Ship Builds & Load Outs Collector Limpet Controller 3A vs 5A Weight

[L M P]

I noticed that one 3A collector limpet controller weighs 8 tons and one 5A weighs 32 tons.

I can use two 5A collector limpet controllers which weighs a total of 64 tons or three 3A collector limpet controllers which weighs a total of 24 tons. Both versions can control 6 collector limpets at a time.

Would three 3A collector limpet controllers have a weight advantage over two 5A collector limpet controllers?

 

[Jaggid Edje]

Yes, three 3A would have less Mass. They'd also use 3 module slots though, which is a big tradeoff if there are other things you want to fit. Not sure what the power usage is on the three vs. 1 either, that could also be a bigger difference that might matter.

Other than the mass and number of slots, an A collector limpet is an A collector limpet, regardless of size.
Great guide on the collector limpets here:

Guide / Tutorial - Collector Limpet Controller Guide

Question: What collector limpet should I equip? This guide aims to answer the question in detail biased on each controllers attributes and what situation they are best deployed for. Staring with a quick understanding of the Collector Limpet Controller. We only have 4 Sizes controllers...

forums.frontier.co.uk

 

[Ceekay]

You could apply a lightweight mod to a 5A controller that'll drop the mass significantly, however the 100 limpets you'll be carrying are going to have a greater impact on ship performance than the mass difference between 3 x 3A and 2 x 5A also the class 5 controller has a bit more range than the class 3.

 

[MK Regular]

The differences between 2x 5A and 3x 3A collectors is as follows:

• The 2x 5A have a bit less power draw (1.40 MW) compared to the 3x 3A (1.44 MW), but only just
• The 5As have better range than the 3As (1.56 km instead of 1.32 km), but this is rarely a factor
• The 5As have 167% more mass than the 3As (64 tons compared to 24 tons), but with G5 lightweight engineering this is a difference of only 6 tons (9.6 tons vs 3.6 tons)

The choice between 2x 5A and 3x 3A really comes down to the number and size of module slots you have available. If you have used up all of your larger slots with defensive modules or cargo go with the 3x 3A, but if you need to use more module slots for other things the 2x 5A would probably work better for you (especially with lightweight engineering).