Electric charge drains extremely quick

[hanhan658]

I don't know if it's a mod or something, but I play modded ksp with 89 mods. When I launch a plane (only a built in reaction wheel and flaps) the electric charge drains 5 units per second, and when I just move the flaps it drains 20 units per second! A satelite drains all of its electric charge when entering night side before it meets daylight again. Some thing that hasn't happened before.

I have 2 suspects:

1: New update on KSP it  happened when the game updated to 1.3.0 and it's pretty weird.

2: The mod Kerbalism. It also happened after I downloaded Kerbalism. But I've never trid it before 1.3.0.

Do anyone have some other suspects or advise what to do?

[Shadowmage]

15 minutes ago, hanhan658 said:

The mod Kerbalism. It also happened after I downloaded Kerbalism. But I've never trid it before 1.3.0.

^^^ Kerbalism does all sorts of things regarding resource consumption, and I would guess that is the culprit in this case.

Try un-installing it and see if your problems go away.

[invision]

this happens to me when using super capacitors and they constantly drain even when nothing is being used, maybe this is your problem too? 

[MoarBoostersRUS]

Start a fresh game with out mods and test, then add kerbalism and test again to try and replicate the problem to verify your suspicions. 

[Azimech]

6 hours ago, hanhan658 said:

and when I just move the flaps it drains 20 units per second!

I want to research this. If this is part of a mod, I'll love it.

It should be part of the stock game. And I'm not talking just flaps here. All animated objects like landing gear, control surfaces, cargo bay doors, steering, brakes etc. should consume a resource, just like in real life.

One could argue that some airplanes can lower the gear, use the brakes & steering or manipulate control surfaces by using muscle power. Fine, then the resource should be stamina :-)

Edited November 3, 2017 by Azimech

[katateochi]

1 hour ago, Azimech said:

It should be part of the stock game. And I'm not talking just flaps here. All animated objects like landing gear, control surfaces, cargo bay doors, steering, brakes etc. should consume a resource, just like in real life.

I guess that is true, but on a KSP aircraft the amount of power generated by the engines would be easily enough to power those things so kinda makes it pointless to have a power requirement for them. And you could argue that if your craft had run out of power but was manned, then it's the manual action of the pilot doing stuff, and if it's unmanned then it'll be dead anyway as the probe core won't have power. I'm also not keen on the idea of brakes needing power, many a time have I been in a rover on a hill and run out of power but at least I could pull the handbrake (when manned, unmanned and using RT then it'd be downhill doom anyway). 

[Azimech]

2 hours ago, katateochi said:

I guess that is true, but on a KSP aircraft the amount of power generated by the engines would be easily enough to power those things so kinda makes it pointless to have a power requirement for them. And you could argue that if your craft had run out of power but was manned, then it's the manual action of the pilot doing stuff, and if it's unmanned then it'll be dead anyway as the probe core won't have power. I'm also not keen on the idea of brakes needing power, many a time have I been in a rover on a hill and run out of power but at least I could pull the handbrake (when manned, unmanned and using RT then it'd be downhill doom anyway). 

Yes, manual override exists but for example look up any video on youtube about airliners with dead engines, the ram air turbine pops out to provide some basic electrical and hydraulic power. But without it, both pilot and co-pilot would have a very hard time controlling the plane. The forces are immense. Many pilots in WW2 were killed in a dive because they didn't have the physical strength to pull up due to compression effects on the control surfaces, and this was at subsonic speeds. Same goes for automobiles, when the engine stops you're without power brakes and power steering. You can still brake and steer but need a lot more force. That's why I suggested a resource called "stamina" ... basically it's a self-replenishing resource but would model muscle fatigue.

[septemberWaves]

If you'd read all the details on the Kerbalism thread about what exactly the mod changes, you'd know that you need a lot more electric charge to keep spacecraft running.

