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[Lord Dakoth]

On my current fort, I dug a pit along the side of a mountain, and decided to channel the magma pipe into it.

Everything was going all fine and dandy, the pit was filling up (slowly.)

Eventually, it reached a point where the 1/7 magma evaporated as quickly as it flowed into the pit. I am now stuck at this equilibrium, helpless, as more and more precious magma is lost. See image below.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

My question is, how can I fill up the entire pit with 7/7 magma?

HALP

[smjjames]

Use pumps to speed up the magma flow.

Also, how far away is your magma pipe?

[Lord Dakoth]

The magma pipe is about 90 tiles away.

Pumps aren't really an option, as the magma flows from the narrow passageway to the right, and I would risk the lives of many a pump operator.

[Overspeculated]

Block the tunnel (perhaps designate a pond above it to create obsidian?) and let it fill up. Then unblock and let it fall into the pit.

[Lord Dakoth]

That's what I've been doing. I have floodgates at the entrance to the passageway.

My problem is that once the magma falls into the pit, it all spreads out into 1/7 and evaporates.

[Derakon]

Powered pumps wouldn't risk your dwarves, but they would of course require a power source. But I'd go with the "seal, fill, then pour" method. You can seal the flow off by pouring a small amount of water on it. Wait for the tunnel to fill to 7/7 depth before channeling out the blockage. Once your magma gets to at least 2/7 depth at all points, it's immune to evaporation, and the rest will slowly fill.

If the magma in the tunnel is insufficient, then widen the tunnel. You need to get a faster flow rate into the pit.

[Lord Dakoth]

Oh, I just thought of something.

Do raised drawbridges stop fluid flow? If so, I could fill the pit in sections by separating it with raised bridges.

[Overspeculated]

They do, but unless they are made of bauxite I think they will deconstruct upon lowering. Why not increase the tunnel to a reservoir by adding a 4x4 or something square next to it if it is not enough? (and fill it to 7, if you are not doing that)

[Lord Dakoth]

They deconstruct when they lower? Perfect, then I won't have a lot of bridges cluttering up my tidy magma pit.

On a side note, leather appears to be magma proof. Annoying when you're trying to dispose of gobbo stuff.

[Quietust]

On a side note, leather appears to be magma proof. Annoying when you're trying to dispose of gobbo stuff.

Er, no it isn't - I've dropped tons of leather gear into magma for disposal. As a sole exception, fire imp leather is magma proof.

[Albedo]

You don't need bridges - drop a linked door in place and that will deconstruct as well (into a door, not a stone/block).

But the problem is that the magma is already there - hard to construct anything when your dwarves' feet are burning off. I'd go with some water-drop method to create the blockages where needed, and doors/bridges down the channel where you can.

[Overspeculated]

Leather armour won't disappear if you turned temperature off. If you turned temperature off, magma will function just like slow water, except that it can power magma stuff and will turn to obsidian when in contact with water.

[Qloos]

Er, no it isn't - I've dropped tons of leather gear into magma for disposal. As a sole exception, fire imp leather is magma proof.
[/quote]

You just gave me a mental image of a dwarf with a full body suit of fire imp leather.  He wades into waist high magma to fight off some hideous creature.

[Lord Dakoth]

Ooop, never mind. The magma was just pushing it around under other objects.

You don't need bridges - drop a linked door in place and that will deconstruct as well (into a door, not a stone/block).

But the problem is that the magma is already there - hard to construct anything when your dwarves' feet are burning off. I'd go with some water-drop method to create the blockages where needed, and doors/bridges down the channel where you can.

I closed off the tunnel, and the last of the magma just evaporated. Thanks for the tip, maybe I will try that.

EDIT: I tried the bridge thing, and it worked! My dungeon master's tower is now rising from the middle of a pool of lava, which is at 4/7 depth now. Thanks for your help, everyone!

If anyone's interested, I'll post some screens.

[Vicomt]

It's always nice to see screenies.... especially when magma is involved