Do boilers fluctuate in output?

[Atlas32]

I'm playing the campaign and it seems like the output of my boilers/steam begins fluctuate. Can someone help a newbie out? Any other basic tips?

[tom]

check if they are fully supplied with water and fuel, also, how many steam engines did you attack to each boiler?
a boiler at its maximun working can produce steam for exacly 2 engines, so, if you attach a third, as long as you use less energy than what can be prudced by 2 engines, the steam will accumulate across the engines and then in the boiler, as soon as you use more than 1.8MW, the accumulated steam will be consumed

[Atlas32]

Thanks bud.

I am on the early level where you have to research automobilisation. How many labs should I have researching, realistically? Because it is taking.me ages now with four.

Also, by this point, should I be having every lab being fed by inserters? Because I'm filling them by hand now

[TSP]

The maximum output of boilers is consistent. However, keep in mind that steam engines demand more steam the more energy they have to supply to your base. The most optimal would be one boiler to two steam engines, and 1 water pump per 20 boilers. Of course, you don't have to make 20 boilers right away or something like that, it's just the maximum amount of production these buildings can maintain.

Feel free to take a look here for more in-depth information regarding power and screenshots to give you a visual idea:

https://wiki.factorio.com/Power_production

[tom]

Originally posted by T:

Thanks bud.

I am on the early level where you have to research automobilisation. How many labs should I have researching, realistically? Because it is taking.me ages now with four.

Also, by this point, should I be having every lab being fed by inserters? Because I'm filling them by hand now

i don't remember the campaing but automobilism should be at a point where you should have the research completly automatized, from the mining to the smelting to the crafting of science packs, but, of course, do as you wish, and it's the campaign so you probably won't be playing the same way as when you do what you want

in the early stages of the game (i belive some people do this even after launching rockets) you should make a "chain" of labs, you can place an inserter between 2 labs, and it will pick items form the first and place them in the second, you can do a chian like this as long as you wish (there's a point where they won't be able to move enough packs, but i don't think you'll face this problem)

for the number of labs you should have, do some math with how many science pack you produce each second and how many labs you need to consume all of it, or, just keep adding labs untill there aren't enough science packs coming

[Warlord]

Originally posted by T:

Thanks bud.

I am on the early level where you have to research automobilisation. How many labs should I have researching, realistically? Because it is taking.me ages now with four.

Also, by this point, should I be having every lab being fed by inserters? Because I'm filling them by hand now

You should have as many labs as you feel comfortable supplying. After the first lab for automation, I immediately jump to 10 or 20 labs to research most things from then on until much later.

It would be a good idea to upgrade to automating feeding the labs. Simplest way is what we call the daisy chain method. Set up a line of labs one space apart, with one inserter taking from the previous one. Then, set it up to have all science packs go into the first lab. The packs will be traded along the line until the last one has 2 or 3. It's really simple to set up, and at night makes cool visualizations as the packs are traded along the line they light up for a short time. If you don't want to fully automate the packs going onto belts and going to the lab (since you aren't currently doing it) dump the packs into a chest near the first lab, and have an inserter take from that rather than a belt.

[Atlas32]

Awesome thanks a lot guys, appreciate the assistance!

[Tankfriend]

Originally posted by T:

Also, by this point, should I be having every lab being fed by inserters? Because I'm filling them by hand now

Definitely try to automate your labs as soon as possible in any game if you can afford it. Otherwise, you have to regularly stop whatever you're doing if you want to keep researching.

It's pretty much the same for the entire game, though. Try to automate as much possible - preferably everything. The tools gradually become available in the course of the game (though campaign usually doesn't take you long enough to reach everything).

[impetus_maximus]

1 boiler (with enough water) can support 2 steam engines up to about 98% load. at full load you will see little dips in output as the steam reaches 0.

you will also see the output fluctuate depending on demand. as machines demand more or less, the steam engines produce more or less power.

Originally posted by Agent Orange:

The maximum output of boilers is consistent. However, keep in mind that steam engines demand more steam the more energy they have to supply to your base. The most optimal would be one boiler to two steam engines, and 1 water pump per 20 boilers.

optimal for me is 3 offshore pumps, 2 rows of 23 boilers, 46 steam engines (or 23 turbines).