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Newcomer / Intro How to scoop fuel safely
- Thread starter Bergerac
- Start date
It depends on your ship. the star type and the fuel scoop. To fond out don't try to get too close to the star. Get so that you are tangential to the star and the fuel scoop just starts. Throttle down to as slow as possible. Increase speed gently until the temp starts to rise and throttle hack a little. Try to keep the temp below 70%. If it rises move away from the star.
You don't actually have to fly around the star. By throttling up until the fuel scoop kicks in, then reducing throttle to zero you will continue to scoop. You are not actually at zero speed, the minimum speed in supercruise is 30m/s.
By moving faster / going closer to the star, you increase the fuel scoop rate but at the cost of increased temperatures.
By moving faster / going closer to the star, you increase the fuel scoop rate but at the cost of increased temperatures.
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You can scoop at full throttle by flying around a star, but try to keep the heat to 65-70% maximum. Some ships can tolerate more heat than others.
The more expensive scoops allow you to take on more fuel without exposing your ship to too much heat.
The more expensive scoops allow you to take on more fuel without exposing your ship to too much heat.
As stated above, for me personally, i usually throttle to zero, move in gradually closer to the star, at 65% temp stop, i find at 65-66% the temp stays stable and doesn't increase, so i can just sit and fill up. (most ships i find are around this mark) anything higher and the temp steadily increases until you have to move to prevent heat damage.
As above. Hit the x key when you land in in front of the star, move forward and stop when you are at 60% heat.
If you are feeling reckless just fly around the sun close to the wire frame gravity marker.
The only exception to the above is the Ferdelance which struggles badly to refuel because it heats up so fast.
If you are feeling reckless just fly around the sun close to the wire frame gravity marker.
The only exception to the above is the Ferdelance which struggles badly to refuel because it heats up so fast.
been a noob to fuel scooping i watched a couple of youtube vids for different ideas, i now have a personal method of scooping which i find quite effective i have linked my video of me scooping fuel and my temp in this video goes upto 74 degrees however since then i have perfected my method and stay in the 54-60 degree area 
i generally hit the d-scan while doing this too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzJElx5QqHM
i generally hit the d-scan while doing this toohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzJElx5QqHM
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When I help new players to get started, one of the things I explain is safe fuel scooping (well, my way works for me). The starting point is to imagine skimming stones across a pond. That helps to start the visualisation. I also explain that, from the 18 or so star types, only 7 can be scooped safely. The mnemonic "KGB FOAM" covers all the safe stars. If you don't have a Discovery Scanner, Orange hued stars usually are safe.
In order to make it easy to see what distance you are from the star, I align the ship so that the star is 'above' me. Some cockpits have a good field of view, others less so, but you normally can look up well.
When you are at a safe star (and the throttle is a neutral position), aim outside the edge of the star, and then slowly accelerate. After a few seconds the 'impact ring' will appear (flying within this ring will cause you to crash out of Super Cruise, taking damage). Aim about the same distance from the outside of this ring as the edge of the star is from the inside of the ring. After a few more seconds the fuel scoop will start (it is automatic). Now throttle back to minimum speed (30KM/S), and you will continue to take on fuel, but the temperature will only rise slowly. Once the fuel scooping is complete you can pull away from the star, and, when the fuel scoop disengages, it will probably be safe to jump to the next star (this depends on what levels of equipment you have fitted), but if you are not sure, wait until the temperature drops below 50%.
In order to make it easy to see what distance you are from the star, I align the ship so that the star is 'above' me. Some cockpits have a good field of view, others less so, but you normally can look up well.
When you are at a safe star (and the throttle is a neutral position), aim outside the edge of the star, and then slowly accelerate. After a few seconds the 'impact ring' will appear (flying within this ring will cause you to crash out of Super Cruise, taking damage). Aim about the same distance from the outside of this ring as the edge of the star is from the inside of the ring. After a few more seconds the fuel scoop will start (it is automatic). Now throttle back to minimum speed (30KM/S), and you will continue to take on fuel, but the temperature will only rise slowly. Once the fuel scooping is complete you can pull away from the star, and, when the fuel scoop disengages, it will probably be safe to jump to the next star (this depends on what levels of equipment you have fitted), but if you are not sure, wait until the temperature drops below 50%.
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I throttle right back, line up with the orange glow through the windscreen. You'll find that there's a charge rate above which the temperature will increase and below which it will decrease. It's probably different for different fuel scoops. Mine is 40.
What you should do, with the throttle on a minimimal setting is watch the charge rate and temperature to find that critical charge rate. Once you know what it is, you can keep the charge rate just below it. If you leave the pitch control neutral, the distance from the star will start to increase for a bit, then decrease, so the charge rate will go up then down. After it's started to go down, if you hold a tiny bit of down, it will stay constant, and a bit more down will make it increase. The idea is to nudge it down just enough to keep the charge rate close to the critical value, but not over it.
What you should do, with the throttle on a minimimal setting is watch the charge rate and temperature to find that critical charge rate. Once you know what it is, you can keep the charge rate just below it. If you leave the pitch control neutral, the distance from the star will start to increase for a bit, then decrease, so the charge rate will go up then down. After it's started to go down, if you hold a tiny bit of down, it will stay constant, and a bit more down will make it increase. The idea is to nudge it down just enough to keep the charge rate close to the critical value, but not over it.
