Factorio Forums

This is a little setup that let you disable your steam engines when your accumulator are full and activate them when the power goes below a certain %. If you simply read the " of one accumulator and set up a switch that is activated only when the % goes below a certain value, when the % reach that value the switch will continiusly switch instantaniusly. After some research i didn't found a setup that pleased me, and i had an idea for one. (Probably there is a better solution for this out there, something fancy with a lot of logic behind it).

I'll try to explain it as best as i can, here is the image: http://imgur.com/a/5Cxdr

Basically the accumulator is connected to two combinators, and the % of the power is given to the signal P. One of the two combinators give a signal when the power=20% and the other when the power=100%. Each combinator is connected to one inserter, as you can see in the image. What this does is: the one item is moved from his starting position when the power hit 20% and then moved back when it reach 100% (The 2 inserter in the middle are always active, and they are used to give the space to put the 2 controlled inserters). Doing this, the item will remain in the top-right chest when the power goes from 20 to 100, and then moved back in his starting position, where it stays until the power goes back to 20%. Reading the content of the top-right chest and connecting it with the power-switch will let you connect the power to your steam engines when the power in the accumulator drops to 20% and disconnect the switch when the power hit 100%.
(obviusly you can use any % of power and any item in the chest).

I hope i explained it well, but sorry if it wasn't written in the best way, i'm not a native speaker.

you might be interested in a simple hysteresis setup.

something like this: viewtopic.php?f=193&t=32432

better then an inserter setup imho.

just connect it to an accumulator and switch on your steam engines when they are nearly empty.

If you run out of power quickly your inserters will stop without power

leilders wrote:you might be interested in a simple hysteresis setup.

something like this: viewtopic.php?f=193&t=32432

better then an inserter setup imho.

just connect it to an accumulator and switch on your steam engines when they are nearly empty.

If you run out of power quickly your inserters will stop without power

Sweet. Yeah, my system is really basic

What you really want is a Power limiter on the Steam engine. This can be done by separating it from the main network via accumulators (300kw each) This will allow your main bank of accumulators to dissipate at night. It depends how many accumulators you have it can be tough to fine tune. Then if your power drops too far turn on a switch connecting plant directly to the base. This way the engine is always running and allows for much smaller steam engines to power much larger bases