Cant Transfer Power or Resources through conveyor

[Thanos]

I am kind of new to space engineers and dont know what I am doing wrong, I tried resetting ownership and rebuilding the whole ship. I am trying to connect a small ship to a station ( converting it to ship also doesn't work). I feel like I have tried everything, I dont know how to get it working and I really want to play space engineers. How do I share my save file or send a copy of my work?

[Candarian]

that NEVER!!! work

small and big blocks are different and dont fit together(with some exceptions)

there are 2 ways to connect big and small grids(i know of)

a) station and small ship have connectors
b) station has a advanced rotor
than u destroy the rotor head
and build a small advanced rotor head on your small ship

and than connect them

and everything need to be connected with the the conveyor nets

[Thanos]

Originally posted by Candarian:

that NEVER!!! work

small and big blocks are different and dont fit together(with some exceptions)

there are 2 ways to connect big and small grids(i know of)

a) station and small ship have connectors
b) station has a advanced rotor
than u destroy the rotor head
and build a small advanced rotor head on your small ship

and than connect them

and everything need to be connected with the the conveyor nets

Both, my station and my small ship have connectors but they dont transfer any power between them and as soon as I try to change modes for either of the batteries, the connector for that grid switches off (becomes red). I have both of them locked through a green connections usually and the conveyor system is green lit too. The small connector is on the small ship and the big connector is on the station.

[Pembroke]

Originally posted by Thanos:

I am kind of new to space engineers and dont know what I am doing wrong, I tried resetting ownership and rebuilding the whole ship. I am trying to connect a small ship to a station

Place a connector both to your base and your ship. Fly the ship so that its connector touches the connector on the base. Once the connectors get close to each other their magnetic lock snaps and your ship is docked. However, this doesn't yet allow you to move resources across the connection.

Look at the color of the connector lights. When they are "docked but not linked" they are yellow. Now, you could hit "P" to quickly switch the lock. The connectors will then turn green and the conveyor systems are now linked. Both power and resources can move across the link. Ore in your ship is snatched by your refineries and you can set your ship batteries to recharge from the base power. However, try to learn away from that habit of linking by pressing "P". Once you get more than one ship docked in your station you will very quickly learn why hitting "P" to link the connectors is not a good idea...

Instead, add the ship connector to your ship toolbar i.e. the same way you add drills or other things. Just drag the connector to the toolbar and select "switch lock" as the action. After that, every time you dock your ship to the base's connector you can just hit the toolbar key to switch lock to link the connectors. To undock just hit the key again and the connector turns blue and you can fly away.

[Thanos]

Originally posted by Pembroke:

Originally posted by Thanos:

I am kind of new to space engineers and dont know what I am doing wrong, I tried resetting ownership and rebuilding the whole ship. I am trying to connect a small ship to a station

Place a connector both to your base and your ship. Fly the ship so that its connector touches the connector on the base. Once the connectors get close to each other their magnetic lock snaps and your ship is docked. However, this doesn't yet allow you to move resources across the connection.

Look at the color of the connector lights. When they are "docked but not linked" they are yellow. Now, you could hit "P" to quickly switch the lock. The connectors will then turn green and the conveyor systems are now linked. Both power and resources can move across the link. Ore in your ship is snatched by your refineries and you can set your ship batteries to recharge from the base power. However, try to learn away from that habit of linking by pressing "P". Once you get more than one ship docked in your station you will very quickly learn why hitting "P" to link the connectors is not a good idea...

Instead, add the ship connector to your ship toolbar i.e. the same way you add drills or other things. Just drag the connector to the toolbar and select "switch lock" as the action. After that, every time you dock your ship to the base's connector you can just hit the toolbar key to switch lock to link the connectors. To undock just hit the key again and the connector turns blue and you can fly away.

I did that, connections again turned green. But, the batteries on the small ship are still discharging and the ones on the main station are still recharging. Also, still no transfer of resources. ( I have enabled trading on - on both connectors).

