Fuel scoop no use on a cobra?

Sts · Jan 24, 2015

Finally managed to buy a cobra after a lot of saving. It's a thirsty beast. Fitted a fuel scoop to try and save some money.

Scooping at my local sun. Managed to get the rate up to 20 and then just sat there. And sat there.. The fuel gauge hardly moved.

In fact it's so slow I estimated that I could dock, and do another cargo run and make a shed load more money than the fuel would cost in less time than it would take to scoop.

So, am I using it wrong? Or is a full scoop on a larger ship a waste of space?

S.

Feldspar · Jan 24, 2015

What size scoop are you using? Bigger and higher rater ones scoop faster.

Sts · Jan 24, 2015

An d2 I think.. It cost about 5k.

Goilveig · Jan 24, 2015

According to http://www.edshipyard.com/ , the time for a Cobra to completely refuel (empty -> full) could be anywhere from almost 15 minutes (with a 1E fuel scoop) to 45 seconds (with a 4A). You're probably fitting a scoop that's too small for the fuel tank size of a cobra.

Corwyn · Jan 24, 2015

I use a fuel scoop on my cobra, it has cut my fuel costs down considerably.

Kalpa · Jan 24, 2015

The scoop rate is, to my understanding, kilograms per second. This is not stated anywhere obvious to my knowledge. I've just heard it on forums.

Cobra has 16 ton fuel tank if I'm not mistaken. With your scoop rate of 20kg/s your 16t = 16000kg fuel tank will take 16000kg / 20(kg/s) = 800 seconds to fill from zero to 100%. So bit under 12 minutes. Scooping is an action that pretty much always requires minutes to accomplish, so yeah, patience is needed.

Carnagus · Jan 24, 2015

Use either a bigger class scoop or if you are a trader and don't wanna loose cargo space, use an A2.
I have class B4 (or A4 not sure) and at max it scoops 294/s.

Darkfyre99 · Jan 24, 2015

I used the 2C myself, which gets 54 kg/s. Don't want to give up a size 4 internal compartment on a fuel scoop, and couldn't justify the cost of the 2B at the time. Then I did trip without refuelling, and realized that I wasn't really saving any money, and installed a cargo compartment instead. Even at the measly 400 credits/ton profits I make while completing missions, I still make more money than it takes to fill up the tank.

Shayde · Jan 24, 2015

I've got a 2A on mine. The rate tops out at 75. But it seems to do ok at 50. I admit I'm just trying a few things out at the moment rather than serious exploring, so I'm scooping after 2 jumps at most. But if you're going to be a dedicated explorer then, as other people have said, sacrifice a larger cargo bay and get a bigger one. The A rated ones seem worth the expense

Engadine · Jan 24, 2015

Have one fitted, one of the best purchases ever made.

only cost for fuel I now have is filling the reserve tank.

Rubbernuke · Jan 24, 2015

Unless you want max room inside, a scoop is essential. There is nothing more annoying than seeing ships run out of fuel. I normally park up and let the temps stabilise around 90 and read a paper while the scoop does the work. The only thing to bear in mind is pirates as being close to the sun makes evading difficult.

Susimetsa · Jan 24, 2015

Engadine said:
only cost for fuel I now have is filling the reserve tank.

Which you don't have to do since it refills itself from the main tank. There's no need to buy fuel, ever, basically, once you get a decent fuel scoop.

Lister_of_Smeg · Jan 24, 2015

Sts said:
Finally managed to buy a cobra after a lot of saving. It's a thirsty beast. Fitted a fuel scoop to try and save some money.

Scooping at my local sun. Managed to get the rate up to 20 and then just sat there. And sat there.. The fuel gauge hardly moved.

In fact it's so slow I estimated that I could dock, and do another cargo run and make a shed load more money than the fuel would cost in less time than it would take to scoop.

So, am I using it wrong? Or is a full scoop on a larger ship a waste of space?

S.

Buy an expensive scoop

Also the fuel tank for the Cobra is a big step up in comparison to ships below it

Goilveig · Jan 24, 2015

Darkfyre99 said:
I used the 2C myself, which gets 54 kg/s. Don't want to give up a size 4 internal compartment on a fuel scoop, and couldn't justify the cost of the 2B at the time. Then I did trip without refuelling, and realized that I wasn't really saving any money, and installed a cargo compartment instead. Even at the measly 400 credits/ton profits I make while completing missions, I still make more money than it takes to fill up the tank.

On long trading hauls (like rares where you're making 150+ ly "legs"), it could save you the time it takes to supercruise to a station and refuel partway through the journey. Docking for fuel is the slowest part of a long haul; jumping from star to star is actually fairly quick.

neXib · Jan 24, 2015

Simply put, if you fit your cobra for hauling goods you will only have a size 2 compartment left. The best scoop you'll get for that is an A2, I used to have that, can't quite remember what the rate is, I think somewhere around 75/s max, but it's SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW.

I now have the B4 I think (2,6 million for the A4 was a bit much

) and it goes up to just under 300/s I believe, but you obviously need to put that in a size 4 compartment, which is fine now that I'm exploring.

Col Frost · Jan 24, 2015

I have an A1 rated fuel scoop on my Cobra. Get yourself next to a star at 90 degrees plus temp and scooping takes a matter of seconds, not minutes

Greystar · Jan 24, 2015

Hell after my first purchase of a Fuel scoop for my MKIII (Cobra), then my subsequent game restarts, I won't run a ship without them. The only time i ran without one is when i loaded my freeagle down with cargo space (even dropped the shields for that, it out cargo halls a Sidewinder anyday) and only did local(ish) runs (IE around LHS 3447) until I had enough to rebuy my cobra.

Kopachris · Jan 24, 2015

D4 scoop here, 196 kg/s. Refueling after a 25 LY jump takes about 45 seconds. I consider it absolutely essential since I'm over 1800 light years from the nearest inhabited system.

wizzpig · Jan 24, 2015

Sts said:
Finally managed to buy a cobra after a lot of saving. It's a thirsty beast. Fitted a fuel scoop to try and save some money.

Scooping at my local sun. Managed to get the rate up to 20 and then just sat there. And sat there.. The fuel gauge hardly moved.

In fact it's so slow I estimated that I could dock, and do another cargo run and make a shed load more money than the fuel would cost in less time than it would take to scoop.

So, am I using it wrong? Or is a full scoop on a larger ship a waste of space?

S.

Oh good Lord no! Sounds like you're not using it wrong, but your scoop is too small.
The Cobra works well with an A-4 or B-4 scoop.
You just need a better (higher rated) scoop is all

BigBadB · Jan 24, 2015

neXib said:
Simply put, if you fit your cobra for hauling goods you will only have a size 2 compartment left. The best scoop you'll get for that is an A2, I used to have that, can't quite remember what the rate is, I think somewhere around 75/s max, but it's SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW.

Yeah, A2 tops out at 75/s. I find it's quick enough for me, but then I tend to just 'park up' and have a cigarette while scooping.