How do radiators and heat stuff work?

[Tanya_Von_Onette.ttv]

I've got the hang of the heat shields, enable them when entering the atmosphere and they're facing towards the direction you're moving.

How do the radiators and other heat protection things work. Some seem to deploy which makes them useless in the atmosphere and the radiators themselves hover at 15% of... something when I'm launching no matter how much friction my ship encounters, are they not meant to protect my ship from my ludicrous tendency to launch them at the maximum speed I can?

[Sprool]

think they are to prevent your engines overheating on long burns

[Tanya_Von_Onette.ttv]

Ooooh! So I should put them neat the engines and not at the top of my rocket! Good to know thanks!

[Tanya_Von_Onette.ttv]

So...... they're useless?

[Tanya_Von_Onette.ttv]

aaah okay thanks

[Made in-Human]

Like RoofCatA says, they are mostly used for mining vehicles and such;

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=940506500

These are a pair of vehicles I did for a Minmus base I currently have set up. The one on the left is a mining vehicle on which you can see the radiators attached, two panels and the rest are extendable. This is neccessary to avoid overheating, otherwise the ISRU and drills wil constantly stop working since they shut down every time heat goes up too much. But as far as orbiting and re-entry they are of little use.

[Tanya_Von_Onette.ttv]

Aaah I see thank you.

[nashiem]

I didnt know you had to activate heat shields as they are organic material that burns away as it heats up. the radiators though need to be turned on, and some are specific to one aprt or verry close to that part its on. Others are good for up to 4 proximity parts, after you turn them on they will begin to work. When mining they are a must, but dont use too many or the drill will not heat up to maximum effeicentc. Yoiu can try it out on kerbin.

[Aragosnat]

Originally posted by RoofCatA:

Don't use radiators to cool off reentry or high speed launch. That doesn't work. They usage cases are other ones.

Actualy. Not completely true. I have used radiators to help keep craft coolish upon re-entry. True they did not survive in the case of my Duna I need to slow down faster due to lack of fuel as I need to save what is left to stay out of atmosphere manuever. Same goes for when launching certain cockpits. I'm looking at you Mk2 smily face.... Static ones are the best for lift off and re-entry due to the fact they don't break apart when hitting the air and can be used as lift.

Thing about how the static radiators work is they draw heat from up to parts that are four away and any farther you willl have to wait for the heat to be tranfered from. Just takes longer. While the extendable ones will take heat from any where almost imediately. Have had radiators go pop due to physics kicking in and they panels decide to take all the heat stored up on certain parts when docking or switching crafts that are in range.

The only case where I can see radiators might be needed for re-entry and lift off is Eve. High gravity, thick atmosphere and long flight time at high speeds. Might make certain parts slightly more survivable.

[ray.mcdonough]

Originally posted by RoofCatA:

no, they have their usage. You use them to cool down ISRU and Drills while mining or Nuke engines during long burns close to Sun.

He's right