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[worldspawn]

Ok here's my setup. I have 28 waterwheels all built directly next to each other so it looks like on big wheel spanning 28 tiles of space. On the Z level directly beneath it the area is completely filled with 7/7 water that is moving. My power output says 100. What gives, is it because all the wheels are next to each other? If so this really screws up my plans.

[shadowclasper]

Hmmm... odd... 28 tiles, are all of them in a flowing river? You need water flow in all the tiles in one direction or it does you no good.

[worldspawn]

One Z level below is a 28 tile wide cave I carved with 7/7 water flowing through it to my waterfalls. These were supposed to power the pumps to get it all back out but they're just sitting there. Is having them connected directly to each other the problem?

[Time Kitten]

You may have it too wide, making dead spots in the center, or such, where the water paths around without hitting the wheels.

[martinuzz]

waterwheels do not transmit power amongst themselves directly.
You will have to build horizontal axles between the gear assemblies the wheels are attached to:

Code: [Select]

wwwwwwwww
 g==g==g with www : wheel
g : gear assembly
and = : horizontal axle

I think that it is possible however, to directly link them when aligned over the y-axis:

Code: [Select]

www
www
www
www
 g

[Shakma]

I have found that if you have them built side by side, some will not work if you designate them all for building at the same time and some actually get built before the gear assembly or an adjacent wheel is built.  In other words if you designate everything but the dwarves build the wheel on the far end, it will never provide power.  Try rebuilding the wheels in order and see if it fixes them.  I could be a little off on what exactly cause it but I've seen it be buggy when you build a big row and rebuilding always fixed it for me.

And of course make sure you channeled from above to the water below.   

[Saber Cherry]

1) Be sure you are not dealing with a brook - brooks must be channeled first.
2) Otherwise, be sure that as in martinuzz's post, the wheels are connected to a gear or axle.  A bunch of water wheels together do not count as functional machinery unless connected to something else (gear or axle).

[SquirrelWizard]

how are you supplying water and drainage to these wheels?

My power plant that had a water resevoir that it pumped water to and from ended up being much less efficent than the one that was just a redirection of a river.

[AtomicPaperclip]

7/7 water usually is considered non-moving.

try and change it to 5-6 level water?

[Albedo]

7/7 water usually is considered non-moving.

Not technically true.

7/7 water has no "force" to move other objects - but a 7/7 river certainly has "flow" with regard to powering a water wheel.

I have 28 waterwheels all built directly next to each other so it looks like on big wheel spanning 28 tiles of space. On the Z level directly beneath it the area is completely filled with 7/7 water that is moving.

What direction is the water flowing? Is it flowing across all those wheels (side to side)?

My power output says 100.

I'm guessing that's for any one wheel? If so, that wheel is working right - maybe you just have to link them up.

[worldspawn]

When I say they're next to each other I mean horizontally. For example like this:

WWWWWWW
WWWWWWW
WWWWWWW

Where that is 7 wheels. Directly beneath them is 7/7 water that is moving because it's ending in waterfalls.

[Derakon]

Each wheel generates 100 power. If when you query the wheels each says that the system has 100 power, then your wheels aren't connected somehow. Given your description, they should be, though. Odd.

[worldspawn]

They should be connected since each time I added one to the row the amount of "power needed" would go up.

[Saber Cherry]

Each wheel generates 100 power. If when you query the wheels each says that the system has 100 power, then your wheels aren't connected somehow. Given your description, they should be, though. Odd.

No...  as I mentioned, there has to be another component.  For example:

  WWWWWWWW
*WWWWWWWW
  WWWWWWWW

...where * is a gearbox, or an axle.  Otherwise the wheels will not spin and generate power.

[Sphalerite]

I've noticed weirdness with what the game considers flowing water.  I had a fortress with a similar line of a dozen or so waterwheels over a channeled waterway attached to a cave river and ending at edge-fortifications some distance away.  When I let water in DF didn't count the wheels as powered until the water reached the edge-fortifications, even though the water under the wheels was solidly 7/7 well before that.  I'm not sure what conditions need to be met before a water flow will count for powering waterwheels.