How to secure payload in fairings?

[Warp_8]

Every time I attempt to place a large and/or complex payload within a fairing, it tends to wobble during launch. Are there any solutions, other than simply adding more struts?

[ajburges]

Autostrut?

Pictures could help us understand the scope of your problem or improve diagnosis.

[Geonovast]

KJR.  The exact scenario you're dealing with is why I cannot play pure stock, because autostruts are not as good as they're made out to be.

 

[Warp_8]

4 minutes ago, ajburges said:

Autostrut?

Pictures could help us understand the scope of your problem or improve diagnosis.

Here's an image.

 

Sorry for the low quality.

[ajburges]

Can you capture am image in the VAB? I'm familiar with the problem, but can offer no specific disposition without seeing the payload/fairing relation.

[Warp_8]

Oh, crud. Just deleted it. I guess struts were the solution.

Payload consisted of a 3-man pod with service module above the fairing. Inside the fairing I had a 'Hitchhiker' crew module and a single LV-N connected to a Jumbo-64. This whole assembly was connected to the crew module by a docking port. Which, come to think of it, might have been my problem.

[Superfluous J]

I thought you could strut to the fairing?

If the game doesn't let you do it directly, you can do it indirectly by building girders through the fairing and then trying to strut to the girder. The strut will stop at the fairing and it will hold normally. Then, of course, delete the girders.

But I thought they changed it so you could just strut to the fairing.

I don't remember for sure because just a couple autostruts always fixes it for me, though now that robotics plays oddly with autostruts I may revisit the technique. 

Edited July 15, 2019 by 5thHorseman

[Warp_8]

8 minutes ago, 5thHorseman said:

I thought you could strut to the fairing?

If the game doesn't let you do it directly, you can do it indirectly by building girders through the fairing and then trying to strut to the girder. The strut will stop at the fairing and it will hold normally.

But I thought they changed it so you could just strut to the fairing.

I don't remember for sure because just a couple autostruts always fixes it for me, though now that robotics plays oddly with autostruts I may revisit the technique. 

I tried both strutting to the fairing and your workaround. Neither worked. I can attach struts to the fairing base, however.

[Serenity]

5 hours ago, Warp_8 said:

I tried both strutting to the fairing and your workaround. Neither worked. I can attach struts to the fairing base, however.

My solution is to put ONE HEAVY Autostrut at one of the tallest parts of the payload.If the payload is not very large i put it to the part right above the fairing.

Be very careful with this and when you are in orbit remember to turn that autostrut off or to grandparent!

Edited July 16, 2019 by Boyster

[Superfluous J]

8 hours ago, Warp_8 said:

I tried both strutting to the fairing and your workaround. Neither worked. I can attach struts to the fairing base, however.

Yeah I finally got a chance to try it and it doesn't work anymore, either way

2 hours ago, Boyster said:

My solution is to put ONE HEAVY Autostrut at one of the tallest parts of the payload.

The problem here is if there is a robotic part on the ship between your part and the fairing, the autostrut will very likely connect to it instead, which doesn't help at all with wobbling. In those cases you MUST use actual struts.

[Guest]

Hmm there must be some setting somewhere OP, the payloads in my fairings are locked in place and only moves after I seperate the fairings. 

From memory I use “Clamshell” and I think there is another customisable setting which I does something else. When I get on the puter in a minute ill post a pic of the settings I use. (Edit I forgot about this but I will do it tomorrow XD)

Edited July 16, 2019 by Guest

[Serenity]

7 hours ago, 5thHorseman said:

Yeah I finally got a chance to try it and it doesn't work anymore, either way

The problem here is if there is a robotic part on the ship between your part and the fairing, the autostrut will very likely connect to it instead, which doesn't help at all with wobbling. In those cases you MUST use actual struts.

How?If its set on Heaviest Part the autostrut will connect to the launchers biggest part(Probably the main fuel tank).

You can Alt+f12 and virtualize the autostruts to see if the design has a working autostrut ''tree''.

[Superfluous J]

3 hours ago, Boyster said:

How?If its set on Heaviest Part the autostrut will connect to the launchers biggest part(Probably the main fuel tank).

No it won't, at least not in my testing. It will find a robotic part along the way and the game will stop there, and autostrut to the robotic part instead of the heaviest part.

Here's a link to my testing on the subject.

 

[Serenity]

I didnt have any problem

28 minutes ago, 5thHorseman said:

No it won't, at least not in my testing. It will find a robotic part along the way and the game will stop there, and autostrut to the robotic part instead of the heaviest part.

Here's a link to my testing on the subject.

Hmm, i dont recall any problems, are you sure you havent messed around with the module manager?In the screenshots i see the rover wheels but those are locked to grandparent usually.Ummm i ll have to test it more and i will answer to you  .

Edited July 16, 2019 by Boyster

[Superfluous J]

4 minutes ago, Boyster said:

Hmm, i dont recall any problems, are you sure you havent messed around with the module manager?In the screenshots i see the rover wheels but those are locked to grandparent usually.

Bone stock. I don't use the wheels regularly so I assume "Heaviest" is what they auto-strut to always. I don't know of anything that auto-autostruts to grandparent, just root or heaviest.

[mystifeid]

1 hour ago, 5thHorseman said:

No it won't, at least not in my testing. It will find a robotic part along the way and the game will stop there, and autostrut to the robotic part instead of the heaviest part.

@Snark reported in this thread (which is worth reading for it's own sake) that locking a robotic part allowed an autostrut to pass through it. The quick test shown below using autostrut : root seems to support this.

57 minutes ago, 5thHorseman said:

I don't know of anything that auto-autostruts to grandparent, just root or heaviest.

Engines attached to engine plates become Autostrut Locked : Grandparent part once they are on the launch pad.

Edited July 16, 2019 by mystifeid

[HansAcker]

31 minutes ago, mystifeid said:

Engines attached to engine plates become Autostrut Locked : Grandparent part once they are on the launch pad.

Fuel tanks attached above and below plated engines also become autostrutted and keep that setting even on revert to the editor. Which can lead to wobbliness in my experience if I then add another part in between and the tank autostruts to the engine bell. In those cases, I replace the locked tank with a fresh one.

[Serenity]

This is one of my adventures dealing with locked autostruts, just a warning though locked autostruts are there for a reason and if you patch them out the kraken comes realy close

Also i like to just put a decoupler at the end of the payload with heavy autostrut and just jettison while in orbit to keep my payloads safe while launching.

Edited July 16, 2019 by Boyster

[Guest]

I'm back (I didnt forget u ^.^) although I should be completing assignments and not playing Kerbals >.>

Nevertheless! feast your eyez on what I have below @_@!

Floppy payload? 

 

All I do is this:

And my payloads become stiff like oak tree.

XD

tbh I duno why tho I just put on a fairing and those are my settings, I do remember playing KSP a long time ago and having floppy payloads cliping through the fairing at launch, but yer... not now. Hope it helps @_@

[Warp_8]

Thanks. Also, figured out how to use interstage nodes.