Flight event: heated by engine exhaust

[THX1138]

Are there any repercussions for heating a part via the exhaust of an engine? It was very brief and nothing exploded.  

[swjr-swis]

16 minutes ago, THX1138 said:

Are there any repercussions for heating a part via the exhaust of an engine? It was very brief and nothing exploded.  

It never causes permanent damage other than adding heat, except of course when it makes something explode, but then you would already know. Accumulated heat will normally start to dissipate even without radiators, although if the total sources of heat are higher than what can dissipate, (Kerbol, running ISRU, RTG, running LV-N) you just shortened the time it may take for that part to explode - which was going to happen anyway in the longer run.

If the engine you blasted over the part is very high thrust, I have at times seen it slightly dislodge the part in the exhaust from it's position, leaving it somewhat misaligned. Usually parts return to their exact original position after, but not always. Check closely, because depending the position and mass, it may be a source of imbalance now. This is very rare though, and much more likely would've exploded the part first.

Edited June 26, 2016 by swjr-swis

[FancyMouse]

Heat isn't issue after many iterations of rebalancing across versions. However a much worse problem is if engine A heats part B while A and B are on the same ship, then A loses its thrust. It's physically correct - you don't produce thrust by propelling things to yourself. Apart from sepratrons, this is the most frequent situation I'm seeing this engine thrust message, and it's an immediate revert to VAB for a design correction.