Quick question about heat and PP's/PDist's

[Stealthie]

Is there a relationship between the PP/PDist used and how quickly modules such as weapons build and dissipate heat?

For example, I'm currently monkeying around with a Krait that has overcharged weapons and, thus, generates quite a bit of heat.
I've currently got a 6A PP fitted and it's G3 overcharged with the thermal-spread XFX for thermal efficiency of 0.41
Would I improve the thermal properties of the ship's weapons (either reducing the heat build-up or improving the speed heat dissipates) by replacing that with a 7A PP that was armoured and had the thermal spread XFX for thermal efficiency of 0.32?

Equally, similar thing with the PDist.
The stat's for the PDist don't suggest that they have any thermal-conductivity properties but, erm, do they?

For example, this Krait only needs a 6A PDist to supply sufficient power to the weapons.
Would there be some thermal benefit to fitting a 7A PDist instead, perhaps to help heat dissipate more quickly?


To be clear, I realise that the PP, itself, will overheat/cool at a rate determined by it's thermal properties - and cause the ship, as a whole, to overheat as a result.
What I'm wondering is whether the thermal properties of the PP have an effect on the way other modules - such as weapons - overheat and cool.

 

[Dillon Fallon]

My understanding of the heat dynamics is that each ship has its own number for heat dissapation. This is independent of any other factor. Top of the list are things like The Cutter, Corvette and both Diamondbacks. How heat is built up is dependent on the thermal values of things like the power plant and weapons (as mentioned). Added to this is that the higher the charge in the PD, the less heat is applied from the weapons.

This is the reason, in my opinion, the Krait Phantom is overpowered. A 7A PD will be drained relatively slowly given the number if hardpoints, so this ship lends itself nicely to an overcharged PA / rail build that would cook something like an FAS.

I'm probably covering stuff you already know, but I'm using this as background. Weapons and PP add heat based on their individual thermal values and heat applied from weapons increases with PD drain. I've not seen anything to suggest that the powerplant has a direct link to the weapons.

 

[CMDR Beni Stingray]

I thought weapons build up more heat when you shoot while your PD is almost empty while weapons build up less heat when the PD is almost full.

Your PP is the biggest heat source so using that 7A PP with 0.32 heat efficiency would deffinitly help a lot!

 

[Jake Savage]

You can also add thermal spread as the experimental effect for the PP.
in the Vette, this makes a big difference with heat build up from the weapons.

 

[Stealthie]

My understanding of the heat dynamics is that each ship has its own number for heat dissapation. This is independent of any other factor. Top of the list are things like The Cutter, Corvette and both Diamondbacks. How heat is built up is dependent on the thermal values of things like the power plant and weapons (as mentioned). Added to this is that the higher the charge in the PD, the less heat is applied from the weapons.

That's an interesting point, relating to the PDist.

If a 6A PDist needs, say, 4 pips to weapons to operate optimally - allowing weapons to take the longest possible time to overheat and the shortest time to cool - would a 7A PDist allow for the same rate of heating/cooling with, say, 2 or 3 pips to weapons?

Assuming the 6A PDist is capable of supplying optimal power to the weapons (even if it requires 4 pips to weps) then presumably a 7A PDist couldn't improve on that but it could provide the same level of heating/cooling with fewer pips to weps.

 

[Stealthie]

I thought weapons build up more heat when you shoot while your PD is almost empty while weapons build up less heat when the PD is almost full.

Your PP is the biggest heat source so using that 7A PP with 0.32 heat efficiency would deffinitly help a lot!

I realise that the larger/cooler PP will make a ship run cooler while doing stuff like fuel-scooping but I'm not sure how much difference it'll make in combat, where it's the weapons that generate most of the heat.

I do actually have both PPs engineered and ready to go so I might have to conduct some practical experiments later on.
Only trouble is, the overcharged lasers are modded with the thermal vent XFX so I can't really test this properly unless I've got a target to shoot at.

I wonder if a nav-buoy counts as a "target" for the thermal vent XFX to do it's thing?

 

[Dillon Fallon]

That's an interesting point, relating to the PDist.

