Issue with overheating in space

[Tazm]

EDIT: Thanks everybody, removing the Service Bay fixed the problem.

I played quite a bit of KSP beta than ever, but am brand new to KSP 1.0+

I either don't understand overheating, or perhaps worse, I'm dealing with a bug here...

I have figured out how to reentered Kerbin's atmosphere, and have done so consistently, without burning up.

My issue now involves my Minmus-lander probe. I am overheating and blowing up, in the space, with my engines not in use.

How exactly am I overheating when I haven't been using the engines at all? And secondly, how do I deal with heat properly? I'm using radiator and thermal panels, but am I using them incorrectly?

I don't normally cheat, but used "ignore max heat" to get the screenshot.

Any help is appreciated!

Edited August 8, 2015 by Tazm

[A_name]

Wow, entering Kerbol without overheating is unheard of, how did you do it!

Seriously though, this looks like a bug. You will sometimes suffer from residual heat from ascent but not at this degree and the radiators you're using would have easily tackled that. I don't see anything you might be doing wrong with them. Are there any parts clipping?

Edit: Does it happen again if you relaunch the same ship? If not, then it's definitely a bug.

[Tazm]

Yeah, this is the 3rd launch. I tried different configurations of radiators, but with no luck.

By the way, at the time of this screenshot, I had Minmus in sight, and I hadn't fired my engines since approximately 90 kilometers above Kerbin.

I don't think I have any clipping, but I do have a probe brain, battery, barometer, and thermometer stuffed in that service bay.

Overall, I didn't really struggle with reentry. I struggled more with the aerodynamics. I would often flip out of control. But I learned how to build to protect against that.

Edited August 6, 2015 by Tazm

[Gaarst]

Kind of off topic but Kerbol is the Sun; I think you mean Kerbin, which is the Earth-like planet where you take off.

And as it has been said above, this seems like a bug. Overheating problem can indeed occur when parts are clipped. Anyway, you should report it using this guide.

EDIT: if your bug has been recognised as an unreported-yet one, use Squad's Bugtracker for it to get fixed in the next releases.

Edited August 6, 2015 by Gaarst

[Tazm]

Okay, thanks!

Also thanks for the clarification, I will edit the names, lol!

As far as clipping goes, will the clipping part overheat faster than the other parts?

Ultimately, the reaction wheel was always first to blow up.

(On my craft, the Reaction Wheel is just below the Service Bay.)

[Wolfox]

Try deleting "Physics.cfg" file in the root of KSP installation. Game will generate new one when you start the game for you, and bug should be fixed.

EDIT: BTW always backup the files before deleting/altering base game code

[Geschosskopf]

IMy issue now involves my Minmus-lander probe. I am overheating and blowing up, in the space, with my engines not in use.

How exactly am I overheating when I haven't been using the engines at all? And secondly, how do I deal with heat properly? I'm using radiator and thermal panels, but am I using them incorrectly?

I see your problem: You're using a service bay and its doors, if opened, would impact some other parts on the outside of the rocket. That's what does it right there. Clipping parts inside the bay doesn't do it, it's the doors hitting stuff on the outside when you open them. Or even just having the POTENTIAL to hit stuff on the outisde, such as a retractable ladder crossing the door opening, even if you never open the doors while the ladder is extended. Furthermore, even if you only open the doors in the VAB, not in actual flight, if they touch something then that bay is doormed when you actually fly the rocket, even if you don't ever open the doors again.

When you have a cursed bacy, what happens is, as the rocket is cooling down from running the engines, the bay will suddenly get super hot, from zero to fusion temps in a split second. While the bay itself is immune to this heat, it will heat up all parts in contact with the bay, whether inside it or outside it. Whichever of these parts has the lowest maxTemp will then explode. When a part(s) explodes, all the unnatural heat of the bay will disappear instantly, so F3 will say some part overheated but F11 will show what's left of the rocket at ambient temperature. You can only really figure out what's going on if you revert and let it happen again with F11 on from the get-go. Because this bay superheat appears, kills, and disappears, I call it "Kraken Heat". And it affects ALL bays: 1.25m and 2.5m service bays, and Mk2 and Mk3 cargo bays both long and short.

The surest way to cure this is to redesign the ship not to use bays at all. But if you must use bays, then you need to redesign the ship so the doors can never touch any external parts of the rocket during their animation or in their open position. And be VERY careful in the VAB/SPH because even touching stuff in there is fatal. If your doors ever do touch something in the VAB/SPH, it's best to junk the bay, remove the interfering parts, and start over.

[Tazm]

I see your problem: You're using a service bay and its doors, if opened, would impact some other parts on the outside of the rocket. That's what does it right there. Clipping parts inside the bay doesn't do it, it's the doors hitting stuff on the outside when you open them. Or even just having the POTENTIAL to hit stuff on the outisde, such as a retractable ladder crossing the door opening, even if you never open the doors while the ladder is extended. Furthermore, even if you only open the doors in the VAB, not in actual flight, if they touch something then that bay is doormed when you actually fly the rocket, even if you don't ever open the doors again.

When you have a cursed bacy, what happens is, as the rocket is cooling down from running the engines, the bay will suddenly get super hot, from zero to fusion temps in a split second. While the bay itself is immune to this heat, it will heat up all parts in contact with the bay, whether inside it or outside it. Whichever of these parts has the lowest maxTemp will then explode. When a part(s) explodes, all the unnatural heat of the bay will disappear instantly, so F3 will say some part overheated but F11 will show what's left of the rocket at ambient temperature. You can only really figure out what's going on if you revert and let it happen again with F11 on from the get-go. Because this bay superheat appears, kills, and disappears, I call it "Kraken Heat". And it affects ALL bays: 1.25m and 2.5m service bays, and Mk2 and Mk3 cargo bays both long and short.

The surest way to cure this is to redesign the ship not to use bays at all. But if you must use bays, then you need to redesign the ship so the doors can never touch any external parts of the rocket during their animation or in their open position. And be VERY careful in the VAB/SPH because even touching stuff in there is fatal. If your doors ever do touch something in the VAB/SPH, it's best to junk the bay, remove the interfering parts, and start over.

Thank you for this amazingly long feedback!

So this is a known issue/bug with bays? It seems pretty bad that you have to worry about it even in the VAB. Hopefully it'll be resolved with the next update. Until then, I am going to refrain from using bays. Too much frustration!

Try deleting "Physics.cfg" file in the root of KSP installation. Game will generate new one when you start the game for you, and bug should be fixed.

EDIT: BTW always backup the files before deleting/altering base game code

I will try this if removing the Service Bay doesn't help.

[A_name]

Yes, the rocket bays are buggy like that. They should have made the doors like those on airplane bays which don't interact with other parts.

[xtoro]

Heat in general is buggy. I made an ssto, and as soon as I launch it from the SPH the cockpit, cargo bay and wings have heat bars close to yellow and they're glowing, for no reason. I also sometimes get random overheating explosions as soon as I launch. Revert to launch and everything's fine...