Re: Power conduits and stability

[Grapplehoeker]

I'm not able to start a discussion on the Rimworld wiki regarding this, so if you indulge me, I'll ask here.
Firstly, there appears to be two different articles for Power Conduit and there are inconsistencies between them:
http://rimworldwiki.com/wiki/Power_conduit
http://rimworldwiki.com/wiki/Power#Power_conduit
Which of these is valid?
Also, regarding the random factor determining a yellow Zzzt event (not a water induced short circuit). Is it indeed a randomly generated event? Are there any mitigating circumstances that can be avoided or prevented to limit the frequency of the event?
I am aware of the theory about having more than 50% capacity batteries on a circuit. Can this please be confirmed?
Does the health of the power conduit play a role in the chance of an event? If so, then wouldn't maintaining the health of power conduits through a repair schedule reduce the chance?

[Limdood]

for Zzzzt:

If ANY battery on a given circuit is over 50% charge, Zzzt CAN fire, which will drain ALL batteries on that circuit and cause an explosion commensurate with their total charge.

Zzzt can only fire on a CONDUIT.  not switches, not batteries, not power using items.

To NEGATE Zzzt, use no conduit (valid on very small bases...batteries next to power generation items, all power-using items near enough to batteries or power generators).

To mitigate, place sets of batteries adjacent to each other, with a switch directly adjacent to the batteries, with conduit ONLY touching the switch, not the batteries.  Those batteries can be charged to full and then the switch turned off....Though the batteries are full, they aren't attached to any conduit and can't explode....once the switch is flicked on, a Zzzzt is possible, but the Zzzt will be smaller (it will only drain the batteries currently connected) and you can simply turn on a different set of batteries to minimize the no power downtime.

To be honest, i've gotten sick enough of the solar flare and Zzzt events that i've started just disabling those in my scenarios....i still get eclipses, breakdowns, and have to deal with power generation, but random explosions or the inexplicably common dead power times no longer happen.

[Zhentar]

The oft-repeated 50% threshold is incorrect. The threshold is 50 Wd, which is only a 5% charge.

Placing walls on top of conduit does not inherently reduce the damage done. A conduit short circuiting under a single tile wide wall will spray fire on both sides of the wall, making it harder to deal with; wall next to a conduit will reduce the explosion area by just as much if not more without hindering firefighting (conduit under two tile wide walls on the other hand is excellent for reducing the explosion area).

[Grapplehoeker]

The oft-repeated 50% threshold is incorrect. The threshold is 50 Wd, which is only a 5% charge.

Thank you for that. Could you please validate that statement with the source of your information?

As for all of the advice from the poster above and yourself regarding how to deal with the consequences of an event.  They are a minor annoyance if and when they occur and I do take appropriate fire prevention precautions to limit any fire damage. Therefore, thank you to boh of you, but I am thoroughly unconcerned about it.

I'll repeat my main questions again...
Is it indeed a randomly generated event?
Does the health of the power conduit play a role in the chance of an event?

[Jimyoda]

Sorry for the confusion, I'll fix this on the wiki.

I find Zhentar's info is always solid as he gets it directly from the code.

[SurvivoroftheNoobs]

The ZZzzt event is just a way to piss people off really. Power doesn't just explode and take everything around it with it. Its for this reason that I always have the circuit breaker mod which counters the ZZzzt bullshit. Sometimes you need conduits running around but when you have 100000+ power stored its a catastrophe waiting to happen.

[Zhentar]

The Zzzzt event probability is random; either you meet the minimum criteria and it can trigger or you don't and it can't. (There is a bug where having batteries not connected to any conduit can cause the event to silently fail, so from the player's perspective it will trigger less frequently when you have charged, disconnected batteries)