ISRU overheating though TCSs are not at 100%

[roshanr]

I have a convert-o-tron 250 that is overheating even though the drills are turned off and TCSs are not at 100% cooling.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wtgc2z1f2mf2hgf/Screen Shot 2016-12-24 at 7.18.03 PM.png?dl=0

The ISRU works fine when only two converters are working, but starts overheating when the third is turned on. I have 6 x MKS Ranger TCS and 5 x large TCS at various places in the base. The base also has a PDU with the nuclear reactor running.

Am I misinterpreting what "cooling" on the TCS means? Also, how do I interpret the thermal debug data shown in the action menu to make better sense of what I can do to stop it from overheating?

Thanks

[FancyMouse]

Did you have an engineer on board?

[Snark]

Your convert-o-tron's not "overheating"-- it's running at 99% efficiency!

It's only barely a smidgeon over the optimum 1000K.

I believe this is normal behavior-- it's a bit of an oddity in the appearance of the numbers, but doesn't really affect gameplay to any appreciable degree.

[bewing]

10 hours ago, roshanr said:

Am I misinterpreting what "cooling" on the TCS means? Also, how do I interpret the thermal debug data shown in the action menu to make better sense of what I can do to stop it from overheating?

Thanks

If you look at the converters in the VAB, and click to open their extended information -- there is a confusing set of numbers: "Cooling required" and "Max Cooling".

Cooling required is the amount of cooling you need if you have one "channel" of the converter running at 100% load. 200kW on the Convert-o-tron 250.

The next number is even more confusing. Max Cooling is the total maximum amount of cooling that can be applied to the converter. 500kW on the Convert-o-tron 250.

So, you have 3 channels running at 123% load. Now, a 5 star engineer can reduce the heating by 25%. So, effectively, you have 3 channels at 98% thermal load * 200kW = 588kW of heating.

You have lots and lots of potential cooling, but what's that Max again? 500kW.

So you are running 88kW higher than the Max. So yes, you're going to get a little bit of overheating.

 

Edited December 25, 2016 by bewing