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I use the "sundive" method outlined above by others. Fly directly into the star on entering the system at about 2 "bars" of speed. As soon as the heat is about 57/58 throttle back to zero. By the time you have come to stop (ie 30 km/sec) your heat will be sustainable in the low to mid 60s and your fuel intake will be at around 50-70% of maximum, depending on timing etc.
TIP - If it's a busy system and you're worried about interdiction, turn around 180 degrees and head away from the star at dead slow speed. Your fuel intake will continue, although it will drop a bit, but crucially it is now very difficult for an NPC or player to get on your tail and interdict.
TIP - If it's a busy system and you're worried about interdiction, turn around 180 degrees and head away from the star at dead slow speed. Your fuel intake will continue, although it will drop a bit, but crucially it is now very difficult for an NPC or player to get on your tail and interdict.
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The easy way to do it is to listen for the fuel scoop kicking in, and the "whistling sound", like wind over your ship, if your scoop is turned off you can hear this quite clearly and it means you are in range to scoop.
Simply fly close to the star, and throttle off once you reach your desired scoop rate. Of course you can fly closer or faster around the sun to increase scoop rate unto your max per module.
Remember the larger size of the module, the bigger the basic scoop rate is even for the lower class ones.
Additionally there is a "safe scoop number", this is basically half the max scoop rate of your module... i think, its always worked for me.
Thus a 200KG per sec safe limit would be 100, at this rate it will take longer but you "should not" burn up.
The size of your ship, and the type can make scooping dangerous, simply ask and FAS pilot how fast their ship heats up
, so be careful!A 1A fuel scoop is 42KG per sec, with a cost of 82k where a 2D is 43KG per sec and only costs 4.4k. So go for the larger one if you can afford it.
Most "large" combat ships carry a 4A scoop and maybe an extra tank for long distance traveling as this greatly reduced the time traveling(less scooping) so that is something else to think about.
Fly safe and dont burn!
PS. Any fuel scoop is better than none, just remember that when you run out of fuel... "i wish i`d bought that 1E scoop now..."
If you need a fuel scoop, do not save credits when buying one. Buy the highest rating scoop you can afford in the higher class free slot available so you get higher refuel rates at higher distances from the stars thus less heating. Sorry Ranualf but I wouldn't bother with E class scoop unless loving smoking consoles.
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Get a fuel scoop, dive into star keep an eye on your heat once above 65ish level off, and use the corona to make sure you are flying in an orbit around the star, different ships will handle different depths and heat, also depending on power plant, so experiment near a station that could repair a few semi failed attempts
If you need a fuel scoop, do not save credits when buying one. Buy the highest rating scoop you can afford in the higher class free slot available so you get higher refuel rates at higher distances from the stars thus less heating. Sorry Ranualf but I wouldn't bother with E class scoop unless loving smoking consoles.
My point was that any fuel scoop is better than NONE...as if you run out of fuel, you will wish that you had bought that crappy 1E scoop...
As you know, there are some pretty crap stations out there who sell 1E scoops... if you happen to be at one and "sell stuff for combat" only to discover they sell a 1E scoop... LOL at my mates who have done this. I just live with it on the ship and turn it off for combat.
But yes, go for the best you can afford/ fit in to the ship, up to a 4A, anything more is luxury and time saving(also very expensive) unless you have large fuel tanks for making 500ly+ jump distances on one tank of juice.
Fly safe and fill her up.
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I'll add +1 for the stationary method - when I did a bit of exploring, I set throttle to zero while in hyperspace, then as soon as you have control, select and point yourself at the centre of the star (or scan it if it's unknown) and then slowly move towards it until temp reaches 60-64%. Then throttle to zero again and you should have a fuel scoop rate of about 40-50/s. It's safer if you don't have the knack of setting the right trajectory.
While the fuel is scooping, you can bring up your next destination and put four pips on eng to get ready to scarper quick if you get some unfriendly blips inbound. To exit, engage your next destination, then push up to the sweet spot on your throttle, flip completely around and hit the burners. Once you're clear, stick four pips on sys and start charging your FSD. You'll know you're not heading towards the star until the FSD kicks in and you can get some distance between you, the star and any bad guys trying to jump you. Then you can quickly point to the destination and off you go.
While the fuel is scooping, you can bring up your next destination and put four pips on eng to get ready to scarper quick if you get some unfriendly blips inbound. To exit, engage your next destination, then push up to the sweet spot on your throttle, flip completely around and hit the burners. Once you're clear, stick four pips on sys and start charging your FSD. You'll know you're not heading towards the star until the FSD kicks in and you can get some distance between you, the star and any bad guys trying to jump you. Then you can quickly point to the destination and off you go.
This is particularly true when scooping very large or very bright stars (O, B).
4 pips to ENG in supercruise? As far as I am aware, the ship's performance in supercruise is not affected by the pip setting. Those pips purely effect the energy available for normal-space propulsion.
It's easier than it seems the first times, if you're exploring try to configure your ship to keep a low temperature always, and each ship/configuration takes different speeds and distances to scoop safely. Try to maintain the same speed and distance while you rotate around the star and you will not suffer any damage at all. After a while you will scoop like a pro...
