Fuel Scooping help?

[S.H.A.D.O]

Hi,

I'm off exploring and I'm having a little trouble scooping fuel, it does work but:-

a: it refuels very slowly indeed
b: I take damage

I used to scoop fuel just fine in the old days but I'm unsure if I'm doing it right now. even when I do scoop okay, I have to come back time and time again to fully fill my tank and most of the time I either drop out of SC (too close) or I take damage which ends up costing more than fuel does

any tips for someone new to scooping?

(btw I'm in a Cobra MkIII)

 

[Kalearne]

Approach the star slowly, as soon as your scoop kicks in stop. Keep pointed towards the star. Wait for the heat to stabilise and nudge forward again. Rinse and repeat until your find the sweet spot for your grade of scoop. Then you can just park at the sweet spot and you should fill with no damage. You do not need to surf the corona, you can just graze

 

[warlock]

And keep in supercruise

 

[Skip Intro]

Drop next to star at slowest speed possible by dropping your throttle to zero when you hear the Friendship Drive countdown.
You should now drive slowly toward the star until you get to your preferred scoop rate or heat level gets to 100% or more if you're feeling dangerous.
Drop throttle to zero.
Tank should fill up quickly and you don't toast yourself.
Remember to get out of the heat zone and wait for the %age to drop to 70ish before using FSD to jump out of system.

I used to fly about the star when scooping, but more often than not I'd mess something up.

 

[AnnuverScotinExile]

I think the ship is irrelevant.

Get the biggest scoop you can afford, since they fill up much quicker. Then you spend less time in the hot zone.

The speed you are flying has no impact on the scoop rate. So always scoop at the minimum speed, then you are very unlikely to drop out of SC.

You only start to take heat damage at around 150% (I think it varies by ship - I have seen some quote 130% for pythons). So you can stay in the heat for a while. Smoke rising from your HUD seems to just be there for show. To scoop, line up with the very edge of the star. If you have orbit lines on, there is a line to help you. ACcelerate a bit until you are getting a decent flow into the scoop, then drop back to minimum speed. Get out of there when the heat starts to get too high - 120-125% or so should give you time to get out of the heat and cool down without hitting 150%. If you have a piddling little scoop, be prepared to go around a few times. However, I see no point in having a piddling scoop - at that slow fill rate and risk of heat damage, the time it takes makes it uneconomic. So get a biggun, or don't bother.

 

[Kalearne]

Oh and heat threshold for damage is 150% so don't be afraid of a little bit of smoke in the cabin. Sparks are a very bad sign though

Edit: ninja'd

 

[halo jones 101]

Oh and heat threshold for damage is 150% so don't be afraid of a little bit of smoke in the cabin. Sparks are a very bad sign though

Edit: ninja'd

Sparks bad but pretty...

 

[Gizardpuke]

Hi,

I'm off exploring and I'm having a little trouble scooping fuel, it does work but:-

a: it refuels very slowly indeed
b: I take damage

I used to scoop fuel just fine in the old days but I'm unsure if I'm doing it right now. even when I do scoop okay, I have to come back time and time again to fully fill my tank and most of the time I either drop out of SC (too close) or I take damage which ends up costing more than fuel does

any tips for someone new to scooping?

(btw I'm in a Cobra MkIII)

just sounds like you need a better fuel scoop.
i had 1 that gave me something like 343% collection (if you call it that). the higher the rating and class, the better it is.
cannot remember if it was an A4 or a B5, but it was pretty darn good.

 

[Arkku]

The way I do it is dodge “under” the star immediately after exiting supercruise and then fly around the star at a roughly fixed distance. The distance is such that you get maximum fuel intake without taking damage (which does not occur immediately at 100%, so you can go over up to 120% or so as long as you bring it back before it goes far above). The easy way to learn the correct distance is to fly closer and closer to the star until heat goes to 100%, then back off so that it no longer rises. Now check your fuel intake and as long as you have the same scoop you can just aim for this value.

Now, as for the rationale for flying around the star like this, it's 1) more fun, and 2) allows you to evade interdictions without flying into the star. With the bigger scoops it's also so fast to fill up that you can do this while aligning your next destination and then just break off from the star loop once you are facing the right way. With an undersized scoop you could also just park at the optimum distance and then turn to face away from the star; this allows you to scoop fairly safely (e.g., while in the galaxy map), as any interdictor would have to be coming from the direction of the star, and at least no NPC is able to do it.

 

[Kalearne]

The way I do it is dodge “under” the star immediately after exiting supercruise and then fly around the star at a roughly fixed distance. The distance is such that you get maximum fuel intake without taking damage (which does not occur immediately at 100%, so you can go over up to 120% or so as long as you bring it back before it goes far above). The easy way to learn the correct distance is to fly closer and closer to the star until heat goes to 100%, then back off so that it no longer rises. Now check your fuel intake and as long as you have the same scoop you can just aim for this value.

Now, as for the rationale for flying around the star like this, it's 1) more fun, and 2) allows you to evade interdictions without flying into the star. With the bigger scoops it's also so fast to fill up that you can do this while aligning your next destination and then just break off from the star loop once you are facing the right way. With an undersized scoop you could also just park at the optimum distance and then turn to face away from the star; this allows you to scoop fairly safely (e.g., while in the galaxy map), as any interdictor would have to be coming from the direction of the star, and at least no NPC is able to do it.