If a 6A PDist needs, say, 4 pips to weapons to operate optimally - allowing weapons to take the longest possible time to overheat and the shortest time to cool - would a 7A PDist allow for the same rate of heating/cooling with, say, 2 or 3 pips to weapons?

Assuming the 6A PDist is capable of supplying optimal power to the weapons (even if it requires 4 pips to weps) then presumably a 7A PDist couldn't improve on that but it could provide the same level of heating/cooling with fewer pips to weps.

I think this is how it would work. In theory and assuming that Coriolis is correct, 2 overcharged PAs require 9.2mw to fire constantly. A g5 charge enhanced super conduit 7a PD would seem to cover this as it has a 9.2mw recharge (no idea where pips figure into this value). I would assume that the heat added my the PAs stays at its minimum (although I'm going to imagine this will still be fairly hot).

With a 6a g5 charge enhanced etc. PD only offers a 7.8mw charge, so every shot will apply increasing levels of heat.

If, for the purposes of this discussion, we assume that the above values reflect recharge rates at 2 pips, this would support using the class 7 PD since you could now apply meaningful amounts of pips to shields and not cook yourself quite so fast.

Whether the numbers are correct on Coriolis and I've interpreted them properly is another matter.

 

[Stealthie]

Just to confirm what's been discussed here....

Ended-up just testing different PPs and PDists and PPs outside a station with no target.
I did try shooting at the nav-buoy (and it does allow the Thermal Vent XFX to work) but the Thermal Vent works so well that it was taking ages for my ship to heat up.

The C6 vs C7 PDist works exactly as you'd expect.

The 6A, with 2 pips to weps, took around 9 seconds of firing until I got a "temperature critical" message and then took a further 21 seconds to cool back down to ambient.
With 4 pips to weps it took around 15 seconds until I got a "temperature critical" message and then took 17 seconds to cool back down to ambient

The 7A, with 2 pips to weps, took around 11 seconds of firing until I got a "temperature critical" message and then took around 20 seconds to cool back down to ambient.
With 3 pips to weps, it took the same times it was taking with the 6A PDist with 4 pips to weps.
With 4 pips to weps, once again it took the same time as with the 6A PDist with 4 pips to weps.

So, it would seem that a 7A Pdist, with between 2 and 3 pips to weps, has the same thermal properties as a 6A PDist with 4 pips to weps.
Maybe it's worth noting that I didn't pay any attention to how much power was draining from the capacitor for these tests. The objective was to measure how each module dealt with heat.
It's also worth noting that I tested the PDists with the 6A PP fitted.
If I'd carried out the tests with the 7A PP I would have achieved better results but, again, the objective was simply to verify that the 7A PDist outperforms the 6A in terms of heat management.


Similar thing with the PPs.
With a 6A G3 overcharged PP c/w Thermal Spread (0.41), it was taking 15 seconds of firing until I got a "temperature critical" message and then a further 17 seconds to cool back to ambient.
With the 7A G6 Armoured PP c/w Thermal Spread (0.32), it was taking 19 seconds of firing until I got a "temperature critical" message and then a further 17 seconds to cool back to ambient.

So, it would seem that the cooler PP is giving me roughly 4 seconds more of firing (or, almost 25% longer) and it's cooling down at the same rate as the hotter one.


Make of that what you will.

In practical terms, it's kind of handy to have the bigger PP/PDist fitted cos I might need to fit a variety of other modules (hatchbreakers, recon limpets, FSD interdictor and different shield generators etc) so having the spare power available will be useful.

 

[Morbad]

[Research] Detailed Heat Mechanics

Time for another research thread by your favorite furry friend, Frenotx! This time, it's time to tackle the heat mechanics. This one's a bit unusual, though- I'm looking for some assistance from viewers like you! So, without further ado: Highlights: -1 heat unit = 1 BTU. -Each ship has a baked...

forums.frontier.co.uk

I thought weapons build up more heat when you shoot while your PD is almost empty while weapons build up less heat when the PD is almost full.

Yes, the lower WEP is the more of a weapon's thermal load makes it to the ship.

