??? Diamondback Explorer overheats, making it inferior to the Dolphin for deep space missions ???

CaptainPierre

C
Hey guys, so I've played about 160 hours, I'm no veteran but I've got a solid feel for the game, and I'm running into this issue that just doesn't seem to have an answer.

Everywhere I look online, people say the Diamondback Explorer is supposed to be the BEST ship in terms of heat management. I see people saying "I can practically sit in a star's corona to fuel scoop and never overheat." and that's nice and all, but not AT ALL the experience I'm having.

So I bought a DBX with the intention of making it my new deep-space ship. Previously, I'd used a Dolphin to do a passenger mission 17,000 lightyears toward the center of the galaxy. The Dolphin had been stripped down to its bare parts, with the smallest and lightest weight modules possible to give it a long jump range, and the smallest class A power plant I could fit on the thing. I haven't unlocked much for engineering, so I just used stock parts, but I was able to make the journey in about 5 days, averaging around 30LY per jump.

The reason this^^^ is relevant is because my method for long flights is to drop in on a star, fly as close to it as possible with my 4A fuel scoop, while using my discovery scanner, throttle back for just a couple of seconds to check the FSS, and (if there's nothing worth scanning) immediately throttle back up and activate the FSD. With the dolphin, my temperature never goes above 65% even while launching the FSD as close to a star as I can go. I tried doing this same method with my diamondback (similarly stripped down) for a 20KLY passenger job, and had to instantly abandon the mission because I found that activating my FSD next to a star causes my temperatures to IMMEDIATELY go critical. I wont survive a 40KLY round trip if my temps go critical at every single star. At first I had a 4A PP, then I read online somewhere that a smaller PP is better, so I exchanged for a 2A PP, and nothing has changed.

So the question is, why is everyone else's experience with this so much different than mine? What am I doing wrong? Or is everyone just wrong about the DBX being good with temps?
 

Red Anders

Red Anders
The DBX is basically a fridge with a seat, so for starters I'd suggest you recreate your exact build, including any engineering, on here https://www.coriolis.io/outfit/diamondback_explorer and then link it here because your build will almost certainly be the answer.

Also yes, as noted above the Dolphin is basically a freezer with a seat now so if that's your comparison ship, it might explain things 😁

My first guess would have been a D rated and overcharged powerplant but you've already addressed that. It shouldn't be running as hot as you describe, or at least my own exploration DBX never did; although it's been a while since I've flown it I'm not aware of any changes that would be making it boil up.
 
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CaptainPierre

C
DrewCarnegie said:
FDev 'fixed' the Dolphin's heat problem by making it run stupidly cold - so cold I can lose lock on a Dolphin while we're both still inside a station.

FDev and balance are not good bedfellows.
Click to expand...

sooo... the DBX is 'officially' the best for temperature management... but in reality the Dolphin is like flying in god-mode when it comes to temps? Stupid.
 

CaptainPierre

C
Red Anders said:
The DBX is basically a fridge with a seat, so for starters I'd suggest you recreate your exact build, including any engineering, on here https://www.coriolis.io/outfit/diamondback_explorer and then link it here because your build will almost certainly be the answer.

Also yes, as noted above the Dolphin is basically a freezer with a seat now so if that's your comparison ship, it might explain things 😁

My first guess would have been a D rated and overcharged powerplant but you've already addressed that. It shouldn't be running as hot as you describe, or at least my own exploration DBX never did; although it's been a while since I've flown it I'm not aware of any changes that would be making it boil up.
Click to expand...

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
www.coriolis.io www.coriolis.io

Like that? Sorry, I use the shipbuilder but I've never tried sending someone a link to a build before.
 

Lightspeed

Lightspeed
CaptainPierre said:
Hey guys, so I've played about 160 hours, I'm no veteran but I've got a solid feel for the game, and I'm running into this issue that just doesn't seem to have an answer.

Everywhere I look online, people say the Diamondback Explorer is supposed to be the BEST ship in terms of heat management. I see people saying "I can practically sit in a star's corona to fuel scoop and never overheat." and that's nice and all, but not AT ALL the experience I'm having.

So I bought a DBX with the intention of making it my new deep-space ship. Previously, I'd used a Dolphin to do a passenger mission 17,000 lightyears toward the center of the galaxy. The Dolphin had been stripped down to its bare parts, with the smallest and lightest weight modules possible to give it a long jump range, and the smallest class A power plant I could fit on the thing. I haven't unlocked much for engineering, so I just used stock parts, but I was able to make the journey in about 5 days, averaging around 30LY per jump.

The reason this^^^ is relevant is because my method for long flights is to drop in on a star, fly as close to it as possible with my 4A fuel scoop, while using my discovery scanner, throttle back for just a couple of seconds to check the FSS, and (if there's nothing worth scanning) immediately throttle back up and activate the FSD. With the dolphin, my temperature never goes above 65% even while launching the FSD as close to a star as I can go. I tried doing this same method with my diamondback (similarly stripped down) for a 20KLY passenger job, and had to instantly abandon the mission because I found that activating my FSD next to a star causes my temperatures to IMMEDIATELY go critical. I wont survive a 40KLY round trip if my temps go critical at every single star. At first I had a 4A PP, then I read online somewhere that a smaller PP is better, so I exchanged for a 2A PP, and nothing has changed.

