energy cell drainage...

[trader_brad]

got my first cell (solar cell), tempted to put in in either Grit Gate recoiler (to insta-travel there) or Joppa recoiler.

Just curious, will the cell drain over time even when I don't use?

[Pizzarugi]

No it won't drain over time from lack of use. Solar cells are an excellent choice for recoilers as well due to their ability to recharge freely when on the surface during the day. Just be careful of juice saps hitting you. Solar cells have exactly enough power for a recoiler, so the tiniest drain will prevent it from being used.

[glass zebra]

It also sounds a bit as if you expect this to be a "final" decision? You can unslot them at any point.

[Aegix Drakan]

I use Solar Cells in all of my Recoilers. I rarely ever need to use one more than once in a short while. :P

[Pixel Peeper]

These are great for Recoilers. You can always change the energy cell later if you prefer another.

Keep in mind, the energy level displayed is a lie. If it says "Full", it might be missing quite a lot of energy, and trying to use the Recoiler with not enough energy will fail [and] drain the solar cell completely.

So don't be too surprised if, on occasion, you use a recoiler with a Solar cell that says "Full" and it just makes things worse.

[glass zebra]

Originally posted by Pixel Peeper:

These are great for Recoilers. You can always change the energy cell later if you prefer another.

Keep in mind, the energy level displayed is a lie. If it says "Full", it might be missing quite a lot of energy, and trying to use the Recoiler with not enough energy will fail [and] drain the solar cell completely.

So don't be too surprised if, on occasion, you use a recoiler with a Solar cell that says "Full" and it just makes things worse.

Yeah they display "full" down to 76% charge and a recoiler needs 100% charge of a regular solar cell. Solar cells have super low max charge, but if you have a few and cycle them, you basically have infinite energy early on if you don't go for super long cave dives. High tier items can drain them quickly though and they eventually end mostly for recoilers for me.

[Cascomp2]

On the other hand if you've taken the Tinker skill (which grants the ability to recharge energy cells), you can tell if a solar cell is actually fully charged because if it isn't you'll have a "recharge cell" option available.

[Pixel Peeper]

Originally posted by Cascomp2:

On the other hand if you've taken the Tinker skill (which grants the ability to recharge energy cells), you can tell if a solar cell is actually fully charged because if it isn't you'll have a "recharge cell" option available.

I think you have to take the cell out of the item to check if you can recharge it or not, though. Taking it out, checking to see if it can be recharged, and slotting it back in is a bit of hassle that most people could do without.

Still, it's an excellent trick if it's really, really important that you know whether your Recoil attempt is going to work or if you're just condemning yourself to more waiting time, especially if night is approaching and you're short on time (low water, disease or spores incubating, etc).

[Pizzarugi]

Originally posted by Pixel Peeper:

Originally posted by Cascomp2:

On the other hand if you've taken the Tinker skill (which grants the ability to recharge energy cells), you can tell if a solar cell is actually fully charged because if it isn't you'll have a "recharge cell" option available.

I think you have to take the cell out of the item to check if you can recharge it or not, though. Taking it out, checking to see if it can be recharged, and slotting it back in is a bit of hassle that most people could do without.

Still, it's an excellent trick if it's really, really important that you know whether your Recoil attempt is going to work or if you're just condemning yourself to more waiting time, especially if night is approaching and you're short on time (low water, disease or spores incubating, etc).

Just tested with a high-capacity radio-powered chem cell in a recoiler. You can recharge the cell while it's slotted into something.

The only thing that can't recharge by itself while slotted is the fidget cell, which makes solar cells the superior option.

[glass zebra]

Originally posted by Pizzarugi:

The only thing that can't recharge by itself while slotted is the fidget cell, which makes solar cells the superior option.

Solar cells are tier 2, fidget cells tier 1. Fidget cells also work underground.

[Pixel Peeper]

Originally posted by Pizzarugi:

Just tested with a high-capacity radio-powered chem cell in a recoiler. You can recharge the cell while it's slotted into something.

