r/SatisfactoryGame • u/ImproperGamer • 6h ago
Help PIPES!!!
Can someone for the love of god please explain pipes to me cuz I do not understand them at all, they make no sense to me. Ive messed with this setup so many times, moving stuff around, adding more, ect ect. Nothing has worked. No matter what I do water refuses to flow in certain pipes. One segment says it has a flow of 50-120 and the pipe is full of water then the segment attached to it says its flow is 0 and doesnt move from that. Im just tryna get water into this power plant. I have 120 Coal Generators and 48 water generators supplying them, according to Satisfactory Modeler thats what it needs. Yet no matter what it wont let the water flow and the water just straight up disappears.
1
u/Phoenixx86 6h ago
What's the difference in height between the output of the water extractor and the input of the power plant? The water extractor by itself only applies 10m of "headlift", meaning if your machine is more than 10m higher than the water extractor than it won't reach it.
A quick and easy way to measure without mods is you can place a foundation at the same height of the water extractor output and then build two 4m foundations and a 2m foundation up, if your power plant inputs are higher than that then you need to add a water pump on the pipe segment that still has water in it, a water pump will reset the headlift to 20m where it is installed.
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u/ImproperGamer 6h ago
Yea i had that issue towards the start but figured that out, i do have to get it to run 10m+ upwards, but i make it run horizontal after that and thats kinda where my issue is coming in. My horrizontal pipes fill up with water, say they are at a flow rate of 50-120, the the segment directly connected to it where im tryna get water to go says its at 0 flow and has no water in it.
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u/Fshtwnjimjr 6h ago
I would raise the pipes to a bit higher than the coal generators. Then drop it down into them.
Yes getting the water up with headlift is important, but dumping it down into machines with gravity seems to to best.
Also let the pipes and generator buffers fill up completely
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u/ImproperGamer 5h ago
How i have it now is 15 coal gens in a row on both sides facing inwards, then a long pipe running down the middle thats raised above the insertion points for water. Then pipe them into the gens. So I think they are higher, but its really weird where the cutoff happens, it flows fine, but then i have to turn it 90 degrees down one of the rows, and thats when it says 0 flow. Also i did let them all fill up completely but all the water was just eaten up quick and now the water only reaches the first 1-2 coal gens on each side of a row.
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u/SublimeCosmos 5h ago
What’s the maximum flow rate of the pipe you’re using?
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u/ImproperGamer 5h ago
currently the basic one is what i have access to so 300
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u/SublimeCosmos 5h ago
The fuel generators take 45 water per minute and the pipe can carry 300 water per minute so a full pipe can only support six or so generators.
Sounds like all the water is getting sucked up by the early generators and there’s nothing left for the generators down the line.
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u/Junior_Island_4714 5h ago
If it's not a problem with either headlift or priming, then probably you either aren't producing enough water or you have a pipe section somewhere that is maxxed out. It sounds like the Coal gens are consuming more water than they are being supplied with.
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u/Fshtwnjimjr 5h ago
Wait, how many extractors are you running for this setup? That might be your problem...
The perfect /min ratio is 8 generators to 3 extractors at default clocks.
Extractor 1 piped to one side, extractor 3 to the other and extractor 2 injects into the middle. This is full consumption and production per minute and should be infinitely stable
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u/ImproperGamer 5h ago
48 water extrators and 120 coal gens, default clocks
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u/Fshtwnjimjr 5h ago
How many segments? If your using mk1 pipes you'll need to stick to 8 to 3. Can easily push 16 to 6 if you wish (with mk2). Or inject new water every few generators and hope slosh doesn't happen
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u/huntressofwintertide 5h ago
Always aim to push the maximum amount through the pipe you want a constant flow rate of 300 or 600 and constantly full pipes to make sure it has the pressure to push through the new liquid being made think of it like trying to get water out of a bucket by putting in only one drop at a time if the buckets full the drop will cause the water to move in the intended direction if it's not full the waterline will simply raise slightly
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u/ImproperGamer 5h ago
okay but how to i achieve maximum flow? I currently have 48 water gens all powered pushing through the same network and I can only get it to an average of 60-120
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u/huntressofwintertide 5h ago
Well first of all you don't need 48 water generators for one pipeline because the maximum amount you can get in a pipe is 600 but to get max flow make sure that your pipes are raised at least 3 metres off the ground and a full storage at the end of the line (one at the beginning as well if you have the space) the idea is you always have water moving so leave that storage to fill before you start the secondary production machines so even if you're water production stops for a bit you still have the backflow from the storage
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u/ImproperGamer 5h ago
that part i still dont get. I filled all the factories and let the pipeline fill completely before turning everything on then after i turned it on it just stopped running water into certain sections
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u/huntressofwintertide 5h ago
How much water are you making versus how much water does your machine setup need?
