OLD - Tekkit Industrialcraft Cable levels

boriseng, Thu Feb 21 2013, 09:16AM

Lets try to clear this up OK, I've heard of a few reports of fried cable and confusion.

Cable needs to be rated based on the power source feeding it, thats all. It doesn't matter how many sources e.g. generators there are its just the output type.

It doesn't really matter if you lose a bit along the way, don't get hung up about making everything lossless.

Storage devices have an important role if you have multiple generators. As far as I can tell a machine accepts one "packet" of power per tick, e.g. the output of one generator only. A storage device (batbox, MFE, MFSU) accepts multiple packets, allowing generator outputs to be combined. This is why some configurations tend to need a batbox to work well.

Level 0 power (tin cable, up to 5eu/packet)

This level is output by:
Solar panels (not arrays)
Water mills
Wind turbines (its possible to exceed 5eu and fry the cable with a high enough tower and a storm)

Tin cable loses 1eu/packet every 40 blocks. Most of the sources will be 1eu so the maximum cable is 39 blocks long

THE OUTPUT FROM A BATBOX WILL FRY TIN CABLE

Level 1 power (copper cable, 32eu/packet)

This level is output by:
Batbox (no matter how weak the supply to the box is)
Generator
Geothermal generator
LV solar array (can anyone confirm?)
LV transformer
Nuclear reactor with no more than 3 fuel rods, not touching.

Insulated copper loses 1eu every 5 blocks. Since the loss is rounded down a 4 cable run is lossless. Don't obsess about this though, a LV source (32eu packets) will lose half its power after 80 blocks but that's still 50% efficient after 5 chunks!!

A 1eu source like a solar panel will lose all power after 5 copper cable unless regenerated with a batbox or transformer, this is why you use tin cable for solar panels

Level 2 power (gold cable, 128eu/packet)

This level is output by:
MFE
MV transformer
Redstoned LV transformer
Most modest nuclear reactors

Level 3 power (diamond/glass fibre cable, 512eu/packet)

The detector and EU splitter cables are also reported to be level 3 despite using iron cable in the recipe

This level is output by:
MFSU
HV transformer
Redstoned MV transformer
Some nuclear reactors
Railcraft Energy unloader without transformer upgrade (note that without the upgrade it won't recognise MFSU carts, however with the upgrade it will blow up glass cables, MFSUs etc.

Note that glass fibre cable is practically lossless at 1eu per 40 blocks. Fed with HV you'll be out of chunk load radius before you see loss.

Iron cable can be used as a cheap alternative. Supplied with HV its 50% efficient at 320 blocks so the loss is managable.

Level 4 power (iron cable, misleadingly called HV cable)

This level is output by:
Redstoned HV transformer
Crazy nuclear reactors
Railcraft Energy unloader equipped with a transformer upgrade
Some Gregtech machines with sufficient upgrades

Cable should be 50% efficient at 1280 blocks, so if you don't mind the extra transformers then iron cable is an alternative to glass fiber cable

Beyond level 4 (no cable available)

The only sources currently able to fry iron wire are a nuclear reactor that's 6 chamber and almost all fuel rods and some of the more extreme Gregtech devices. In Tekkit the reactor will explode after about 5 seconds if uncontrolled, though in FTB you have quad-fuel-rods and more cooling options.

The lightning rod is apparently 8192eu/p as is the "supercondensator" on its low side.

Although untested its probable that an energy unloader with two transformer upgrades may output 8192eu/p.

Some machines can be directly connected to a beyond 2048EU reactor and with sufficient transformer upgrades they will not blow up.

It has been reported that two HV transformers directly connected could withstand a reactor output beyond 2048. My observation is the output appears to clamp to 2048eu anyway. What is meant to happen is each transformer behaves like a machine and only draws 2048eu/t regardless of packet size. The power is meant to be split across multiple transformers. This is used in Feed The Beast to allow 8192eu/p power.

An energy link can be direct connected, I've tried this. Engine generators appeared to return only a fraction of the power though.

Railcraft energy loaders might accept >2048EU (untested in Tekkit classic, worked at 8192eu/p in FTB single player)

Redpower "Blutricity" (Tekkit and Ultimate only)

Blutricity has only one cable type (not counting jacketed cable). Note that machines pass on power like cable does so its not necessary to wire around them, daisy chaining works and even just stacking things together.

Cable losses are hard to estimate as redpower uses a more complex approach that takes into account paralleling and allows current flow to reverse

Blue solar systems tend to need one or more bt-batboxes, mainly to allow operation at night.

Retrievers need very little power and can be attached to long cables

Blue power furnaces seem to benefit from a nearby battery and about 8 solar panels, note that in auto-fed systems the battery can run out fast.

I believe it takes 2 BT batboxes and about 10-12 solar panels to run a redpower pump continuously. Why would you want to: well the RP pump is the only one that can output liquid blocks as well as suck them up.