Power grid shutting down for no reason?

[▶ Devoux]

Yeah so, I didn't know whether this is a bug or not I just recently patched to 4 and I have had previous to the update a whole coal generator grid with like 30 max upgraded generator connected to two grids, 2 coal generators connected to a separated line for the water pumps to self run once began and the rest of the generators powering my whole factory.

The issue here is that everything used to run with no issues, the limit of the cap of energy I produce was only used with all the machines just about 70% of 100% production so I had a huge gap there to not have to worry. I even often let the game run itself on the background for hours and it would never shut down but since I updated the game to 4, the whole system collapsed and I don't know why.

I've spent the last 2 hours just reconnecting the whole grid I even used more generators separately to just try and keep the water pump system going on it's own and then go from there but it keeps shutting down when the graph says it's not even overloading. The 3 generators I connected produce 446.1 MW Max Constant and I have just basic pumps connected to those three, there is a total of 9 pumps on it (which I downed to test if that was causing the issue down from 18) so 9 x 20 MW consumption is only 180 MW on peak if used constantly and that's not even half of the constant capacity of the grid and it keeps blowing the fuse.

https://imgur.com/XP7ifkz

I'm so frustrated I can't understand what is happening. I may be a fool and missing something but I just don't understand why it blows the fuse shutting the grid down on less than half capacity used immediately after starting it, it used to run perfectly before the update.

Any ideas?

[Paukku]

Do your coal generator have enough coal to run always at 100% since in update 4 they don't self regulate. So if they run out of coal they shutdown and cause problems.

[▶ Devoux]

The coal is always stopped on the belt because it delivers way too much I made sure of it. I have 3 diggers at max delivering the coal at all times on 3 conveyors split between the generators so that is definitely not an issue as they are always at 100 coal inside.

https://imgur.com/7b1QM5A

I'm so confused.

[Suzaku]

Do you have enough water for the gens? Are you making sure to not try and overfill the pipes? Remember that Mk1 pipes can only handle 300m^3/min.

[▶ Devoux]

I have 1 pump connected to 2 generators at a time so the water is not a problem, it produces more than it is ever used.

[Maehlice]

Originally posted by Amatherazu:

I have 1 pump connected to 2 generators at a time so the water is not a problem, it produces more than it is ever used.

One pump making 120 is less than the 182.2 two "max upgraded coal generators" require.

[▶ Devoux]

Originally posted by Maehlice:

Originally posted by Amatherazu:

I have 1 pump connected to 2 generators at a time so the water is not a problem, it produces more than it is ever used.

One pump making 120 is less than the 182.2 two "max upgraded coal generators" require.

But this didn't use to be any issue before, like I said I used to run this grid before the update for hours with not one shut down. Did the outputs or flows change somehow?

[Suzaku]

Originally posted by Amatherazu:

But this didn't use to be any issue before, like I said I used to run this grid before the update for hours with not one shut down. Did the outputs or flows change somehow?

Originally posted by Paukku:

Do your coal generator have enough coal to run always at 100% since in update 4 they don't self regulate

[Maehlice]

Originally posted by Amatherazu:

Originally posted by Maehlice:

One pump making 120 is less than the 182.2 two "max upgraded coal generators" require.

But this didn't use to be any issue before, like I said I used to run this grid before the update for hours with not one shut down. Did the outputs or flows change somehow?

Yes. As of Update 4, all belt/pipe fed power generators must run fully at their clock speed. I.e., they no longer self-regulate as before.

EDIT: Even still, had you attempted to use more than ~290 MW of power on this setup back in Update 3, the same thing would've happened as it began needing more than 120 m^3 of water.

[▶ Devoux]

I just had to add more energy so I made some geothermal generators and just connected that to the pump grid, it seems stable for now. Hopefully that solves it and I don't have to re-do the entire power grid.

My brain hurts hahaha.

[Grizzt]

Same thing happened to my Coal power generators after Update 4 (but I knew that would happen when I started a 2nd save for Experimental).

I had a couple Coal supply issues. But most of my problems were from Water supply. I had 2 main issues:

1. Not generating enough water (I was short 1 or 2 generators based on my pipe configurations for my 16 coal generator station)
2. Not generating good Water flow. Even with enough water in the pipes, I just wasn't sending enough of it to where it needed to be due to water pressure, backflow, etc.

Backflow and water pressure are a big deal. One of my problems was trying to use old Mk.1 Water Pumps to push 500+ m3 water up a Mk.2 pipe. The mk.1 pumps can only push 300 m3 of water. So either it was choking off the rest, or just sending 300 m3 up that 20m headlift, when I needed all 500m3 to go up.

So, I had to overhaul my water distribution completely:
1. Upgrade most main-line pipes to Mk.2. Including dismantling all pipe mergers and removing all pumps/valves to find those small, crappy little Mk.1 pipe sections hidden away out of sight.

2. Upgrade pumps from Mk.1 to mk.2

3. Added another couple Water generators and made sure I balanced out water flow. I simplified how my pipes were arranged in my main base. Basically sending half down one end of my coal gen line, the other half down the other end, so the water flow would 'meet in the middle'.

4. Oh and I added a couple Valves in spots to stop any backflow from sucking away water pressure. Took a while, and I also had to buff up my Coal supply chain, overclocking miners, upgrading conveyors, etc.

It worked flawlessly before Update 4, because of auto-power regulation. But 100% resource usage all the time exposed all my weak supply/flow design.

Last recommendation: Now that you have your power up and running, throw in some Batteries. Preferably you should have your entire power station + batteries sitting behind a Power Switch. You want some Batteries to help supply power to your local Coal/Water/Generators in the case of issues or when upgrading. The power switch cuts off your power station from the rest of your factory, so you're not putting all that load on your batteries. They are just needed to jump-start miners, water gens, pumps, etc related to the power plant itself.

Troubleshooting this stuff is kind of fun actually, but you have to be aware of the perils of water flow, backflow, headlift, pipe/pump capacity, etc. But it's super helpful for later on with all the other fluid buildings we need to deal with.

[Markimus Prime]

Originally posted by Amatherazu:

Originally posted by Maehlice:

One pump making 120 is less than the 182.2 two "max upgraded coal generators" require.

But this didn't use to be any issue before, like I said I used to run this grid before the update for hours with not one shut down. Did the outputs or flows change somehow?

The power plants don't self regulate anymore. They run full out, or they crash because they don't have enough resources.

You're not running enough water to keep them running.

[SocialModo]

Watch at your coal generators on display and show us it. Is water AND coal full all the time? If water is not full all the time maybe the coal-power generator is too high. in that case you have to ad a small pip-pump at the right place. I use also coal-power-generators (almost 30 pieces). They works fine.

[Honorable_D]

It's water. IT'S ALWAYS WATER.

[Kraft51]

Originally posted by Amatherazu:

Originally posted by Maehlice:

One pump making 120 is less than the 182.2 two "max upgraded coal generators" require.

But this didn't use to be any issue before, like I said I used to run this grid before the update for hours with not one shut down. Did the outputs or flows change somehow?

ok honest question ... when you opted into the Experimental branch was it a "ooh new shinies" reaction or did you actually read all of the patch notes to see what was changed?

[Markimus Prime]

Originally posted by Kraft51:

Originally posted by Amatherazu:

But this didn't use to be any issue before, like I said I used to run this grid before the update for hours with not one shut down. Did the outputs or flows change somehow?

ok honest question ... when you opted into the Experimental branch was it a "ooh new shinies" reaction or did you actually read all of the patch notes to see what was changed?

This isn't the experiemental branch. This is update 4.