Stock self-destruct method for a part?

[Sharpy]

How could I - without using a plugin - have a part self-destruct on demand? - Just that one small part destroying itself, nothing else - definitely not whatever it's attached to!

I was considering making it an engine of zero thrust that produces excessive heat and has null heat capacity, but I don't want it to explode on ascent, or force it into the staging sequence.

I thought of making it a decoupler that would have its direction reversed- smashing against whatever the part is attached to, faster than the part is allowed to.  (the part is allowed to be more flimsy than pretty much anything else) But I can't get the decoupler to reverse the direction.

Maybe I could extend the collider under the attachment surface, so that the moment you decouple it, it explodes because it's clipped in?

Any ideas?

Edited October 13, 2016 by Sharpy

[Tex_NL]

Have you tried overheating it?

[Sharpy]

1 hour ago, Tex_NL said:

Have you tried overheating it?

How to overheat it "on demand" other than making it an engine?

[snekposter]

throw a small object at it. ive used that method to force undock a few things in the past, as long as your aim is decent it works

[nascarlaser1]

If you want stock, I don't know how, but someone made TAC self destruct. It adds 1 tiny little box part to the game, that can either blow up 1 part, itself, or the entire craft with the push of a button.

[Sharpy]

I'd go with resource converter that can overheat very quickly, but I'm struggling with the parameters currently.

[Sharpy]

Got it. The values had to be pretty extreme to work in a reasonable (almost immediate) time.

I copied the parameters of a thermonuclear fusion generator from "Simple Nuclear" mod onto a tiny RCS block, then edited them to some even more extreme values

Quote

MODULE
{
    name = ModuleResourceConverter
    ConverterName = Reactor
    StartActionName = Self-destruct
    StopActionName = Abort Self-destruct
    INPUT_RESOURCE
    {
        ResourceName = ElectricCharge
        Ratio = 1
    }
    OUTPUT_RESOURCE
    {
        ResourceName = ElectricCharge
        DumpExcess = true
        Ratio = 1        
    }
    AutoShutdown = false
    TemperatureModifier
        {
            key = 0 10000000
            key = 4000 10000000
        }
    GeneratesHeat = true
    ThermalEfficiency
    {
        key = 0 1.0 0 0
        key = 4000 1.0 0 0
        }        
    }        
    MODULE
    {
        name = ModuleCoreHeat
        CoreTempGoal = 40000                //Internal temp goal - we don't transfer till we hit this point
        CoreToPartRatio = 0.1                //Scale back cooling if the part is this % of core temp
        CoreTempGoalAdjustment = 0            //Dynamic goal adjustment
        CoreEnergyMultiplier = 0.99            //What percentage of our core energy do we transfer to the part
        HeatRadiantMultiplier = 0.1            //If the core is hotter, how much heat radiates?
        CoolingRadiantMultiplier = 0.01        //If the core is colder, how much radiates?
        HeatTransferMultiplier = 1            //If the part is hotter, how much heat transfers in?
        CoolantTransferMultiplier = 0.1        //If the part is colder, how much of our energy can we transfer?
        radiatorCoolingFactor = 0            //How much energy we pull from core with an active radiator?  >= 1
        radiatorHeatingFactor = 0.1            //How much energy we push to the active radiator
        MaxCalculationWarp = 1000            //Based on how dramatic the changes are, this is the max rate of change
        CoreShutdownTemp = 10000000             //At what core temperature do we shut down all generators on this part?
        MaxCoolant = 1                        //Maximum amount of radiator capacity we can consume - 50 = 1 small
    }        
RESOURCE
    {
        name = ElectricCharge
        amount = 0
        maxAmount = 1
    }    

If anyone has an idea of a more graceful approach, you're welcome.