My Solar array has 0 EU??

[TobiBlackmore]

I have this setup, and for some reason, my LV Solar Array completely stopped working. Usually it worked properly with just my induction furnace and my rotary macerator, but it gives 0 EU for some reason now at all times, unless I only put on one machine, but then it still only gives 4-5 EU. I have a second LV Solar Array, which perfectly powers my Batbox and MFE unit with 7 EU in total. I can connect those to the system, which seems to power it perfectly, but my not working LV Solar Array still decides to give 0 EU even though the machines are all powered and getting enough energy from just the other one. I have some screenshots in case that might help:

^This is the current setup I have. I put up the batbox mainly for when it's night, or for when I need to use too many machines at once for one Array to handle. The left cable that disappears in the ceiling leads to the one that isn't working. The right cable disappearing in the ceiling is the working one. After removing the redstone torch to use the batbox, the following EU is measured.

^The first measurement being for the Centrifuge extractor, the second one being for the Rotary macerator.

^Measurements coming from the Batbox (it alternates, apparently?? Cool.) So that seems about right with the machines, but the Solar Array still only gives 0 EU:

^See?

It used to work properly before I started using it all to power the max fabricator to get some uu-matter, but after that, it like... broke? I don't know. Maybe it's up too high.

I mean, sure, I can use the other one instead with the MFE and Batbox, but I still want to be able to use this one as well.

So, does anyone have an idea why this doesn't work?

[Beer]

The Mass Fabricator consumes a TON of power. Lots. So what's probably happening is all your power has been drained into the Mass Fab. Take it off your line and you should be fine.

Mass Fabricators are best hooked into an HV line with a lot of power to supply it.

[TobiBlackmore]

I placed the Mass Fabricator right in front of the MFE, but forgot to mention I took it away before measuring this all. That could have been important...

[Beer]

I don't think you're going to get a reading from your solar array. Read the current in your wires.

Also bear in mind that for every 5 insulated copper cables, you will lose EU. Although with an LV array, you shouldn't see total loss. It's pretty strange for sure. If you're certain the source of your problem is the LV array, I'd break it and replace it to see if that fixes the issue.

[TobiBlackmore]

I read the current in my wires, and read the EU from my other working solar array. The wires give nothing, and the other solar array gives a proper amount of EU.

It's possible that I have a loss, only I really have no idea if, for example, changing wires would make difference? I mean like, using HV wires. I tried breaking and replacing it. I even placed it on a different place on the roof without wires, and it still gave 0 EU. So either my block somehow broke, or solar arrays don't like height (which makes no sense, since it'd be closer to the sun, while on the other hand, the angle wouldn't be efficient, but I don't think they work like that) Though replacing it without it powering anything at all and giving 0 EU could be because it's not powering anything in the first place.

[Beer]

Changing wires shouldn't make a huge difference. You're still dealing with Low voltage and HV wires have even worse loss than copper, so that would be pointless. I would probably go through and start by taking it apart and putting it back together again, starting with the array. It's very possible something screwy happened and there's a power vacuum somewhere. Break it all down, put it back together and see if your problem persists.

[TobiBlackmore]

Didn't work. It's supposed to charge the machines now, but it can somehow only handle one, with 4-5 EU... Which first seemed to work perfectly fine. I may have not used it after building it higher, so I'll try letting it stick out of the building instead...

[Beer]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you right click on the array, you should see an indicator telling you how much sun the panel is receiving, full yellow being full power and empty being no power.

So if it's placed and has a full yellow, but not transmitting power, then it's bugged somehow. Maybe try replacing the LV array with another one to see if that fixes the problem. If it doesn't, then the problem is somewhere in your wiring/machines.

[TobiBlackmore]

It does, but I think the array is black and white, really. It only shows when it receives or doesn't receive power, and it says it has sun. It does give like... 2-3 EU when I power one single device, even now that I put it closer, so I didn't get much further with that.

The first measured power is from the array around the corner, and the second measured power is the one you're looking at, which first only gave 0 EU when with more than 1 machine needing power at a time.

[Beer]

Ok, so... it's working now?

[TobiBlackmore]

Okay, yeah, now that I also let my furnace work, it suddenly gives 7 EU uwu Problem solved, thanks for the help.

[Beer]

Glad it's working!

Just make sure next time you hook up a mass fabricator, you've at least got a bank of fully charged MFSU's and plenty of scrap to go along with it. Also I recommend using glass fibre cables if possible. They're pricey, but worth every diamond. Also, don't use redstone in the recipe... instead use silver as it will net you an additional 2 cable.

[TobiBlackmore]

I don't have a MFSU unit yet. I was planning on making it, but I always end up doing everything at the same time, forgetting what I was doing. I think I first need a better energy source than LV arrays to charge something like a MFSU unit though... Back to mining I guess.

Not exactly sure what they do, but I'm gonna guess using glass fibre cables gives less loss than HV?

Also a pretty offtopic question, do I need different cables for my MFE, and are they save on advanced machines? They sure weren't on my normal machine that blew up... XD

[Beer]

Yes to pretty much everything.

You're playing with industrialcraft 2. There are 3 levels of voltage. Well, 5 technically, but 3 main ones. LV, MV, and HV.

MFE's are medium storage units mainly for MV (Medium voltage) and will transmit 128 EU per packet. Batboxes are for LV (Low voltage) and will transmit 32 EU per packet. Bear in mind many of your machines can only handle 32 EU per packet and unless given a transformer upgrade, will explode when they get too much voltage. MFSU's are high end storage units and transmit 512 EU per packet, or high voltage (HV).

I recommend learning more about IC2 before you move forward.

the best place is to look at the IC2 wiki which can be found on the IC2 page.

[TobiBlackmore]

That's nice, which makes sense since it's glass fibre.

I'm aware of the 3 main ones. I guess one of the sub ones is like, the energy you get from regular solar panels.

I'm also aware of the storage levels, I just don't know which devices are safe to use with which maximum voltage. I wasn't sure with the upgrades, since they already gave more advantages than being able to be used with more voltage.

I am looking a lot on the tekkit wikia, but sometimes it doesn't give me enough information. I still don't know everything, but that's because there's so much to read, and at first you have no clue where to start...

[Beer]

I typically steer people to mod specific wiki's or information pages. You'll get more there and will be less overwhelmed by everything. Take it a mod at a time. I started with buildcraft, moved to IC2, then redpower in that order. The skill of learning is from easy to difficult in that order. Once you hit the level of understanding that is redpower, you'll probably stop using buildcraft altogether and be able to utilize what IC2 has to offer in more efficient ways.

[TobiBlackmore]

I started with IC2, and went on with buildcraft. I'm gonna move on to redpower soon, after stuff gets less complicated in IC2. Buildcraft isn't that hard though, only getting fuel and figuring out where to use that is hard for me to figure out.

I mean, I started out having no idea what IC2 did, and ended up powering batteries in a generator and using those to power an extractor. Like I knew there was such thing as a macerator...