what is the best/worst battery in KSP?

[THX1138]

Just like the other threads but this one is about batteries! Pointless!

I think the worst one is the Z-100 because it looks like crap. I only use it begrudgingly if design constraints necessitate it.

[Jimbo Jangles]

2 minutes ago, THX1138 said:

Just like the other threads but this one is about batteries! Pointless!

Love it.

I don't use any of the square batteries, mostly because you can't stack them.

[Vysionone]

23 minutes ago, THX1138 said:

Just like the other threads but this one is about batteries!

Lol! 

I don't like the Z-400 ones. Too clunky. I'd just use 4 Z-100s.

[THX1138]

14 minutes ago, Vysionone said:

Lol! 

I don't like the Z-400 ones. Too clunky. I'd just use 4 Z-100s.

Huh! Maybe we can trade

[BeeGeenie]

Granted, the z-100 and z-400 aren't as sleek and stylish as the inline batteries, but they do have one thing going for them: They both use

"Nana-nana-nana-nana Batt-man!" Batteries.

The pun alone makes them worth the price of admission.

[magnemoe]

z-100 looks stupid but has the indicator light who is useful for other stuff like marking docking ports.
z-200 is the one I use least, mostly on probes with lack of surface area and I want more length.

[Blaarkies]

Serious now, too many z-4000 stacked gives serpent-syndrome to ships(and also phantom forces sometimes)...I discovered this when trying to make a rockomax32 size "electricity-tank"...it really didn't work out, at all!

Mod the z-200 battery to rescale x4. It should be 2.5m now, and as thick as 4 z-4000 batteries...great for mining bases with 16 000ec. It is the same as 4x z-4000 stacked, but neater

Edited July 6, 2016 by Blaarkies

[Madrias]

I use a lot of z-100's, because stuffing them inside of a Structural Fuselage just makes sense.  Cap the other end with a few RTG's and you've got a tube full of power.

The ones I hate the most... I'll have to go for the z-400.  It's big and bulky, and doesn't fit nicely anywhere.  It also doesn't have any redeeming functions, like the tiny alignment lights on the z-100, or being stack-capable like the others.  So it realistically just takes up a stupid amount of space, and if I'm going to waste space exposed space on batteries, I'll tweak-scale the z-100.

[Provisional Name 12]

All of the batteries are kinda a pain in the ass, If I had to pick a favorite I'd pick fuel cells just because they make mining really possible.

That said, the near future electrical mod has some good larger variations. It's much more useful to have larger battery banks than more batteries because of lag. If your conducting a rendezvous of multiple and/or large ships it can become a pain if you have a bunch of z-100s creating lag.

[qvazzar]

Z-100. Ideal for satellites, which I build. Small size allows to place 4 batteries on OKTO/HECS probes and this always enough.

The only thing I don't like - the green indicator. Really looks not cool.

[swjr-swis]

The cubic octagonal strut is a horrible battery... it doesn't maintain any charge at all.

[The Optimist]

the worst battery is the one built into the stayputnik

[Snark]

I like all the batteries-- I have a use for every one of them, based on situation.

If I had to kvetch about one of them, it would be the Z-100, which is an awkward shape (sticks out too far-- I'd like it to have a slimmer profile, say 30% thinner or so).  Also, the Z-100 has that LED light on it, which bugs me mainly because it's inconsistent; none of the other batteries have one.  (Plus the purely personal beef that the way it's implemented made it a bit of a pain to tinker with when I was outfitting all the batteries with LED indicators in IndicatorLights, which of course is no fault of the Z-100's.)

I'd have to say that my "favorite" (in terms of "which one do I use the most") is the Z-1k.  It just seems to hit the sweet spot, for me:

• The amount of electric storage is just about right:  put a single Z-1k on a ship, and it has enough EC without having too much.  The Z-400 isn't quite enough by itself or in a pair (my yardstick being the 600ish EC needed to transmit a science result from a gravioli detector).  The Z-4k is massive overkill, I never need anything near that much storage except on mining ships (which are about the only place I ever use it).  The Z-1k seems to be just about right to me.
• It's stack-mounted, so I don't have to worry about drag or heating issues.  Perches nicely right next to my probe core or command pod at the top of the ship.
• The 1.25m size is my favorite workhorse for most of my missions.  Even for big ships that use a 2.5m or 3.75m stack for the heavy-lifting end, they usually end up as 1.25m at the pointy end, which is where I need the battery.

