Can't keep Nuclear Reactors filled with water

[Ｍｏｎａｄｎｏｃｋ]

I've got two nuclear reactors, and both have plenty of fuel rods, but for the life of me I simply cannot keep them topped up with water. I know that reactors are water hogs, and each reactor has its own water source (not split) with multiple water pumps and pipeline pumps for headlift. For some reason, the water flow goes from a trickle to a flood constantly, over and over again. It's unsustainable and I can't keep the reactors up. I am not using any valves, could backflow be the issue?

[CursedPanther]

Assuming you're already using Mk2 pipes all the way, are you also installing Mk2 pumps as Mk1 ones will create hidden bottlenecks? A small detail easy to overlook.

[Ｍｏｎａｄｎｏｃｋ]

Originally posted by CursedPanther:

Assuming you're already using Mk2 pipes all the way, are you also installing Mk2 pumps as Mk1 ones will create hidden bottlenecks? A small detail easy to overlook.

Using Mk2 pumps. It's weird, I have an industrial buffer installed, and I'm not overdoing it with headlift pumps, but the reactor will just stop receiving water every so often, even though there is adequate flow. Starting to think it's a weird bug. The reactor tank continuously fills, and then all of a sudden the flow just stops, leading to power failure.

Edit: Just had them stable for about 10 minutes of continuous runtime, and then out of nowhere they just shut down from lack of water.

The fluid mechanics in this game are stupid. Headlift is good, have buffers, nothing matters. I give up, I'm just going to go back to fuel power and get rid of nuclear, it's just too dumb.

[nfgman]

Maybe install a buffer tank to absorb fluctuations. A mk2 pump will cause fluctuations with inadequate supply . Maybe group 5 extractors together for 600 output going to both reactors and a single mk2 pump.

Are the pumps low enough relative to extractors?

If you have't got 60 FPS, there can be max throughput problems on mk2 pipes and mk5 conveyors. Solution to that is to use multiple pipes or conveyors.

[Mogges]

Have the same issue......10 nuclear plants in a row, all setups are absolutely the same, a copy of each other. 8 plants are running fine, water full, no fluctuation and constant production. 2 of the plants seems to have been constucted on a Monday ;-)
Up and down, sigmoid curve, no flat line.....that´s the liquid voodoo from Satisfactory.
So: you are not alone ;-)

[Tenzek]

Do the Mk1 pumps bottleneck? I assumed that they would too, but on one particular pipe line I had, I forgot to upgrade the pumps. When I put 600m^3 through it, it passed through 4 Mk1 pumps without issue, and the consuming machines need all 600 per minute. I didn't even notice the older pumps until I walked past them much later.


To the original poster: Can we see a screen shot of your set up?

[CursedPanther]

Originally posted by Tenzek:

Do the Mk1 pumps bottleneck? I assumed that they would too, but on one particular pipe line I had, I forgot to upgrade the pumps. When I put 600m^3 through it, it passed through 4 Mk1 pumps without issue, and the consuming machines need all 600 per minute. I didn't even notice the older pumps until I walked past them much later.

According to the Satisfactory Wiki a pump doesn't have a flow rate limit on its own. That means if a Mk1 pump is attached to a horizontal section of Mk2 pipes the max flow rate will remain at 600m3.

When I say bottleneck earlier it applies to vertical sections which insufficient Head Lift can affect the overall flow rate severely. Mk2 pumps have a 250% efficiency of Mk1 but they still have to be spaced out correctly to function as rated. So yeah a proper screenshot from OP will clear up the picture.

[Ｍｏｎａｄｎｏｃｋ]

Sorry, can't provide a screen shot. In my frustration, shortly after posting the original problem, I tore everything down and will try something different. Thanks to anyone who tried to help

Edit: The water pipes had too many angles and I'm not a mathematician, so even though the absolute height of the destination wasn't that much, it made it difficult to determine headlift. I'm going to try a different place where I can use simple vertical pipes where the guessing game doesn't have to be played.

[Rezznor7]

And speaking of pumps... like in Factorio, if there is a long line of pipework should a pump be installed at some intervals to ensure maximum throughput? I had a scenario where I had a pump just out of the water leading to a very long length of pipework but at barely 50% head lift. Though the source was adequate and the pump showed good flow and the buffer right after the pump was filled nicely, the refineries down at the far end of the line were not receiving their load of water on a consistent basis. It wasn't until I tried to drop another pump further down the line closer to the refineries that they all loaded up on their water and stayed maxed. I checked back down the line again, inspecting the pipe's flow, and as far I can tell nothing had changed other than the 2nd pump was able to increase any shortage in flow.

[Schalimah]

pumps only affect lift not distance.

I usually build a water tower at my extractors.
You pump the water to the maximum hight you need.
From there you feed it into the system.
No more pumps needed along the way.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2499306830

You can also use one water tower to pressurise multiple lines.
Just don't forget the valve to avoid backflow

[Ｍｏｎａｄｎｏｃｋ]

Originally posted by Schalimah:

pumps only affect lift not distance.

I usually build a water tower at my extractors.
You pump the water to the maximum hight you need.
From there you feed it into the system.
No more pumps needed along the way.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2499306830

You can also use one water tower to pressurise multiple lines.
Just don't forget the valve to avoid backflow

Where does the valve go? At the start of the line or at the very end? Behind the buffer?

[Schalimah]

Originally posted by Monadnock:

Where does the valve go? At the start of the line or at the very end? Behind the buffer?

The valve goes between the tower and the line you want to pressurise.

Blue is the pressure line.
Green is the only pump.
Red are the valves preventing flow into the blue line and between the orange lines.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2499417950

The fluid buffer on the left is full.

[Dragorin]

One pump fully overclocked and using a 300 pipe will support one Reactor. No valves needed and no pumps if your building out on the ocean just above water level.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2484592188

[Ｍｏｎａｄｎｏｃｋ]

Alright, you guys are all fancy and stuff. I'm not there yet, I'm still trying to figure out how all of this works, so yeah, my factory is spaghetti land...

...but, good information nonetheless.

I built a new nuclear site waaaaaay out past the eastern edge of the map near the waterfalls in grasslands. I figured I could build them there and have readily available water and plenty of space to build an absurd amount of storage for the waste until I get to a point where I can recycle it. No issues so far.

I'm ferrying uranium fuel rods there via drone for power for now, because it would have been nuts getting uranium out that far, and I already have a mini-self contained factory producing fuel rods.

ALSHJDLKJSHDKJSG !!!!!!!!

Edit: And just as I wrote that, fuse tripped. Nuclear reactor went down. I suspect from....what else, no water. Running out there now. I must not know what I'm doing.

Edit 2: Got it back up and running, overclocked the water pump.

[Thoup]

Something I'd recommend is letting them fill up with water first. I had an issue similar to this and that's what worked for me

[Ｍｏｎａｄｎｏｃｋ]

Originally posted by Thoup99:

Something I'd recommend is letting them fill up with water first. I had an issue similar to this and that's what worked for me

That's a good tip, but I finally got it to work out. I wasn't calculating the headlift and absolute requirements per reactor, therefore, it was slowly just running out because the supply wasn't high enough. It was just a little bit under, so they would run for awhile at full power and then run out of water eventually.