What for?

[Kerbal7]

A quick question.

I'm halfway through the tech tree and have never used Radiator Panels, seemingly without ill effect. I have not found a use for Radiator Panels. What are the Radiator Panels used for?

Thanks.

[Geonovast]

Primarily mining.  Drills and ISRU converters need to be thermally controlled.  Engines can also get nice and hot, especially the nukes, but never had one explode on me.

[Geschosskopf]

2 hours ago, Kerbal7 said:

A quick question.

I'm halfway through the tech tree and have never used Radiator Panels, seemingly without ill effect. I have not found a use for Radiator Panels. What are the Radiator Panels used for?

Thanks.

When heat first became a thing, the game unrealistically required radiators for all sorts of things, which is why we have so many different types.  Fortunately, most of these unrealistic things (such as the silly LV-N overheating) have been corrected so nowadays, in stock, you really only need them for ISRU operations.  And you might find them nice insurance if you go to Moho.  Inside Moho, they're pretty much required.  Otherwise, they're necessary for mod stuff like nuclear reactors.

[Kerbal7]

ISRU operations. Great. Thanks for sharing the knowledge!  

[Snark]

The deployable sun-tracking radiators can also be necessary to shed solar heating, if you're getting really really close to the sun.

Normally that scenario doesn't come up much in the stock game, because the closest object to the sun is Moho, so there's rarely any reason to go any closer to the sun than that.  Solar heating at Moho is a lot higher than Kerbin, but it's still nowhere near enough to make any parts explode, even the melty ones like science instruments.

However, solar heating can become an issue if you're running any mods that give you a reason to get a lot closer to the sun (e.g. by adding new planets that are a lot closer than Moho, or whatever).

But in the stock game?  Generally just ISRU operations, as mentioned above.

[adsii1970]

16 hours ago, Kerbal7 said:

A quick question.

I'm halfway through the tech tree and have never used Radiator Panels, seemingly without ill effect. I have not found a use for Radiator Panels. What are the Radiator Panels used for?

Thanks.

Decoration. they can make some pretty awesome things...

[MajorMushroom]

On 23/10/2017 at 4:32 PM, Snark said:

The deployable sun-tracking radiators can also be necessary to shed solar heating, if you're getting really really close to the sun.

Normally that scenario doesn't come up much in the stock game, because the closest object to the sun is Moho, so there's rarely any reason to go any closer to the sun than that.  Solar heating at Moho is a lot higher than Kerbin, but it's still nowhere near enough to make any parts explode, even the melty ones like science instruments.

However, solar heating can become an issue if you're running any mods that give you a reason to get a lot closer to the sun (e.g. by adding new planets that are a lot closer than Moho, or whatever).

But in the stock game?  Generally just ISRU operations, as mentioned above.

Sorry this is a bit off topic, but what does ISRU stand for?

[bewing]

In best Calvin & Hobbes style: In Situ ResourceExtraction Unit.

 

[Geonovast]

4 hours ago, MajorMushroom said:

Sorry this is a bit off topic, but what does ISRU stand for?

Just an FYI, when you see an acronym on the forum with the light dotted underline, you can hover over it and it will tell you what it means.

[MajorMushroom]

4 hours ago, Geonovast said:

Just an FYI, when you see an acronym on the forum with the light dotted underline, you can hover over it and it will tell you what it means.

Oh excellent. However unfortunately my computer is going through some stressful times (so no KSP for me ) so I'm on my iPad for now. Thanks for the tip though!