[Pembroke]

Originally posted by Thanos:

as soon as I try to change modes for either of the batteries, the connector for that grid switches off (becomes red).

The connector needs power to stay locked. If it turns red when you switch your ship batteries to "recharge" then the power supply of your base is not enough to cover the demand from the ship's connector.

Add batteries to your base and make sure they're on "auto" or "discharge" before switching the ship batteries to "recharge". If you're lacking power then add more wind turbines or solar panels.

But you definitely can recharge your ship from your base. You just need the base have enough power available to do so.

[Pembroke]

Originally posted by Thanos:

Also, still no transfer of resources. ( I have enabled trading on - on both connectors).

If the connectors are green you should be able to move stuff between the ship and base inventories across the connectors. However, note that if any part of the conveyor chain between the containers is through *small* conveyor tubes or through the *small* ports of the medium cargo container, then only small items will fit through. Ore is classified as "small item" so try moving that (ice, stone, iron ore, etc.).

[Candarian]

have u switched the base batteries to discharge
and the ship battery to recharge?

[Thanos]

Originally posted by Pembroke:

Originally posted by Thanos:

as soon as I try to change modes for either of the batteries, the connector for that grid switches off (becomes red).

The connector needs power to stay locked. If it turns red when you switch your ship batteries to "recharge" then the power supply of your base is not enough to cover the demand from the ship's connector.

Add batteries to your base and make sure they're on "auto" or "discharge" before switching the ship batteries to "recharge". If you're lacking power then add more wind turbines or solar panels.

But you definitely can recharge your ship from your base. You just need the base have enough power available to do so.

I have two small batteries on the station, and two small ones on my small ship (smaller model of the batteries). My base has a stored power of 2.8MWh. and my ship has a stored power of approximately 450kWh and has a max input of 4x2 = 8MW and the output for the base is 12x2 = 24MW. I have set the base batteries to discharge and for the ship batteries, as soon as I press recharge, the ship powers down. The ship, on standby uses 14.52kW. Even if I shut all systems down and just keep the connector online, the ship doesn't recharge and the connector on the ship turns red.

[Thanos]

Originally posted by Candarian:

have u switched the base batteries to discharge
and the ship battery to recharge?

Yes

[Thanos]

Originally posted by Pembroke:

Originally posted by Thanos:

Also, still no transfer of resources. ( I have enabled trading on - on both connectors).

If the connectors are green you should be able to move stuff between the ship and base inventories across the connectors. However, note that if any part of the conveyor chain between the containers is through *small* conveyor tubes or through the *small* ports of the medium cargo container, then only small items will fit through. Ore is classified as "small item" so try moving that (ice, stone, iron ore, etc.).

The connector on the ship is directly connected to the medium cargo container. On the Station, I have two small cargo containers, but I just have the conveyor system on the station linked directly to my refinery, using larger model for the conveyor tubes, which again, directly connect to the connector on the station.

Edit: I am also not able to access the inventory of the refinery using my ship and vv.

[Candarian]

if both batteries are on auto/discharge are the connectors green
(red = no other powered connector near
yellow = an other powered connector near but not connected
green = connecters are connected)
and can u transfer items?

[Thanos]

Originally posted by Candarian:

if both batteries are on auto/discharge are the connectors green
(red = no other powered connector near
yellow = an other powered connector near but not connected
green = connecters are connected)
and can u transfer items?

Both cases, I cant transfer energy or items

[Thanos]

Ok, I'll push this to solved. I realized, for some reason if you enable trading on either of the connectors, it actually blocks all trading somehow. I disabled trading on both connectors and they now work as normal. Thanks so much to everyone for the help.

[Buzzard]

Trade mode on connectors actively BLOCKS power, gas and material transfer except for what is paid for through a store, vending machine, or contracts block. You ONLY set trade mode for visitors/customers to dock up and not drain your base of power, gas, ice, etc.