 

[Rocket In My Pocket]

7 hours ago, Snark said:

If I had to kvetch about one of them, it would be the Z-100, which is an awkward shape (sticks out too far-- I'd like it to have a slimmer profile, say 30% thinner or so).  Also, the Z-100 has that LED light on it, which bugs me mainly because it's inconsistent; none of the other batteries have one.

Main reason I use the Z-100 is to clip it into another part and make a nice little glowing green light.

It certainly is sub par as a battery but as an aesthetic detail part, I think it really...shines!

Ba-Dum-Tsh! (That was a rim shot btw.)

Spoiler

 

 

[Brownhair2]

Best battery is the fuel cells. Not only do they have EC, they can make more EC 

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

That 2.5 meter one has a ridiculous capacity.  All the batteries are actually rather OP, but it's most noticeable there.  

[Norcalplanner]

Z-100 and Z-1k are the best in my book. My opinion of the Z-1 k is pretty much identical to Snark's. However, since I didn't have to mod it, I'm also partial to the Z-100 for small satellites. These two batteries are also the cheapest per EC in career mode.

[cantab]

  That one "backup battery" on your probe that you locked in a previous version and now the new KSP prevents you from unlocking it when your probe has no active power.

[Archgeek]

They all have the same mass ratio, this thread is silly.  Z-100 sux, though.  Way too noodley to serve as structural/function components in my Grand Panel modular gigantor array design...which ultimately has not at all panned out.

The 4k on the other hand...My newest XenonTempest craft uses two Z-4ks on either side of a 2.5m reaction wheel -- enough to run its 12 ion engines for over a minute.

[The_Rocketeer]

17 minutes ago, Archgeek said:

They all have the same mass ratio, this thread is silly.

So, what u really want is just a voxel 'battery' block that u can just build up to a big enough lump.

^^^^ NO THANKS.

I use all the batteries for different things. The Z-100 sees the least use purely because it's small and many of my crafts are big, or so rocket-like and regular that a stack batteries are preferable.
 

[Archgeek]

4 minutes ago, The_Rocketeer said:

So, what u really want is just a voxel 'battery' block that u can just build up to a big enough lump.

^^^^ NO THANKS.

Easy there, Palziel; that was my joke answer -- that they all have the same charge per unit mass, (and roughly volume, too), so the question was therefore somehow moot.  What followed was my in-the-spirit-of-things answer -- that one sucked because it didn't achieve a thing I tried to use it for.  Followed by credit given to the 4k for providing a lot of juice in a low part count.

What troubles me is that I can't tell if you too were joking.

[Draco T stand-up guy]

15 hours ago, qvazzar said:

Z-100. Ideal for satellites, which I build. Small size allows to place 4 batteries on OKTO/HECS probes and this always enough.

I usually use the z-200 for those. Just one will do most jobs (career satellite contracts) and it's easy to add several. Of course, you can always just add 8 z100s to a 1.25 service bay:

Spoiler

You can also do that with the z400:

Spoiler

Service Bays - for all your battery needs

[The_Rocketeer]

51 minutes ago, Archgeek said:

What troubles me is that I can't tell if you too were joking.

You think you got troubles!

I definitely don't want voxel parts in KSP. My grumpy-ness is attributable to that concept, not any individuals in this community! XD

[THX1138]

3 hours ago, Archgeek said:

They all have the same mass ratio, this thread is silly.  

I didn't intend for it to be taken seriously.

[qvazzar]

1 hour ago, Draco T stand-up guy said:

I usually use the z-200 for those

This battery makes the satellite above, so I don't like it. But sometimes I use this battery.

1 hour ago, Draco T stand-up guy said:

Service Bays

Why service bay 2.5m don't have texture like 1.25m SB? It doesn't allow me to use it with Command Pod MK2..