So the question is, why is everyone else's experience with this so much different than mine? What am I doing wrong? Or is everyone just wrong about the DBX being good with temps?
Click to expand...
Turn your shields and power distributor off while in deep space. The ship runs cooler for scooping. Just remember to turn them on when you approach a planet (before impact !)
 

Ganogati

Ganogati
I know the dolphin runs so cold that it's practically broken, but does it really have anything else going for it? Honest question; I never use it. The DBX is actually a pretty decent little ship for quite a few things, but I can't ever think of a use besides jumping around for the Dolphin, which is why I never really had a problem with them turning it into an ice box.
 

Northpin

Northpin
CaptainPierre said:
So the question is, why is everyone else's experience with this so much different than mine? What am I doing wrong? Or is everyone just wrong about the DBX being good with temps?
Click to expand...

people are using engineered PowerPlants for thermal efficiency
Also you need to be aware that Thermals are depending on PowerPlant efficiency and on power consumption. Less power you use, less heat you generate

in your build you can swap the 2A PD to a 3D PD, it's almost as good - but weights less and consume less
And in supercruise you dont actually need it so you can actually set it to 4-2-0 and then turn it off - you will still get 4 pips in shields and 2 pip in engines
 

Monkey Pants

Monkey Pants
This may be more about the timing of your FSD charge than your build:
When you engage the FSD is the star icon on your radar still red? If so you will overheat (unless your ship is a fridge with a seat :) )

[Edit 1 - remember you have been stationary building up heat while you scan the FSS]

[Edit 2 - with the DBX you will probably be really close to the star to get the feeble Class 4 fuel scoop to do anything useful]

MP
 
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Some1else

Some1else
Ganogati said:
I know the dolphin runs so cold that it's practically broken, but does it really have anything else going for it? Honest question; I never use it. The DBX is actually a pretty decent little ship for quite a few things, but I can't ever think of a use besides jumping around for the Dolphin, which is why I never really had a problem with them turning it into an ice box.
Click to expand...
Yes, the dolphin is automatically a better planetary explorer simply because you can have a GFSB and still carry 2 AFMU, repair limpets and a cargo rack.
 

CaptainPierre

C
Northpin said:
in your build you can swap the 2A PD to a 3D PD, it's almost as good - but weights less and consume less
Click to expand...

From my understanding, this is bad advice. You want an 'A' for PP regardless of size if you want to be as heat efficient as possible. For every unit of power produced by modules, an 'A' PP produces 0.4 units of heat, so if I'm trying to avoid overheating from running FSD, I want an 'A' PP. Using a D will just make me overheat faster.
 

CaptainPierre

C
Lightspeed said:
Turn your shields and power distributor off while in deep space. The ship runs cooler for scooping. Just remember to turn them on when you approach a planet (before impact !)
Click to expand...
I turned off a bunch of stuff during my last test, 0 difference. Still hits like 120% temperature during FSD launch.
 

CaptainPierre

C
Frillop Freyraum said:
Even with a G5 overloaded PP, my DBX never had heat problems on my trip to Beagle Point. Just like Lightspeed suggested: Switch off shields and PD and basically everything you don't need during an FSD trip. Like sensors for instance, but don't forget to switch them on again before landing on a planet.
Click to expand...

I use passenger missions as a way to explore, so I can't turn off my scanner. The point is to be able to drop in, use what I need to use, then jump to the next system as quickly as possible. Does turning off the distributor make a big difference? I haven't tried that, I just installed the smallest one I could find instead.
 

Morbad

Morbad
CaptainPierre said:
sooo... the DBX is 'officially' the best for temperature management... but in reality the Dolphin is like flying in god-mode when it comes to temps? Stupid.
Click to expand...

The DBX is tied for highest thermal capacity in the game, but the Dolphin may very well now have the highest dissipation rate.

Separating the two parameters in actual testing is tedious, and I am way too lazy to bother trying to pin down hard figures for the Dolphin.

Frillop Freyraum said:
That was my believe as well. What is true now?
Click to expand...

It's still true.

CaptainPierre said:
I turned off a bunch of stuff during my last test, 0 difference. Still hits like 120% temperature during FSD launch.
Click to expand...

Too close to the star, or it's an exceptionally hot star.
 

Northpin

Northpin
CaptainPierre said:
From my understanding, this is bad advice. You want an 'A' for PP regardless of size if you want to be as heat efficient as possible. For every unit of power produced by modules, an 'A' PP produces 0.4 units of heat, so if I'm trying to avoid overheating from running FSD, I want an 'A' PP. Using a D will just make me overheat faster.
Click to expand...

I said to replace the PD
you talk about PP efficiency

🤷‍♂️
 

CaptainPierre

C
Northpin said:
you should not charge the fsd while in the scooping range - and certainly not in the max scooping range.
start the fsd as soon as your fuel scoop disengages
Click to expand...

I guess this is my answer then, the Dolphin is just a friggen superhero. I can charge FSD in the Dolphin while literally AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE to the star (without dropping out) and it never goes above 65%.

If this isn't possible with the DBX through engineering or any similar such thing, then I'm selling my DBX. I'm not interested in having the risk of temperature damage while doing cartography in deep space. Even if I can change my method, it'll slow down an already slow process while making a tedious journey even more tedious.
 
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