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[funkydwarf]

I am looking for a bit of help.

I have a lever hooked to two floodgates as a drain and a lever linked to two floodgates as a cistern intake.  With use, both lever have quit working at different times. 

First the drain link broke. So I removed the open floodgates, re built them and re linked them. Upon filling, I was turning the intake floodgates on and off. Trying to get just enough water in their, and the intake quit working, with the floodgates open.

Is this an in game break, from low quality mechanisms or a bug?

Is there a way to fix it with dfhack?

Thanks guys!

[Larix]

I'm not sure from the description, but it may be you fell afoul of building reaction delays: floodgates and several other building types react to signals with a significant delay. If other signals are sent while the building is on its timeout to react, the later signals will be ignored. This can easily lead to floodgates "stuck" in an open or closed state, because lever-pulls were too close to each other.

Buildings also have hard-coded reactions to signal "types" - one type of lever-pull is an "open" signal, the other type a "close" signal. If your lever is currently in close position but the floodgate is open (sent signals too quickly), a single lever-pull will just send another "open" signal to the gate, doing nothing. You have to pull yet another time to trigger a new "close" for the floodgate to react.

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Lever

For quick and reliable lever-operated stuff, i'd suggest using doors instead of floodgates. They react instantly to signals, so it's easier to see what's going on.

[funkydwarf]

  I was defiantly having close lever pulls, trying to "feather" in just enough water.  I need 3 or 4 level for a well to operate, even with 2 z levels of 7 below right? That's tricky! Next time I'll put floodgates next the the cistern instead of at the source!!

I figured it was some sort of thing like that, but I tried several times back and forth and no dice.

I'll head on over the the dfhack thread and see of i can relink( or otherwise)unstick em with that.

[PatrikLundell]

There is a minimum level requirement of water for a well, but I don't think there is a maximum one, so 7/7 at the top tile should work fine.

[iofhua]

Is something blocking the floodgate? Anything, even a sock, or a boulder, or a fish will prevent a floodgate from closing. It's better to use drawbridges instead of floodgates since they will either fling or atom smash anything that is in their way.

[rjs71053]

Ill underline what people are saying here and add that floodgates are a mostly leftover part from an older version of the game.  They can do nothing that other objects, like doors and bridges, can do better.  Best to avoid them.

[Sutremaine]

I need 3 or 4 level for a well to operate, even with 2 z levels of 7 below right?

No. If the bucket descends to a level without sufficient water to draw, it'll check the next one down until it hits a floor, bridge, or other obstacle.

[Loci]

It's generally better to avoid designs that require any timed lever-pulling at all. Your setup could almost certainly be redesigned such that it fills up correctly without timely dwarven response.

[funkydwarf]

Good to know about floodgates not being advantageous to drawbridges and doors. I figured there was a good reason to use floodgates over other stoppers...

Thanks for letting me know about well water level can be under 4 if its 7 under it. Makes this whole thing silly....I could a quit b4 I broke it!

[taptap]

Ill underline what people are saying here and add that floodgates are a mostly leftover part from an older version of the game.  They can do nothing that other objects, like doors and bridges, can do better.  Best to avoid them.

Unlike doors they don't require adjacent walls. Doors sometimes can leak (when items are thrown against them by the flood?), floodgates may withstand this. Also floodgates can open via "on" signal with a delay matching that of raising bridges that close via "on" signal. Niche, but not useless.

[funkydwarf]

Happy to report I am an idiot.

I thought I tried several times after my switch broke. But I got home, loaded up the game, and this time it worked.

Maybe saving and reloading helped, maybe I didn't cycle through another on signal....

Thanks for highlighting what a floodgate is still good for!

[Logiwonk]

I always put a vertical grate at the inlet to my aqueducts to cut down on items that could jam the floodgates. Stupid fish.