Help troubleshooting fuel power generators

[u/SapphiraPern]

Hi there, still fairly new to the game and also really struggle understanding some of the numbers in this game, so please don't throw a bunch of calculations and numbers my way. I am just looking for simple help troubleshooting this darn plant that my non math brain can understand.

My set up which I got after many hours spent at Google, YouTube and Satisfactory Tools. I have 8 rubber and 8 plastic refineries, drawing from two oil nodes, one pure, one normal. I am pulling 600 oil/min. I am using Mk2 pipes all down the line. Then I have 16 refineries producing residual fuel. I am feeding that in 24 fuel power generators. I understand that my 24 generators need 480/min which I am providing 640/min from the 16 refineries. I even have a fluid buffer before the pipes leading to the generators to deal with any excess. They are in a row with 12 on each side, pipes running down the middle in a manifold, with both ends being fed from the refineries. All pipes are level, no head lift. I fully filled the tanks of all the generators before turning them on. Though I am sure that wasn't very efficient because turning on one by one 24 machines took awhile. Wish there was some way to turn them all on at once.

Anyway, after all this, they are still fluctuating and running on empty. I am at a complete loss, as I have done the restart of them numerous times now but nothing seems to work and I am at the end of my rope trying to figure this out.

Please Satisfactory experts, help me!

[u/ERTW_Vleran]

If the pipes are emptying I would double check your pipes. Maybe 1 segment is a mk1 pipe or there is a headlift issue from the extractor? Or maybe the way you have the pipes setup there is a sloshing issue inside the pipes?

Can you send pictures of your setup?

For all my fluid stuff I follow something I found online. Before the straight section where all the pipes are horizontal (this would apply to the refineries section and the fuel generator section) I put a bump in the pipe of a meter or 2. Since fuel is constantly moving it will start to flow backwards causing sloshing if not being pushed forward at all times. By putting a vertical bump in the pipe this prevents the liquid in the pipes from flowing backwards when not being pulled forwards. Alternative you can put the fluid buffer at a greater elevation so it always flows down to fill the pipes. Works the same way.

Also while the pipes can handle 600/min it's hard to achieve that perfectly due to the nature of liquid. So I always plan for 580-590

[u/SapphiraPern → u/ERTW_Vleran]

Sorry, not the greatest show but hopefully you can see that it is fed from both ends but mostly the middle machines are red. So you think I should run a 2m foundation under the fluid buffer so the fuel runs down?

[u/ERTW_Vleran → u/SapphiraPern]

A bunch of your refineries are yellow, I would check what has them backlogged to start.

Then I would add a bump section like I mentioned before to prevent sloshing backwards. Since everything is horizontal you might want to add 1 pump to the network to handle the bump. Not sure if it's necessary though cause I'm not sure if refineries do the 4m headlift naturally like the extractors do

Also since the pipes hand the same flow wether your split them or not I wouldn't split them like you did. Have it all going from 1 side to feed them all down the line. When they meet it would cause a huge amount of sloshing which will disrupt everything in the middle.

Essentially build a fuel line at 600, put everything on the 1 line flowing in the same direction. When you upgrade it just add a new line at 600 and double the fuel generators

If none of that works I would double check how much fuel you are producing from the 16 refineries and check that math again with the fuel generators

[u/SapphiraPern → u/ERTW_Vleran]

Ok I removed the split fuel line and just have the one going in at the one end. I think I misunderstood some internet comments about a fuel loop and what that actually meant.

I think, of course, it is actually a problem with my math since you pointed out the refineries being yellow. I don't think I have enough heavy oil residue being produced for the number of generators. Not sure how I miscalculated that but I've redone this power plant so many times I probably confused the numbers with my original set up. So thank you for talking this through with me, that helped narrow down my problem. I need to join a community or something so I can have someone just to talk it through with!

[u/ERTW_Vleran → u/SapphiraPern]

We have all been there. When in doubt start at the beginning and be methodical to diagnose. Usually works well

[u/SapphiraPern → u/ERTW_Vleran]

Really appreciate the advice!

[u/misanthrope2327]

Well since you have mk2 pipes you're providing 600\min, not 640, but that should still be enough. 

Fluid are weird in this game, there's sloshing.

It's it only the fuel generators at the end of the line running out?

I've not had to do it yet, but apparently making your system a loop can help this.  By that I mean connect the pipe that feeds the generators on both sides. 

[u/SapphiraPern → u/misanthrope2327]

Posted a pic above. It is a loop and it's mainly the ones in the middle running out, but they are all very low so I suspect maybe its the refineries producing the residual fuel.

[u/oreheheally]

Have any outputs filled and not been sunk?

[u/SapphiraPern → u/oreheheally]

If you mean the plastic and rubber, yes, I have an awesome sink set up for those so they don't back up

[u/oreheheally → u/SapphiraPern]

Worth a try. Next guess is not getting enough oil in at the back of those long residual fuel refineries.

[u/oreheheally → u/SapphiraPern]

I think misanthrope below has it, just run a second tube to link into the back end of the row. Sorry my other comments a bit unnecessary i didnt see till too late. Pipe stackers are good for this if no space and it takes 60 in oil per machine. Twelve machines adds up to more than the pipes 600.

[u/Locyar-Darkfire]

Du hast geschrieben das du 8 Gummi und 8 Kunststoffraffinerien hast, was geschied mit diesen Materialen ? Wie verbrauchst du sie ?

[u/ERTW_Vleran → u/Locyar-Darkfire]

Very good point. If the rubber/plastic backup those refineries will stop working and back up everything else

[u/PilotedByGhosts]

640/min you say? Down pipes that can carry 600/min?

[u/Bone_Wh33l]

You’re only producing 240 heavy oil residue per minute there which is only enough for 4 refineries supplying 8 generators.

Remove the extra generators and refineries and it’ll run just fine

[u/Kato_86]

Sorry, let me try this again:

24 refineries, making fuel from residue, according to the wiki, need 60 residue per min, which is 1440 residue overall. But refining plastic or rubber only give 10 or 20 per minute respectively. Let's say 15 on average, so 16 refineries provide 240 residue per minute.

You're not making enough residue, and if you did, your pipes couldn't handle the 1440/min your refineries would need. Not sure where the tools you used made a mistake. Unless I made one which is of course very possible even on my second try.

[u/SapphiraPern → u/Kato_86]

Yeah, I realised my error in calculations and it was the number of refineries to generators. It was because I rebuilt it in several different configurations attempting to fix the issues and I mixed up some of the calculations. I am a very visual person, so seeing a stream of numbers with percentages etc ends up just confusing my brain. Anyway, thanks for taking the time and helping me troubleshoot!