[hanhan658]

7 hours ago, eloquentJane said:

If you'd read all the details on the Kerbalism thread about what exactly the mod changes, you'd know that you need a lot more electric charge to keep spacecraft running.

Where can I then find that config so I can delete it. Because I don't like to strap like 1000 batteries on a plane, it's just pure inefficient.

[Azimech]

10 minutes ago, hanhan658 said:

Where can I then find that config so I can delete it. Because I don't like to strap like 1000 batteries on a plane, it's just pure inefficient.

Usually I answer that question myself, by reading the files and comparing them with stock files. We all started modding somewhere :-)

[hanhan658]

21 hours ago, invision said:

this happens to me when using super capacitors and they constantly drain even when nothing is being used, maybe this is your problem too? 

No, I'm only using life support system which is crucial. It still drains 0.6/sec even when the engines is on 100% thrust.

[MythicalHeFF]

I’ve played with Kerbalism before, but only had problems getting enough electricity during manned missions (to keep life support running)

[hanhan658]

Just now, Jack Joseph Kerman said:

I’ve played with Kerbalism before, but only had problems getting enough electricity during manned missions (to keep life support running)

Yes exactly, I've tried to find the files that control the EC cost of life support running. But all I find is only the habitat size etc. Do someone know where these config files are, i know they must be there in order to apply.

[Mr. Peabody]

17 hours ago, Azimech said:

I want to research this. If this is part of a mod, I'll love it.

It should be part of the stock game. And I'm not talking just flaps here. All animated objects like landing gear, control surfaces, cargo bay doors, steering, brakes etc. should consume a resource, just like in real life.

One could argue that some airplanes can lower the gear, use the brakes & steering or manipulate control surfaces by using muscle power. Fine, then the resource should be stamina :-)

That is exactly what I would hate to see added. 

[septemberWaves]

8 hours ago, hanhan658 said:

No, I'm only using life support system which is crucial. It still drains 0.6/sec even when the engines is on 100% thrust.

Life support is supposed to drain electric charge. Air pumps and climate control systems don't run by magic. Conservation of energy is obeyed. If the engine is at 100% thrust and not producing power, it doesn't have an alternator. Putting batteries in a cargo bay or service bay is a way around the issue, or sticking a fuel cell and 2 tanks (one for hydrogen, one for oxygen) inside if it's a short-duration mission (several days at most). Usually you'll need both. I do wish Kerbalism would increase battery capacities to be more useful, but even without it doing that electricity shouldn't be as significant an issue as you seem to be perceiving it as.

[hanhan658]

15 hours ago, eloquentJane said:

Life support is supposed to drain electric charge. Air pumps and climate control systems don't run by magic. Conservation of energy is obeyed. If the engine is at 100% thrust and not producing power, it doesn't have an alternator. Putting batteries in a cargo bay or service bay is a way around the issue, or sticking a fuel cell and 2 tanks (one for hydrogen, one for oxygen) inside if it's a short-duration mission (several days at most). Usually you'll need both. I do wish Kerbalism would increase battery capacities to be more useful, but even without it doing that electricity shouldn't be as significant an issue as you seem to be perceiving it as.

I mean, where can I find these config files so I can lower the EC consumption rate? I think using 1.00 EC/sec is too much to run a HABITAT in a passenger module for 2 kerbals.

Oh, and it also drains unnormally quick on probes which don't have a life system. Maybe I can figure that out later.

[Azimech]

34 minutes ago, hanhan658 said:

I mean, where can I find these config files so I can lower the EC consumption rate? I think using 1.00 EC/sec is too much to run a HABITAT in a passenger module for 2 kerbals.

Oh, and it also drains unnormally quick on probes which don't have a life system. Maybe I can figure that out later.

Imagine you could upgrade the computer with newer tech, lowering power consumption. That would be awesome. 

21 hours ago, The Dunatian said:

That is exactly what I would hate to see added. 

Optional in the difficulty setting?