40d Talk:Gear assembly

"...this causes the windmill construction to collapse. Instead, create a second gear adjacent to the linked gear upon which to support the windmill." I'm having a hard time visualizing what this means, could someone make a diagram? --BahamutZERO 12:48, 2 November 2007 (EDT)

Level 0, your windmill W (I'm not sure what it looks like)

....
.W..
..>.

Level -1, your gear assemblies, * and axle, =

####
#**=
##<#

Link your lever to the second assembly (right), such that the Windmill is supported by the other (left).

--Draco18s 13:09, 2 November 2007 (EDT)

won't this waste 5 power on a useless gear? why not just build a wall instead? --Lacero 15:27, 2 November 2007 (EDT)

because you need a gear under the windmill to get power from it. the second gear is so that you can cut power without collapsing the windmill. --BurnedToast 15:30, 2 November 2007 (EDT)

This only applies to a windmill built floating above the ground, so the above example doesn't apply -- disconnecting the gear in Draco18s' example would do nothing to the windmill. Really, you should just build a set of supports and some actual floor to put an above-ground windmill onto a "solid foundation", so that it remains supported even when you disconnect power. That way you don't lose any power from adding another gear assembly. Gear assemblies are 'spensive. --JT

Yes, you're right. I was under the impression you needed a gear because mine hadn't worked with a vertical axle when I tried. However, I just tried again and it worked so I must have done something stupid like not dug a channel or placed the windmill wrong the first time. --BurnedToast 03:57, 3 November 2007 (EDT)

I wish Toady would change the name "vertical axle" to "y-axle" and horizontal to x, etc. I've been reading this assuming assembly gears moved power across the z-axis only. Faces of Mu

Eh, don't worry! I started using the axles and realised they really were horizontal and vertical, with changing horizontal axles using the s key. Faces of Mu.

Is it possible to connect more than one axle to a gear assembly, and if so, is there any extra loss of power as a result? --Xazak 14:35, 4 November 2007 (EST)

Yes and yes. --Ikkonoishi 17:02, 4 November 2007 (EST)

Is it possible to aggregate power with gears? That is to say, if you have two or more windmills and you use axles to move the power into a single column, does it sum up the power? --Mitchy 12:55, 11 November 2007 (EST)

Yes. --Valdemar 12:59, 11 November 2007 (EST)

Deleted the 'Solidity' section from the page today. It's completely silly. Some reasons why below:

"Gears are presumably solid, however they do not block movement in a square."

Duh. We don't think they're made out of paper. But they're not so huge as to block the entire square like a door or wall... why would they?

"Dwarves, kobolds, and other beasties have no problem walking through squares occupied by gear assemblies. It's also important to note that water can also flow freely through them."

See above.

"Toady has considered causing damage to creatures that move through gear assemblies in the future, so don't build any main corridors through them."

Then put that in the talk section, where it belongs.

Schm0 22:48, 2 December 2007 (EST)

6 directions and horizontal axles

Is it possible for a gear assembly to be connected on all sides and will it use up 30 power or 5 power? horizontal axles won't gain power even if there is something generating energy going below and above it, even if there is a a channel?--Seaneat 02:46, 7 July 2008 (EDT)

I got it...they can be connected on all sides and will still take up 5 power. they should have made it like 3...--Seaneat 14:22, 7 July 2008 (EDT)

Water

On of my gear assemblies got wet because a screw pump flooded the area. All of the attached machine parts stopped working and displayed the "inactive" message in the building screen. The amount of power needed also jumped to 24 for all of them (it was currently getting 20). Did it stop working because of the water alone, or did the water freeze in the mechanisms? Or did the water cause the power needed to increase so that there wasn't enough? It is a freezing map, but the water being pumped did not freeze. --Tachyon 16:39, 1 August 2008 (EDT)

Happened to me too just now... gear and three axles, the pump worked about ten seconds until all the area around was wet, then stopped. The windmill is still turning, but nothing else is happening. --Azaram 04:27, 30 November 2008 (EST)

I just submerged a gear, an axle, a gear connected to an axle, and a pump under 7/7 water. The power requirements didn't change at all. --Elvang 19:01, 4 February 2009 (EST)

CHANGES

I have heard, from several sources, that gear assemblies do not actually get the on/off type signal. In the Mist Generator thread (now with 4x the mist), people have been saying that gears TOGGLE. THIS IS REALLY BIG. It needs to be verified, and put into the article. Also, windmills are magical, right? They teleport power down through a floor, right?--Zchris13 22:11, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

Went ahead and tested both. Gears do indeed toggle, the Levers article has been updated accordingly. As for windmills, they behave exactly as described in their article under the Construction section. --Elvang 02:42, 7 June 2009 (UTC)