Steam Boilers vs IC2 EU generators.

[Freakscar]

Using the steam boilers isn't really the issue, overall. It's fueling them that I can't get past. Biofuel is out because I don't have the know-how to automate it. Oil is extremely micro-managey unless you have a massive oil/fuel tank good enough to keep your boilers running for... weeks, at least, and creosote oil is, well... creosote oil.

Lava would be the only reasonable option since that's more renewable than anything else. One Mystcraft age could infinitely supply lava forever. And ever.

Actually, I just had a thought. Doesn't oil spawn most commonly in desert biomes? If so, couldn't I just make a Mystcraft Desert biome age and just collect oil I find there into a large tank?

For a more.. to-earth approach, I'd suggest Steve's Carts treefarms. I use 2 "E" shaped treefarms for my boilers - and currently am heating up my 3rd 36HP boiler. It took me a while to figure out how-to, but in short, this is what I've done (using RP2 and Factorization).

The Cartfarms send their stuff to my barrels (apple, sapling, wood) where an item tesseract sends them to my boilers. There, two sawmills produce logs out of the wood, feeding those directly into the boilers. I'm using relays as buffer system, one at the wood-barrel and two at each of the two sawmills (per boiler). Granted, you cannot heat up more than 1 boiler at a time - but once the first one was heated up, I had no more energy problems MJ-wise. Goal for this are 6 HP boilers (probably have to add one or two more tree farms *). To not waste anything, the sawmills send their sawdust though another item tesseract, which feeds a Xycraft Fabricator, turning the dust into compressed sawdust, which then gets turned into charcoal in a powered furnace. The part I like about this whole setup is basically the tesseracts, as they allow me to build my boilers, treefarms, charcoalproduction how and where ever I like. No pipes are harmed during the whole process, except the first few pneumatic tubes to the barrels. Though the next treefarms I add will probably end up with yet another item-tesseract and have that feed the barrel at my house.

This sounds way more complicated written out. So, supershort describtion: Steve Carts Treefarm > Barrel >[Tesseract]> Sawmill >[Optional:Tesseract>Charcoal] > Boiler.

[edit]
* Which in turn prolly will mean I'll scrap the two old farms and build me a stable flat forest mystcraft age again utilizing the tesseracts and regain lotsa space next to my house.

 

[Mash]

For a more.. to-earth approach, I'd suggest Steve's Carts treefarms. I use 2 "E" shaped treefarms for my boilers - and currently am heating up my 3rd 36HP boiler. It took me a while to figure out how-to, but in short, this is what I've done (using RP2 and Factorization).

The Cartfarms send their stuff to my barrels (apple, sapling, wood) where an item tesseract sends them to my boilers. There, two sawmills produce logs out of the wood, feeding those directly into the boilers. I'm using relays as buffer system, one at the wood-barrel and two at each of the two sawmills (per boiler). Granted, you cannot heat up more than 1 boiler at a time - but once the first one was heated up, I had no more energy problems MJ-wise. Goal for this are 6 HP boilers (probably have to add one or two more tree farms *). To not waste anything, the sawmills send their sawdust though another item tesseract, which feeds a Xycraft Fabricator, turning the dust into compressed sawdust, which then gets turned into charcoal in a powered furnace. The part I like about this whole setup is basically the tesseracts, as they allow me to build my boilers, treefarms, charcoalproduction how and where ever I like. No pipes are harmed during the whole process, except the first few pneumatic tubes to the barrels. Though the next treefarms I add will probably end up with yet another item-tesseract and have that feed the barrel at my house.

This sounds way more complicated written out. So, supershort describtion: Steve Carts Treefarm > Barrel >[Tesseract]> Sawmill >[Optional:Tesseract>Charcoal] > Boiler.

[edit]
* Which in turn prolly will mean I'll scrap the two old farms and build me a stable flat forest mystcraft age again utilizing the tesseracts and regain lotsa space next to my house.

Would this have enough output to be used for biofuel?

My main issue with biofuel at this point is that multifarms are difficult to fully automate, and I don't have the turtle knowledge to put a felling turtle to work - I can automate the rest of the process to a reasonable extent. But, if this produces enough saplings to keep 2 stills running full-time, then I may look into it.

 

[Neirin]

Would this have enough output to be used for biofuel?

My main issue with biofuel at this point is that multifarms are difficult to fully automate, and I don't have the turtle knowledge to put a felling turtle to work - I can automate the rest of the process to a reasonable extent. But, if this produces enough saplings to keep 2 stills running full-time, then I may look into it.

A single SC2 tree farm can easily keep a liquid fueled and a solid fueled 36HP boiler running with plenty leftover. A MineFactory Reloaded system using planters, harvesters, and fertilizers is also extremely low maintenance and I've heard that it's even more effective than SC2.

