1) When the singularity is up and running, at which point should it be made stable (i.e. Particle Accelerator turned back to zero but left with power on)? I've been following the /tg/station guide here, and have therefore been stopping when the singularity is 'stage 3' (see image below), but I want to check that that's the right time to dial it back - not earlier or later.
Technically, you can turn down the PA strength to 0 as soon as the singularity reaches stage 2 (red). A stage 2 singularity is enough to power the three engineering SMES at max input, and it will eventually reach stage 3 with the 0 strength PA left turned on.
2) SMES setup. My understanding is that the Input value is the minimum input - i.e. the SMES in question will charge if and only if it is receiving an amount of power greater than that value. Setting higher values makes the SMES try to draw more power, and so will charge faster, but only if there is power available. The output value is self explanatory.
I've noticed that the SMESes' charging is rather...unstable immediately after the singularity goes online. I assume this is because if all three of them are on max input (200k) then they're all trying to draw that amount...and they can't all get it at once. This usually seems to result in one of the SMESes being favoured over the others and getting up to full charge, while at least one of the others doesn't get enough juice and so fails to charge at all. That SMES then drains, so its output flicks off, so a greater burden is put on the remaining ones.
Am I right in thinking that, early on (when the SMESes are relatively low on stored power), it makes sense to try and keep the inputs slightly lower and balanced, so that they can all charge equally rather than one hogging all the juice? Or does it not work that way? I'm aware the guide I linked above suggests 200k input and 140k-160k output for each (main) SMES, but it doesn't go into detail as to why.
Power generation is entirely dependent on the amount of plasma in the tanks in the radiation collectors. Plasma tanks from the dispenser have barely 300 kPa of plasma in them, which is enough for a 100k input/70k output configuration, but not for a 200k/140k one. So yes, your assumptions were correct.
You have to fill the tanks with the plasma canister from engineering secure storage to have a fully functional engine.
If you have no access to the secure storage and nobody to open it for you, a handy way to get in is to power down temporarily the room by removing the power cell from the APC, to allow you to crowbar open the blast doors. Put the cell back in, resume your work.
Do this only if you haven't set up the engine already, or you'll release the singularity.
Solars and their SMESes are, I'm aware, a different animal, and I'm comfortable with them.
You may already know this, but just in case: you can wire the solars directly to the power grid to have them output immediately any power they're generating, without having to wait for their SMES to charge up. This is especially useful if you're the only engineer aboard.
Edit: 'Warning - while you were typing 11 new replies have been posted.' Damn...
Author
Topic: Space Station 13: Urist McStation (Read 2155317 times)