Refuling in space.

[NikodemusDSD]

I am quiet new to KSP so I play it without MODs. I am testing a design for a lander that can bring a Kerbal safe on a planet and back into à stable orbit. To make this possible I need to refuel the lander in space after the launch from Kerbal, because starting it from Kerbal depletes the whole fuel. To do this I have built a space station and some refuel tankers. I have two problems:

1.: I can transfer the fuel from the refueltankers to only one tankmodule of the lander. Is there any way to fill up more than one module at the same time?

2.: My actual lander design has 60 FL-T800 Fuel Tanks. To transfer the fuel of one tank takes 4 minutes and 10 seconds at my spacestation. Thats more than 4 hours to refuel the whole lander. Is there a possibility to speed things up?

Edited September 4, 2014 by NikodemusDSD

[diomedea]

Without mods you can only transfer resources one part at a time.

For what you want, you should really be using mods, my advice is to try TAC Fuel Balancer.

[Kasuha]

1.: I can transfer the fuel from the refueltankers to only one tankmodule of the lander. Is there any way to fill up more than one module at the same time?

At present you can do that only using a mod (TAC fuel balancer). But there's good chance it will be possible in some future KSP update as Maxmaps was talking about it just recently.

2.: My actual lander design has 60 FL-T800 Fuel Tanks. To transfer the fuel of one tank takes 4 minutes and 10 seconds at my spacestation. Thats more than 4 hours to refuel the whole lander. Is there a possibility to speed things up?

That's quite long time, I think it should take about 20-30 seconds to fill up one tank. Maybe your framerate is too low and the game is lagging?

Also you might consider building things smaller. If one tank takes 4 minutes and full refuel would take 4 hours means you have 60 tanks on your ship, that's quite a lot. Except for Eve or Tylo, you don't really need more than one or two tanks on the lander to be able to land and get back to orbit. Less complex ship will likely improve your framerate, too.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Kasuha

[Wanderfound]

I am quiet new to KSP so I play it without MODs. I am testing a design for a lander that can bring a Kerbal safe on a planet and back into à stable orbit. To make this possible I need to refuel the lander in space after the launch from Kerbal, because starting it from Kerbal depletes the whole fuel. To do this I have built a space station and some refuel tankers. I have two problems:

1.: I can transfer the fuel from the refueltankers to only one tankmodule of the lander. Is there any way to fill up more than one module at the same time?

2.: My actual lander design has 60 FL-T800 Fuel Tanks. To transfer the fuel of one tank takes 4 minutes and 10 seconds at my spacestation. Thats more than 4 hours to refuel the whole lander. Is there a possibility to speed things up?

What Diomedea said; TAC Fuel Balancer has the answers you seek, and it's a minimal-impact utility mod that should have no negative effect on your game.

However, in addition: 60 FL-T800's is insanely excessive for just about anywhere. Where are you going, and how much junk are you planning on taking with you?

[Seret]

My actual lander design has 60 FL-T800 Fuel Tanks.

Wut?

That's bigger than any ship I've ever built to go anywhere or do anything. And it's just a lander? Can you provide some more detail about why it's ended up being so big? Can you use fewer, larger tanks? What size payload are you trying to land? On what planet? Is the lander also an return vehicle?

[Red Iron Crown]

Bah, building unnecessarily excessive big things is part of the fun of KSP.

Agree with the posters above recommending TAC Fuel Balancer, another option is Goodspeed Automatic Fuel Pump.

[NikodemusDSD]

I trie to plant a flag on Eve and bring the Kerbal back to Kerbal. Also a Mystery Goo container, a SC-9001 jr module and 2x MK2 Cockpit. I bring the Lander into a 200k orbit with a transport ship and then I want it to land on Eve. Get the Kerbal out, plant the Flag, grab a stone an get the Kerbal back in. The big lagg seems to come from the huge numer of parts on that lander. Refuling a smaller ship goes much faster. I would use mainsail engines and Rockomax Jumbo-64 tanks if I could find a ladder thats bigger than a mainsail engine.

You see the lander docked on my first space station. And If you ask why 2 cockpits: I plan to take 2 landers on that mission if lander 1 crashes and the pilot needs to be rescued ther is space for a passenger in the rescue lander.

[Superfluous J]

Bah, building unnecessarily excessive big things is part of the fun of KSP.

Agree with the posters above recommending TAC Fuel Balancer, another option is Goodspeed Automatic Fuel Pump.

I second Goodspeed. I found TAC clunky but easier to learn. Goodspeed took a bit to learn but is more elegant and easy to use once you've got it figured out.

[Oafman]

2.: My actual lander design has 60 FL-T800 Fuel Tanks.

Pics please!

[Wanderfound]

I second Goodspeed. I found TAC clunky but easier to learn. Goodspeed took a bit to learn but is more elegant and easy to use once you've got it figured out.

Dammit, every time I get my laptop working properly people start telling me about must-have mods. Knew it was too good to last.

[Kasuha]

You see the lander docked on my first space station. And If you ask why 2 cockpits: I plan to take 2 landers on that mission if lander 1 crashes and the pilot needs to be rescued ther is space for a passenger in the rescue lander.

http://members.aon.at/niko_dsd/Kerbal001.jpg

If it is an Eve lander then there is no wonder - but I strongly suggest you to undock it from the station and only dock it with a single tank refueler (probe core or cockpit, one SLS tank and vernors for maneuvering). That might bring your FPS high enough to allow you relatively comfortable refueling.

[Seret]

I would use mainsail engines and Rockomax Jumbo-64 tanks if I could find a ladder thats bigger than a mainsail engine.

Have you tried using some struts to create a frame for ladders? Part counts aside the lower TWR of all those small engines can't be helping.

[NikodemusDSD]

Thanks to all of you for your input. I think I solfed the Problem with a new design, that uses much fewer parts. I will post a picture as soon as the lander passed the landing test.

How can I set my tread from "unanswered" to "answered"?

[Red Iron Crown]

How can I set my tread from "unanswered" to "answered"?

Edit the original post, go advanced, change the thread prefix.