Fuel scoops - reality check required.

[Stealthie]

Just wondering what folks usually do for fuel scoops.

The conventional wisdom was always "one size smaller than your FSD is fine" but, I gotta say, I think that falls down for a variety of reasons, especially now engineering is a thing.
If you've got a ship that's heavy on power and you fit a "one size smaller than your FSD" fuel scoop, you're going to get toasted when you try to scoop.
Also, subjectively, I usually find scooping with a "one size smaller than your FSD" fuel scoop excruciatingly tedious.

Just built myself a Krait Phantom as a bit of a "heavy scout ship" and I automatically stuck a 6A scoop on it, which means I can only fit a 32t cargo rack.
I could swap those around and double my cargo capacity but I just don't fancy taking the extra time scooping fuel.

Which is why I was wondering what other people do.

Am I being unreasonable to "need" to scoop so quickly?
Do other people accept that they might have to take 2 or 3 swipes at a star to refuel?
Do most people just fit whatever size scoop they can squeeze into a build or is it important?
Etc.

 

[Rubbernuke]

Depends. If I have a large ship that needs to be places quickly I fit a large scoop to minimize time scooping as I dash. Otherwise I fit a small scoop for insurance.

 

[Riverside]

On a ship that I want to permanently fit a scoop to I have a simple rule, it should be able to refill from the last jump at full throttle. I did this before the 3.3 exploration changes and the rule is even more important to me since because I don't enter the FSS Scanner Screen while the ship is in danger and the FSS Scanner Screen doesn't automatically return you to the cockpit as other features (galmap, sysmap) do.

In my exploration Conda I can fill two jumps worth of fuel like this with a class7 scoop, in my Vettes I only need a class 6 but one has a class 7 just because I have enough cargo space for the role is was designed for.

I don't like to have to slow down or stop to refuel.

 

[Siobhan]

I always use the biggest scoop I can fit/afford on anything that isn't a pure combat ship.

 

[Vedmo]

My exploration Phantom has a 6, but I don't care about cargo in it. Not saying I've been right on this, but I've always considered fuel tank size rather than FSD size when picking one. I can now see though how FSD size would make more sense so far as how much you need to scoop per max jump to top it off. I also like to add a little more fuel tank to my explorers though, so I've been thinking more on the feasibility of filling up a tapped tank with minimal fuss.

I know I've had some ships in the past with undersized scoops just to have the ability to travel around bubble without having to stop at stations, and those have mostly been in really low jump range ships. If for whatever build reasons I just couldn't go larger on the scoop in a scenario like that, I'd look at a cooler PP.

 

[Cmdr Esteban]

The Krait Phantom is my only ship and I have a size 6 scoop installed.

I'm not fussed about cargo space as I don't trade or run delivery missions anymore. So my total cargo space is 18 tonnes utilising one class 4 and one class 1 corrosion-resistant cargo rack, for salvage purposes. Otherwise I'm engaged in combat, planetary driving and short exploration jaunts. My ship is outfitted for those tasks.

I guess the answer depends on what you use your ship for, but yes, for me the biggest fuel scoop is the best since fuel scooping can hardly be considered a fun activity.

 

[Rat Catcher]

I fit the biggest practical scoop I can, but try to get at least the same size or bigger than the FSD - thankfully the DBX runs so cool that its undersize scoop isn't going to heat the ship up too much on a long refill.

 

[Hanerib]

It depends on the operating range. Exploration and tourist ships should have the largest A rated fuel scoop available. Combat ships should have none, even though a 4A fuel scoop on a FDL makes a comfortable taxi. Travelling less than 1000 lightyears from the bubble makes undersized fuel scoops sufficient, for example when scouting for alien sites, hauling something, long range missions, jumping about doing nothing in particular. I made a mining DBX lately, 3A fuel scoop, jumped 700 lightyears to see what's in there and blasted a few asteroids, well enough for that purpose. Still like to keep my corrosion resistant cargo racks though they are of no use anymore.

 

[Bigmaec]

With the exception of combat ships I usually fit the biggest scoop class possible with the caveat that I only fit A-rated scoops if the scoop is equal or less then the FSD class (Beluga for example). Otherwise I take a B rated scoop because I must be somehow related to Scrooge McDuck.

 

[viper666]

Also depends on how your power plant is engineered. Over-charged will up your base heat and make scooping harder with a small scoop.

 

[Morbad]

I always use the biggest scoop I can fit/afford on anything that isn't a pure combat ship.

