech machines cannot be overclocked. However, each extra tier that the machine is (beyond what the recipe requires) will use 4x as much power for 2x as much speed (so only half as efficient). For example, rubber plates can be made in a Basic Extruder (which is LV) using 32 EU/t. If you try to make them in an Advanced Extruder (which is MV), it will use 128 EU/t, but half as much time.

 

[adamich]

should i look these amp in the same way i look Applied Energistic channel system

Yes, U must.
but in inverted. 4x cable (copper?) can suply ~4 machines, but U msut think "in time": 4 machines at the same time. On same cable U can place more than 4 machines.
And U must remember energy loss per cable block. that means on second+ cable block it will request 1.1+ ampers per one machine

 

[adamich]

about MV machines: sifter and macerator MUST BE UPGRADED.
any other can be upgraded by "time loss" component/request.

 

[mbbkraft]

Ok so now i'm going to upgrade a little my system, i added a 1x battery LV for my AE, i was afraid it will explode if receiving energy from 4x but it seem ok so the next step is to replace my 4x battery buffer with 9x battery buffer and also replace my basic steam turbine by advanced so i will also use 2 transformer for my 2 LV battery buffer but i see that Battery buffer only have 4 amp so if i put more than 4 amp MV cable it will explode ? Also if transformer have only 4 amp, if i stick it to a 9 amp battery buffer it will feed it slower than if i put a MV battery buffer and then put the transformer. Like this :

My idea : MV -> LV transformer / 9 amp LV battery buffer
Is this a better idea ? : 1 amp MV battery buffer (because transformer have only 4 amp and 1 big amp equal 4 lesser amp) / MV -> LV transformer

 

[immibis]

i see that Battery buffer only have 4 amp so if i put more than 4 amp MV cable it will explode ?

No. If your machine only needs 1A, then the generator/buffer powering it will only emit 1A (even if it could emit 4). If you have two machines needing 1A, it will emit 2A (1 for each). Extra amps can't make machines, generators or buffers explode.

Extra amps can make cables explode - if you have a 4A buffer powering a 1A machine through a 1A cable, you're probably fine (but I personally wouldn't risk it). If you have a 4A buffer powering two 1A machines through a 1A cable (so 2A total), the cable will melt.

Also, if you use a bigger cable than necessary (like 12A when you never have more than 4A going through it) everything will still work, but the cable will be more expensive.

Also if transformer have only 4 amp, if i stick it to a 9 amp battery buffer it will feed it slower than if i put a MV battery buffer and then put the transformer. Like this :

My idea : MV -> LV transformer / 9 amp LV battery buffer

Make sure the cable after the buffer can handle at least 9A in this case. (Again, you can probably use less if you don't have too many machines connected, but it's a bad idea)

Is this a better idea ? : 1 amp MV battery buffer (because transformer have only 4 amp and 1 big amp equal 4 lesser amp) / MV -> LV transformer

With this idea you'll have 4A available for machines, so you'll be able to power less machines at once, but you also won't need as expensive a cable to be sure it won't melt. Up to you.