Unfortunately I know firsthand that this doesn't stop interdictions and unless your DAMN quick with the throttle you can end up taking some fairly unreasonable damage from the star.

If you do try surfing the corona and this happens to you remember to unlock your target, especially if it's another system. You will take a shedload more damage trying to jump systems from inside the corona..

I'm having flashbacks now

 

[S.H.A.D.O]

Thanks everyone.

 

[ollobrains]

get a C B or A grade as soon as u can this makes a big difference. Youtube can provide visuals on how to successfully fuel scoop

 

[Arkku]

Unfortunately I know firsthand that this doesn't stop interdictions and unless your DAMN quick with the throttle you can end up taking some fairly unreasonable damage from the star.

Hmm, I have only been interdicted a few times while fuel scooping this way, and never taken any damage when I submit, nor ever overheated when returning to supercruise… Meanwhile I see NPC low energy FSD wakes appearing near the star, presumably due to them flying too close to it when trying to interdict me.

If you do try surfing the corona and this happens to you remember to unlock your target, especially if it's another system. You will take a shedload more damage trying to jump systems from inside the corona..

I find it better to use two separate button binds; one for supercruise and one for inter-system jump. This way I can always get back to supercruise from an interdiction without having to unlock the target, and immediately jump to the remote target from supercruise (if I want to run from the interdictor).

 

[IAM GROOT]

Thanks everyone.

Same method as others have said, beware different stars will cook you quicker than others, white dwarves and red ones are hot to trot, I tried refuelling at an orange one that didn't trigger the fuel scoop at all when I needed it most, had just enough fuel to make 2 more jumps, on the 3rd jump found the right sun and started refuelling as I had fumes left, was lucky I had 2 systems within 2 Ly. Would have lost 100s of thousands worth of exploration data and over 150000 unclaimed bounties I took with me. Fly safe out here Cmndr, there are NPCs out as far as 300 ly but after that it's just you

 

[Maxulic]

Get the biggest scoop you can afford, since they fill up much quicker. Then you spend less time in the hot zone.

And with a good fuel scoop also upgrade your power plant. That will increase your heat efficiency, meaning that you will be able to get even closer before the heat is too much... meaning that you can reach the max scoop rate without burning and just stand there till are you refilled.

 

[Surly_Badger]

Remember to get out of the heat zone and wait for the %age to drop to 70ish before using FSD to jump out of system.

Let me re-quote that for emphasis. Because I generally walk about the station smelling like burned plastic because I tend to get a bit aggro when it comes to scooping and then I hit the Frame-Shift button and my cockpit is full of smoke and sparks and the smell of repair bill.

Also: keep an eye on your surroundings and look out for NPCs lining up to interdict you. If you're interdicted while you're scooping be careful not to hit the FSD until you've blasted a straight vector to cooler climate.

 

[IAM GROOT]

Let me re-quote that for emphasis. Because I generally walk about the station smelling like burned plastic because I tend to get a bit aggro when it comes to scooping and then I hit the Frame-Shift button and my cockpit is full of smoke and sparks and the smell of repair bill

Lmao, thank god it's not just me burnt twigs everywhere

 

[RipperJack]

cobra mk3?

all evening i goto a new system i can scoop from, set myself so im getting about 50 fuel a second...and then watch youtube/netflix, (my heat levels stop rising (they stay at their current, bloew 150% iirc = no dmg but i barely break 100, let alone 130 or so) and i tune out until its full before carrying on

its different on larger ships but cobra, viper and below, this has worked fine.

 

[Xandalis]

Here's a trick I use when refueling: I power down everything but thrusters, life support, FSD, sensors, and of course the fuel scoop (weapons and other fittings can be left on, but you'll still start to cook). With those offline, heat generation goes way down. I can sit at the max-intake level and hold/slowly decrease heat down to 98% that way. I also always do the shields last, that way if I get interdicted I can slap them back on while still in SC; also, once at your desired intake level, make sure to aim parallel to the star surface in case you need to pull away quickly. That way, should I either get pulled out of SC or chose to submit&fight, my shields are still up when dropping out of SC. Any other systems you'd need to bring back up should be easy enough to do before the fur starts flying.

 

[madmann135]

I am no expert but there are two systems to fast fuel scooping, the fuel scoop and a power plant.
The fuel scoop will intake fuel from the star while the power plant will shed the heat the ship accumulates from the star. Both class and rating will affect how fast you fuel scoop.

Refueling from a star is a bit tricky but the best method is to move slowly. With the star in your sights your fly into it slowly. The heat in your ship will immediately rise (I say the max you should reach is 125 because at around 150, on most ships, is where you start taking damage) I say you should slowly coast into the star and take note. Find out what speed of fuel consumption you start overheating at and use that as an estimation for your red zone. Different stars have different temp outputs so you can easily find a star that will refuel you at a cooler temp than others.

This is an observation and I can not ascertain if it is true or not but the heat meter indicates the maximum heat the ship can expel (using stock power plant). Meaning if you are in an area that you receive heat at 101%, the heat meter will constantly climb until you exit that area.