 

[Mash]

A single SC2 tree farm can easily keep a liquid fueled and a solid fueled 36HP boiler running with plenty leftover. A MineFactory Reloaded system using planters, harvesters, and fertilizers is also extremely low maintenance and I've heard that it's even more effective than SC2.

This is what I love about FTB. No matter what roadblock you hit, there's almost always an alternative.

I've never used either of those mods, but I'll definitely look into them. I want to use boilers to power my Buildcraft machines. Primarily so that my IC2 machines can consume all of the EU that I can produce.

- I looked into MineFactory, and this seems to be what I'm looking for. Extremely low maintenance as you said, and can even be supplied with a fertilizer to speed the process if it's not going fast enough. Sounds perfect for my purpose.

 

[KirinDave]

MFR is great, but nothing beats SC2 for perpetual motion. A properly built tree cart may spill items, but it can't stop won't stop. Whereas an MFR system needs local power and so if you ever do have a breakdown your resource input will slow down.

 

[Milaha]

One fertilized (uses barely any fertilizer) MFR farm on redwoods (you will need to tweak config to let it harvest to the top) will supply all the wood and sapplings you need to run a whole slew of boilers. Power it off the MJ you get from the boilers. Also for biofuel, the MFR bioreactor is less flexible on fuel source but also 1000% easier to use. Put in saplings get out biofuel at absurd speed, does not even need to be powered. Hell, you can cold start two 36 HP boilers at once off a single bioreactor with zero buffer (goes through saplings like mad to do it tho)

 

[Mash]

One fertilized (uses barely any fertilizer) MFR farm on redwoods (you will need to tweak config to let it harvest to the top) will supply all the wood and sapplings you need to run a whole slew of boilers. Power it off the MJ you get from the boilers. Also for biofuel, the MFR bioreactor is less flexible on fuel source but also 1000% easier to use. Put in saplings get out biofuel at absurd speed, does not even need to be powered. Hell, you can cold start two 36 HP boilers at once off a single bioreactor with zero buffer (goes through saplings like mad to do it tho)

What... exactly is the bioreactor?

I can't seem to find any information on it whatsoever. Does it go by a different name in the mod?

 

[Milaha]

What... exactly is the bioreactor?

I can't seem to find any information on it whatsoever. Does it go by a different name in the mod?

I missed a space. It is bio reactor. it may have been added in a more recent version, I patched my MFR. It is most certainly detailed on the MFR forum post tho.

 

[Mash]

I missed a space. It is bio reactor. it may have been added in a more recent version, I patched my MFR. It is most certainly detailed on the MFR forum post tho.

Okay, sweet. I just watched the update video on it. So, this is the exact same liquid as current biofuel, yeah? Meaning that I can convert the system over without needing to empty my tank first?

 

[Neirin]

Okay, sweet. I just watched the update video on it. So, this is the exact same liquid as current biofuel, yeah? Meaning that I can convert the system over without needing to empty my tank first?

Yep.

I've been putting off experimenting with the bio reactor, but Milaha is making me want to test out some of the designs I've had floating in my head for optimizing its efficiency.

 

[Mash]

Yep.

I've been putting off experimenting with the bio reactor, but Milaha is making me want to test out some of the designs I've had floating in my head for optimizing its efficiency.

From what I'm seeing here, the Bio Reactor is going to make stills and fermenters absolutely obsolete. It looks absolutely astonishing. Particularly in the speed that it makes it.

I'm almost afraid that this is going to become the SOlar Panels of MJ. Haha.

 

[Mash]

Also, will MFR 2.3 work smoothly with the Ultimate pack right now, or...

I haven't really experimented with adding/patching mods independently.

 

[KirinDave]

From what I'm seeing here, the Bio Reactor is going to make stills and fermenters absolutely obsolete. It looks absolutely astonishing. Particularly in the speed that it makes it.

I'm almost afraid that this is going to become the SOlar Panels of MJ. Haha.

The Bio Reator was quite underwhelming for me. I got much better performance from a combustion engine.

 

[MagusUnion]

You'd think that gaming organizations would have learned from Blizzard's mistakes in that nerfing is inferior to buffing in almost every single instance.

Considering that it is the work of sole individuals who are making these mods...

Plus, sometimes people want to be different and technical and work with something huge and monstrous (no pun intended). For a sandbox game, there is no 'competitive' edge to it when it comes to simply building a unique type of infrastructure. Why should there be a 'cookie cutter' type design or 'right way' when it comes to making things in Minecraft? Sure, there is the argument of inefficiency, but when the outputs are about the same, what does it matter? Designs should be of user's taste, not some arbitrary meta-game decisions from the 'chosen few'. For that reason, some find it fun to put for the resources of Steel and Fuel into the Boiler system, and since their power yields don't suffer terribly for that decision, why should they be discouraged from using said setups?

