What size reactor will I need?

[raymazoida]

Hi all, I'm starting work on my first large ship in lone survivor mode. My base is up to 3 small reactors and I think i'm going ot have to go for a large one soon there.

Question is should i go straight for a large on my large ship?

It's going to be a driller with refineries.

Advice appreciated

[mr_Spectrum]

http://www.spaceengineerswiki.com/Electricity

[Snowmansland]

You must have a really big station to need a large reactor. A large reactor produces 20 times the power of a small one and a single small one can power about 9 refineries.

Whether or not you need a large one on your ship mostly depends on how many thrusters it has which usually depends on its size. If you have the space and desire you can build one but those drills and refineries aren't going to use much power from it.

[Darkaiser]

One of the advantages of the large reactor is that it won't consume more fuel than you use for power. By that I mean a large reactor working at 10% capacity uses no more fuel than small reactors generating the same amount. It just takes up a LOT more resources to build.

[ScruffyBamboo]

Originally posted by mrraybaker:

Hi all, I'm starting work on my first large ship in lone survivor mode. My base is up to 3 small reactors and I think i'm going ot have to go for a large one soon there.

Question is should i go straight for a large on my large ship?

It's going to be a driller with refineries.

Advice appreciated

I was in the same pickle. Just about fininshed my first large mining ship (about 170 drills, 20 refineries, 15 arc furnaces, 12 assemblers). No idea how many reactors I'd need, including my ship-wide conveyor system, so I decided to go big:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=329219415

I ended up using 4 large reactors. Probably massive overkill, but hey - it looks sexy ;)

I haven't officially launched the ship yet (still some fininshing touches, like a few thrusters and some of the interior), so I don't know how much of an overkill yet, but I see this as a learning process lol :P

[raymazoida]

Originally posted by Snowmansland:

You must have a really big station to need a large reactor. A large reactor produces 20 times the power of a small one and a single small one can power about 9 refineries.

Whether or not you need a large one on your ship mostly depends on how many thrusters it has which usually depends on its size. If you have the space and desire you can build one but those drills and refineries aren't going to use much power from it.

My station needs 3 for like 17 arcs, 6 refs and 12 assemblers, plus grav, but obviously it has no thrusters.

My small mining ship has 5 reactors for a mere 15 drills, it's the thrusters to move those drills at any reasonabe speed that use the powere - i have 4 forward, 2 all other directions. And I plan on more than 15 drilss. which means I will probably need more thrusters

[ScruffyBamboo]

Originally posted by mrraybaker:

Originally posted by Snowmansland:

You must have a really big station to need a large reactor. A large reactor produces 20 times the power of a small one and a single small one can power about 9 refineries.

Whether or not you need a large one on your ship mostly depends on how many thrusters it has which usually depends on its size. If you have the space and desire you can build one but those drills and refineries aren't going to use much power from it.

My station needs 3 for like 17 arcs, 6 refs and 12 assemblers, plus grav, but obviously it has no thrusters.

My small mining ship has 5 reactors for a mere 15 drills, it's the thrusters to move those drills at any reasonabe speed that use the powere - i have 4 forward, 2 all other directions. And I plan on more than 15 drilss. which means I will probably need more thrusters

Careful with the forward thrusters on a small mining ship though. I used to put too many (or worse - large thrusters), and kept on breaking my drills. I've had a lot more success with a smaller number of forward thrusters - no more broken drills. Just my observation ;)

[raymazoida]

aye i've broken some too lol, i have 2 set up in a group for just traveling to the nearby roids otherwise it takes an age, then they get turned off for mining

[ScruffyBamboo]

Originally posted by mrraybaker:

aye i've broken some too lol, i have 2 set up in a group for just traveling to the nearby roids otherwise it takes an age, then they get turned off for mining

Same. Took a while for me to figure out that this was the problem. I kept thinking "Why are drills so friggin' weak?", when I should've been thinking "Why am I trying to force my drill through an asteroid faster than it can drill?" LOL