Or trade ship/short range mission runner, for me.

If I'm trying to cover long distances, my goal is to be able to initiate jumping to the next system the moment the FSD comes off cool down, while having a a full tank of fuel, and an undamaged ship when the jump takes place.

 

[Chris Simon]

Just wondering what folks usually do for fuel scoops.

The conventional wisdom was always "one size smaller than your FSD is fine" but, I gotta say, I think that falls down for a variety of reasons, especially now engineering is a thing.
If you've got a ship that's heavy on power and you fit a "one size smaller than your FSD" fuel scoop, you're going to get toasted when you try to scoop.
Also, subjectively, I usually find scooping with a "one size smaller than your FSD" fuel scoop excruciatingly tedious.

Just built myself a Krait Phantom as a bit of a "heavy scout ship" and I automatically stuck a 6A scoop on it, which means I can only fit a 32t cargo rack.
I could swap those around and double my cargo capacity but I just don't fancy taking the extra time scooping fuel.

Which is why I was wondering what other people do.

Am I being unreasonable to "need" to scoop so quickly?
Do other people accept that they might have to take 2 or 3 swipes at a star to refuel?
Do most people just fit whatever size scoop they can squeeze into a build or is it important?
Etc.

I don't take FSD into account at all.
The only deciding factor is the scooping time to full. That means that the size of my fuel scoop is at least the same or one class higher than my fuel tank.

 

[Morbad]

The only deciding factor is the scooping time to full.

That's probably where the FSD rule of thumb comes from, as FSD determines how much fuel can be used per jump.

 

[Flimley]

If possible I scoop To The Max !!!

Flimley

 

[Chris Simon]

That's probably where the FSD rule of thumb comes from, as FSD determines how much fuel can be used per jump.

If you are scooping after every jump while honk-jumping, yes.
But I usually scoop when I run out of fuel as I normally don't filter my routes by scoopability.

 

[Riverside]

If you are scooping after every jump while honk-jumping, yes.
But I usually scoop when I run out of fuel as I normally don't filter my routes by scoopability.

The way the 20,000ly route planner was implemented suggests your approach is the norm (or that FDev thinks it is at least). I top off the tanks at every opportunity.

 

[Chris Simon]

The way the 20,000ly route planner was implemented suggests your approach is the norm (or that FDev thinks it is at least). I top off the tanks at every opportunity.

Yeah, I get that. It's probably more safe, too.
But my approach seems more convenient (to me, anyway). I'm packing a fuel scoop that can refill the whole tank in one orbit around the star and as I am always prefering ships with more jumps per tank rather than raw jump range, it's easier that way.
But yeah, if you're only topping your tank with the fuel amount you've just used, you probably can get away with much smaller scoop.

 

[Autoculto]

It all depends on what I to use the ship for. If it's for exploration I normally fit the biggest available purely for ease and speed. Most of my other ships have smaller scoops or some not at all. I've found that the new extra class one module slots are very handy for a 1A scoop. It's a pretty useless slot size generally but any scoop is better than no scoop. I even have a class one scoop fitted to my cargo cutter, and you'd be surprised how even a quick scoop whilst flying around a star to your next jump point can extend your range by one jump. But really the class one is more of an insurance policy

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

My exploration or taxi ships usually get treated to the biggest fuel scoop, but often have very low power requirements, so can also scoop without getting too toasty.
My general purpose ships usually get a smaller scoop, simply because the shield takes the largest slot.
This often doesn't matter because my ships only scoop once, maybe twice per trip anyway.
For a change, I tried going scoopless and actually docked for fuel instead, for a while, which made travel quite a bit longer, but a bit more involved, than just plot and go. But I stopped when I realised my Challenger and FDL were docking every two jumps. Lol

 

[CMDR Cknarf]

On ships with larger tanks, I don’t usually equip a scoop for in-the-bubble activities. Anaconda, orca, T9, Python etc. Chances are, I’ll be at my destination before I need fuel.

Dedicated combat ships don’t even get scoops, they get shipped everywhere that’s out of their fuel range.

Dedicated bubble transports or exploration ships, Asp/DBX/Conda/etc get the biggest scoop possible for convenience. Just a quick skim as I’m lining up for the next jump.

PVE spec multipurpose ships get smaller scoops, in the rare event I need to take them outside their normal range. Size 5 or 6 scoop on a Corvette, for example. I never use it, but if I need it, it’s there.