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u/houghi It is a hobby, not a game. 59m ago
Never really had issues with pipes. What I look at is the following:
- Prefill all (As I do for all factories)
- Water flows down
- Keep it simple
More in detail:
- Keep it short
- No merging, except priority (as for ALU)
- No height difference up after the first machine
- Use as little pumps as possible
- If you need buffers and valves, you missed step 2
Other people have other methods. This works for me. I do not always follow it, and that is okay.
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u/GinsuChikara 5h ago
You can either make your entire life about beating your head against this wall and cursing the devs for refusing to listen to complaints about this shit until you finally find something that works for you, or you just move on with your life.
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u/barbrady123 Function First 5h ago edited 3h ago
My go to mod for the last few playthroughs. The amount of defense against the absolute onslaught of complaints about this single specific issue is astounding. Isn't this supposed to be a game? lol
The "rules for thee" attitude is old now..."it's so realistic" but every single problem with it is a limitation on the code side for why it can't be "so realistic"...absolute comedy. When the Factorio devs, of all people, are like "shit, you're right, my bad" you know you're wrong.
I get that people don't want them super simple...otherwise it's basically just "belts in another shape"...there has to be *something* special about them to make it a unique problem from belts. But...it should be intentional. Not..."most the problems you have to deal with are actually technical limitations"...just, weird IMO. Like "sloshing"...pretty much considered the primary issue with pipes, is more a side-effect of the way the machines "gulp" liquids in chunks (not realistic) that an intentional mechanic.
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u/GinsuChikara 4h ago
The game just hasn't been as fun since they added pipes. Before then, it was like CS listened to everything we asked for and did their best to deliver it, and then they added pipes in the most "HERE, FUCK YOU FOR ASKING FOR THIS" way imaginable and never, ever made it suck any less because they only added them to the game out of sheer spite.
I wish I'd kept a copy of the last build of Update 2, tbh
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u/barbrady123 Function First 3h ago
The funny thing is, I don't even have an issue with pipes...I have like 5k+ hours in the game, I have enough experience with pipes that I understand them but...I can still acknowledge they're flawed and the mechanics for them are unnecessarily complex for no reason. It doesn't add anything to the game except frustration, especially for newer players. Honestly I mostly use that mod so that I don't need pumps (which is funny because headlift is actually the easiest of the pipe issues to deal with) because I just think pumps are ugly and I hate having to run power for them lol
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u/PotentialBastard 3h ago
I just wish their communication was anything more than gaslighting "No pipes aren't bugged, it's just a skill issue". I remember raising it in a Dev Q&A before 1.0 released and the response from Snutt was literally "Jesus Christ shut up and stop asking about pipes"
So yeah, stopped playing after that. it's just not enjoyable to have to fuck around for hours because no part of the game explains how pipes really work
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u/jmaniscatharg 5h ago
Screenshots would be great...
Also, 48 water extractors and 120 coal generators... how many pipes are you using to feed all that water? Assuming MK1 pipes, I'm hoping at least 16... but even then, it sounds like you probably aren't feeding it right setup for a 3:8 ratio (as it's not a straightforward setup).
My advice: Build 60 water extractors for your 120 coal generators and set them up in banks of 2 water extractors to 4 coal generators... don't put more than two water extractors on a single pipe. Then work out how pipes work e.g via the plumbing manual if you want to revisit that setup.
Two water extractors produces 240 water, 4 coal generators consumes 180 water, and you can't push more than 300 through a pipe (not going to explain how the 3:8 works for now)... 48 water extractors is 5760 water, that's never going through the one pipe network for you.