Your PP is the biggest heat source so using that 7A PP with 0.32 heat efficiency would deffinitly help a lot!

PP is not a heat source. The efficiency rating modifies how much heat is produced by the power consumption of other modules, but the same ship (raw heat capacity and dissipation rate are properties of the ship itself) with the same thermal efficiency, and the same active modules will have the same thermal performance no matter how much power the PP produces (assuming everything can be powered). For example, my trade Krait has exactly the same thermals with a 4A PP as with a 7A.

 

[CMDR Beni Stingray]

PP is not a heat source. The efficiency rating modifies how much heat is produced by the power consumption of other modules, but the same ship (raw heat capacity and dissipation rate are properties of the ship itself) with the same thermal efficiency, and the same active modules will have the same thermal performance no matter how much power the PP produces (assuming everything can be powered). For example, my trade Krait has exactly the same thermals with a 4A PP as with a 7A.

Yeah i worded it wrong, the heat rating of the PP is one of the biggest influences. And yes, if you compare a 4A and a 7A PP they will generate the same amount of heat but thats not what he was asking. WIth his 7A PP he doesnt have to overcharge it for the same amount of power as with the 6A so it runs cooler (0.41 to 0.32) and thats going to make a quite noticable difference.

 

[Martyn W]

I've recently been testing thermal vent on two small lasers and to my surprise I actually got temperature down to zero (canopy froze over) whilst in combat. Thermal vent is very good at dissipating heat as long as you are hitting your target.

 

[Bob Lighthouse]

Is there a relationship between the PP/PDist used and how quickly modules such as weapons build and dissipate heat?

For example, I'm currently monkeying around with a Krait that has overcharged weapons and, thus, generates quite a bit of heat.
I've currently got a 6A PP fitted and it's G3 overcharged with the thermal-spread XFX for thermal efficiency of 0.41
Would I improve the thermal properties of the ship's weapons (either reducing the heat build-up or improving the speed heat dissipates) by replacing that with a 7A PP that was armoured and had the thermal spread XFX for thermal efficiency of 0.32?

Equally, similar thing with the PDist.
The stat's for the PDist don't suggest that they have any thermal-conductivity properties but, erm, do they?

For example, this Krait only needs a 6A PDist to supply sufficient power to the weapons.
Would there be some thermal benefit to fitting a 7A PDist instead, perhaps to help heat dissipate more quickly?


To be clear, I realise that the PP, itself, will overheat/cool at a rate determined by it's thermal properties - and cause the ship, as a whole, to overheat as a result.
What I'm wondering is whether the thermal properties of the PP have an effect on the way other modules - such as weapons - overheat and cool.

Yes to both.

PP efficiency is factored with all modules.
Better PD makes weapons run cooler.

 

[Stealthie]

Yes to both.

PP efficiency is factored with all modules.
Better PD makes weapons run cooler.

Uhuh, that's what I found.

I usually go with efficient beams, or long-range pulses/bursts, so heat is never an issue, but monkeying around with overcharged weapons is a whole new thing for me.
My FdL and Mamba both have overcharged MC's and Beams but they both had the biggest PDist possible, and armored PPs, anyway.

 

[Bob Lighthouse]

Uhuh, that's what I found.

I usually go with efficient beams, or long-range pulses/bursts, so heat is never an issue, but monkeying around with overcharged weapons is a whole new thing for me.
My FdL and Mamba both have overcharged MC's and Beams but they both had the biggest PDist possible, and armored PPs, anyway.

Another advantage of a larger PP is having an easier time setting power priorities so that the essentials are below 40/50%.

 

[Stealthie]

Another quick question related to the PDist...

Anybody know if the XFX applied to a PDist has any effect on the thermal characteristics of a ship?

Would a PDist that had the "Super Conduits" XFX dissipate heat more quickly than one with the "Cluster Capacitors" XFX, for example?
Super-Conduits can refill the PDist 6% more quickly so would it transfer heat with similarly enhanced efficiency too?

Probably not a big deal, anyway, but if it makes a difference I'd like to apply the most useful XFX.