(Off-Topic: The other reason why I hate things like MLG is the misguided perception that everyone ought to play the same way. There is no 'Pro league' in Minecraft. All it is is a bunch of fucking blocks...)

 

[Milaha]

The Bio Reator was quite underwhelming for me. I got much better performance from a combustion engine.

Not the bio generator, the bio reactor (produces bio fuel, not consumes it).

Also, will MFR 2.3 work smoothly with the Ultimate pack right now, or...

I haven't really experimented with adding/patching mods independently.

I was able to simply drop in the new zip file and delete the old one for my server.

 

[Mash]

The Bio Reator was quite underwhelming for me. I got much better performance from a combustion engine.

I... don't see how that comparison applies.

The Bio Reactor makes fuel, and the combustion engine uses it. Shouldn't you be comparing the Steam Boiler to the combustion engine?

Comparing an engine to a fuel source is like comparing a solar panel to a sorting machine. They don't do the same thing, so there's no real comparison to make.

I was able to simply drop in the new zip file and delete the old one for my server.

Thank ya kindly. I have backups, so I guess I'll give it a shot.

 

[Someguy]

I have a tangentially related question. Not really about boilers or IC2 EU generators but since there was a lot of talk about tree farms and fermenter/still setups... here goes.

So I recently set up my first tree farm (SC2) and fermenters and friends. Everything works fine, the one thing is that, clearly apple juice is a better choice for producing biomass, right?
The problem is, the amount of apples produced by the farm is *woefully* inferior to the amount of saplings. So am I just missing out on some secret trick (like I'm not using fertilizer for example... does more fert. produce more apples?) or do people just use water instead of AJ?

I read somewhere (dont remember which thread) someone had apple juice and a "backup" water intake in case they ran out of AJ. Is it possible to do that in some automated way? I mean, I can set up a fermenter with some AJ piped in, and then attach a water pipe, and that will work (once) if the AJ runs out. But it wont automatically switch back to AJ once the supply comes back on. So how are people doing that bit?

 

[Mash]

I have a tangentially related question. Not really about boilers or IC2 EU generators but since there was a lot of talk about tree farms and fermenter/still setups... here goes.

So I recently set up my first tree farm (SC2) and fermenters and friends. Everything works fine, the one thing is that, clearly apple juice is a better choice for producing biomass, right?
The problem is, the amount of apples produced by the farm is *woefully* inferior to the amount of saplings. So am I just missing out on some secret trick (like I'm not using fertilizer for example... does more fert. produce more apples?) or do people just use water instead of AJ?

I read somewhere (dont remember which thread) someone had apple juice and a "backup" water intake in case they ran out of AJ. Is it possible to do that in some automated way? I mean, I can set up a fermenter with some AJ piped in, and then attach a water pipe, and that will work (once) if the AJ runs out. But it wont automatically switch back to AJ once the supply comes back on. So how are people doing that bit?

Well,(I think- would need some testing; I'm sure others have a more efficient setup) I can think of a way to have it automatically switch to a backup water tank if you run out of apple juice, but I can't off the top of my head think of a way to have it switch back to apple juice, though. I'd imagine if you knew how long it took to produce the appropriate amount of apple juice, you could have it send out a redstone signal on a timer to switch it back somehow... but I can't think of a way at the moment.[DOUBLEPOST=1364436985][/DOUBLEPOST]Also, I'd like to give a big thanks to everyone who has responded. You guys have given me a ton of great ideas that I can't wait to try out.

 

[Milaha]

I have a tangentially related question. Not really about boilers or IC2 EU generators but since there was a lot of talk about tree farms and fermenter/still setups... here goes.

So I recently set up my first tree farm (SC2) and fermenters and friends. Everything works fine, the one thing is that, clearly apple juice is a better choice for producing biomass, right?
The problem is, the amount of apples produced by the farm is *woefully* inferior to the amount of saplings. So am I just missing out on some secret trick (like I'm not using fertilizer for example... does more fert. produce more apples?) or do people just use water instead of AJ?

I read somewhere (dont remember which thread) someone had apple juice and a "backup" water intake in case they ran out of AJ. Is it possible to do that in some automated way? I mean, I can set up a fermenter with some AJ piped in, and then attach a water pipe, and that will work (once) if the AJ runs out. But it wont automatically switch back to AJ once the supply comes back on. So how are people doing that bit?

Yes, you can automatically switch to water when out of AJ. I wont go into all the details, but it involves gates detecting tank status and pipe wire. Both liquids will flow to the fermenters on the same pipeline.

 

[Mash]

Yes, you can automatically switch to water when out of AJ. I wont go into all the details, but it involves gates detecting tank status and pipe wire. Both liquids will flow to the fermenters on the same pipeline.

I actually use this method to detect when my fermenter needs to be refilled with saplings so that I don't get a bunch of overflow.