Best way to find problem power plants?

[Stretchytall]

I can see when I view my power chart (at any power pole) that some of my power plants keep going online then offline. It results in a power production graph that keeps going up and down.

The problem is I have several power production locations with both coal and oil-based fuel. Is there a good way to figure out which power plants keep going on and off without having to manually visit all my power production centers?

[Fenix]

Not really
Best you can do it put a power switch where one plant connects to the grid, turn it off (if you can)
Then see if the Power issues are coming from that plant as it is now isolated and then find the problem.

[Dirtyshadow]

Up and down maybe the fluctuation of thermals generators, they should appear as a constant wave pattern. That is normal

For Coal, look at your miners manifold line. Generators should be miner output / 15.

Most common effects are a lower speed conveyor on your manifold or an unpoweted/unbalanced water input. (It was once a rogue MK4 conveyor on a MK5 manifold)

For Oil it can be a flow rate problem or a by-product blockage, that depends on your build.

When I am scratching my head, I upload my save into Satisfactory Calculator and mouse over things.

[Valen Logan]

In this kind of situation your only real option is to go to each powerplant, take them off the main grid and watch the graph for that up and down pattern. Depending on how big the problem is this could take a few minutes to a few hours.
Some advice for correcting the problem, check your pipe first and redo your math to make sure you are moving the correct amount of fluids. If it is a pipe problem and the math is correct, then consider introducing fluid buffers into the system.
Some times with a big chain of coal plants they can take a big drink out of the pipes and create a temporary shortage that over time can cause machines to shut down. Fluid buffers added before big manifold lines can usually fix this.
For more complicated systems like fuel generation using a mix of buffers and one way valves can heavily reduce this "sloshing" effect cause by the machines gulping tons of fluids all at once.

[dcy665]

Priority Power Switches, or named power switches might help.

I thought that priority switches could be accessed from elsewhere. Others will shout me down if I'm wrong. My power plants work pretty smoothly, so it hasn't been an issue in 1.0

[kLuns]

You can acces all priority power switches on the same grid from one priority power switch.

For trouble shooting, you can upload your save in the interactive map and check for things being broken but going to the place and figuring out what's broken is the most efficient way.

[Evilsod]

Well for one, the size of the jump tells you if its coal or fuel.
And secondly, no, just go to the final generator(s) in a power plant and check its uptime. If its 100%, the problem isn't there.

[Huren Ogeko]

Originally posted by Stretchytall:

I can see when I view my power chart (at any power pole) that some of my power plants keep going online then offline. It results in a power production graph that keeps going up and down.

The problem is I have several power production locations with both coal and oil-based fuel. Is there a good way to figure out which power plants keep going on and off without having to manually visit all my power production centers?

For coal setups I just stand somewhere near by and watch the smoke stacks for any that disappear. If I see that I just go in if its lacking coal or water then trace the problem back.
As for fuel generators I just c heck the ones at the end of the pipes and see if they are starving for fuel. If find one that is I trace back the problem from there.

I usually check each plant as soon as it up and running. I find that if it is stable for a while after starting up it will stay stable as long as you dont mess with anything.

But one thing I always forget about is geothermal gives a power wave. so haveing one or more of them will give you power fluctuations but they should be a prerty steady pattern on the graph and you can always connect them with a power switch and turn them off to see if the power graph flattens out when they are offline.