The only thing that can't recharge by itself while slotted is the fidget cell, which makes solar cells the superior option.

Ah, I didn't realize the item's own menu let you Recharge the cell that's inside the item. That's fantastic. Nice little "quality of life" touch there.

Radio-powered cells are great, but radio power isn't accessible deeper underground unless there's a radio broadcast station nearby.

[glass zebra]

Originally posted by Pixel Peeper:

Radio-powered cells are great, but radio power isn't accessible deeper underground unless there's a radio broadcast station nearby.

Which you can take with you as an ally. Maybe also add a fusion power station as another ally.
How do they work though? I read the wiki entry, but when I wish for one and techscanning shows they have power.. my radio-power items still stay empty.

[Pizzarugi]

Originally posted by serikos:

Originally posted by Pixel Peeper:

Radio-powered cells are great, but radio power isn't accessible deeper underground unless there's a radio broadcast station nearby.

Which you can take with you as an ally. Maybe also add a fusion power station as another ally.
How do they work though? I read the wiki entry, but when I wish for one and techscanning shows they have power.. my radio-power items still stay empty.

My guess is to make them stand still next to each other. If that doesn't work, put them one space apart and then place wire between them to see if it connects.

[Pixel Peeper]

Originally posted by serikos:

How do they work though? I read the wiki entry, but when I wish for one and techscanning shows they have power.. my radio-power items still stay empty.

Supposedly, they need to be connected to some sort of generator and can only broadcast as much power (charges) as they receive.

If you've animated one, then I'm not entirely sure what powers it; it's not a robot so it shouldn't be able to generate electrical power internally.

Perhaps the techscanning equipment is detecting whatever energy source is allowing a construction with no inherent energy generation capabilities to move around, but now we're talking tech so advanced that it's basically magic.

Either way, whatever power animated the station is probably not electrical and would not allow it to broadcast any charges. That, and/or it only produces sufficient power to sustain itself, and would need extra energy to broadcast it.

[glass zebra]

Originally posted by Pixel Peeper:

Originally posted by serikos:

How do they work though? I read the wiki entry, but when I wish for one and techscanning shows they have power.. my radio-power items still stay empty.

Supposedly, they need to be connected to some sort of generator and can only broadcast as much power (charges) as they receive.

If you've animated one, then I'm not entirely sure what powers it; it's not a robot so it shouldn't be able to generate electrical power internally.

Perhaps the techscanning equipment is detecting whatever energy source is allowing a construction with no inherent energy generation capabilities to move around, but now we're talking tech so advanced that it's basically magic.

Either way, whatever power animated the station is probably not electrical and would not allow it to broadcast any charges. That, and/or it only produces sufficient power to sustain itself, and would need extra energy to broadcast it.

I tested a wished one that was not animated and an animated one, both next to a fusion generator and both showing that they have power available from the generator. My cell stayed at 0%. I never got them to work so far with wishing and frankly have not done deep dives so much to meet them naturally. It just seemed like they never really worked, despite being powered. Not sure if there is an issue from wishing or them just being bugged.
Edit: This is not on topic anymore though. I'll cease

[Pixel Peeper]

Originally posted by serikos:

I tested a wished one that was not animated and an animated one, both next to a fusion generator and both showing that they have power available from the generator. My cell stayed at 0%. I never got them to work so far with wishing and frankly have not done deep dives so much to meet them naturally. It just seemed like they never really worked, despite being powered. Not sure if there is an issue from wishing or them just being bugged.
Edit: This is not on topic anymore though. I'll cease

Perhaps not fully on-topic (we were talking about cells that recharge on their own, and this is still relevant), but very interesting.

Maybe broadcast power stations are non-functioning. No one would have noticed. When you use radio-powered chem cells you're not running around 30 deep, and when you're running 30 deep you wouldn't notice if your radio-powered antimatter cell isn't getting energy back when in the vicinity of a broadcast power station.