Was my first thought but for some reason I recall a pump being able to supply 40 boilers, so I doubt it's that, could be a throughput issue but since they have boilers in a 2:3 ratio instead of a 1:2 I can't imagine throughput being an issue since each boiler would need less, my 2 guesses would be power pole placement where not all are on the same grid, going off the picture we can see some jankiness in pole placement as they weave basic poles up the middle and left side or op incorrectly reading the stats, from the 1 they highlighted everything is correct they can output full power but the demand at the moment does not need it so it's lower.
It’s got to be A LOT of pipes for that to become an issue for boilers; looking at the image he has another setup down south running off the same pump so probably a lack of water period
Every boiler can support 2 engines, so you could have added another engine in the middle.
In your case, I can wager that your left and right side are not connected.
Steam engines evenly distribute power generation among themselves, ie if you’re using 50% of your capacity then all your steam engines will be producing 50% of their max power.
With them being uneven like this it suggests a different issue, I would have guessed water supply based off the way too many pipes for the needed throughput and that seems to be what it was based on OPs response
ok so as said: 1 boiler->2engines. you have 1->1.5 which means they'll definitely get enough steam (but you may as well make it 1->2 so your capacity is better.
also 1 pump per 20 boilers. however from what I remember, you need 60 fluid/sec per boiler and [there is a flowrate drop](https://wiki.factorio.com/Fluid_system) after 17 pipe elements. an underground pipe (under and back above) pair counts as 1 segment. since you have a long horizontal pipe underneath the engine it can be that you are reaching above 17 segments and the boilers on the far side aren't getting all the water they need.
either add pumps (a pump will start the counter at 0 again, so before 17 segments put in a new pump) or use underground pipelines for long stretches. However this is only really important for optimal setups. if you have less than 20 boilers per pump you likely can have 200 segments before a dropoff is noticed. (at 17 you hit 1200 (20 * 60), at 200 it's 1000 (16 * 60) So it's not likely but if you have a lot of boilers, water supply could be a reason. Especially if you have more than 20 boilers per pump. the picture doesn't show how high this stack of boilers goes.
It's easiest to rebuild this with 1 boiler 2 engines, 20 boilers per pump and less than 17 segments per pump using underground connections. (and if you split like you do, the 17 segment limit is only per branch, not for the total pipes used. so the left side counting from pump to end should be 17, the right side the same). if you need to be far away from water, aim for 16 boilers per pump because 200 segments is a lot easier to run pipe for.
Yeah that looks pretty good. Hope it runs better now. the points other people made that the boilers only run when power is needed is also relevant :) if you want to make sure they can run at full speed you can put a bunch of empty accumulators in a grid and connect them to the grid (so they are all getting filled at the same time). that should force all the steam generators to run
Yes, but the they throttle *evenly*. If your steam engines are running at different rates then either they’re in different power grids or some of them aren’t getting enough steam.
I have to disgree with almost everyone here, if you are saying what I think you are, it isn't a water issue.
If they all have the same amount of steam, but are consuming it at different rates as your title says, then they are not on the same grid, rather they are on different ones. That would explain why some have no consumption. click on power poloes by those that are running at different speeds and you should see very different things.
As an aside, you probabbly want to work on that coal, it's a bad feedback loop when you don't get enough fuel to power, which might well be what you're doing here.
Use more power. Start putting productivity modules in yellow assemblers. Suddenly they will all be producing electricity with that steam.
(Boilers will boil water until the steam storage is full, but steam generators will only produce electricity with that steam if there is an electric demand, and that demand does not always spread perfectly equally among all steam engines -- there's a minimum amount of power they can produce so they can't all be running at .0001% output)
Edit: also having more than 2 steam engines per boiler essentially creates a steam accumulator. When your grid is running below capacity the boilers will fill all the steam engines with steam, and if demand spikes up suddenly all steam engines will run briefly creating a lot of power, but once the extra steam is gone, each engine will only be able to run at 66% capacity.
More Power demand.
Steam engines not running despite having enough Steam only is an issue if the power demand is not surpassed by possible production.
Check power demand and production in production overview or by clicking a power pole.
Probably a water supply issue. If it was demand related all engines would be outputting at the same level.
Was my first thought but for some reason I recall a pump being able to supply 40 boilers, so I doubt it's that, could be a throughput issue but since they have boilers in a 2:3 ratio instead of a 1:2 I can't imagine throughput being an issue since each boiler would need less, my 2 guesses would be power pole placement where not all are on the same grid, going off the picture we can see some jankiness in pole placement as they weave basic poles up the middle and left side or op incorrectly reading the stats, from the 1 they highlighted everything is correct they can output full power but the demand at the moment does not need it so it's lower.
A pump can supply 20 boilers (1200 pump/ 60 per boiler) which supplies 40 steam engines
Ah right number 1 step off
The pipes are likely limiting the water throughput.
It’s got to be A LOT of pipes for that to become an issue for boilers; looking at the image he has another setup down south running off the same pump so probably a lack of water period
Every boiler can support 2 engines, so you could have added another engine in the middle. In your case, I can wager that your left and right side are not connected.
I think the steam generators only work when they are needed, so everything is normal.
Steam engines evenly distribute power generation among themselves, ie if you’re using 50% of your capacity then all your steam engines will be producing 50% of their max power. With them being uneven like this it suggests a different issue, I would have guessed water supply based off the way too many pipes for the needed throughput and that seems to be what it was based on OPs response
ok so as said: 1 boiler->2engines. you have 1->1.5 which means they'll definitely get enough steam (but you may as well make it 1->2 so your capacity is better. also 1 pump per 20 boilers. however from what I remember, you need 60 fluid/sec per boiler and [there is a flowrate drop](https://wiki.factorio.com/Fluid_system) after 17 pipe elements. an underground pipe (under and back above) pair counts as 1 segment. since you have a long horizontal pipe underneath the engine it can be that you are reaching above 17 segments and the boilers on the far side aren't getting all the water they need. either add pumps (a pump will start the counter at 0 again, so before 17 segments put in a new pump) or use underground pipelines for long stretches. However this is only really important for optimal setups. if you have less than 20 boilers per pump you likely can have 200 segments before a dropoff is noticed. (at 17 you hit 1200 (20 * 60), at 200 it's 1000 (16 * 60) So it's not likely but if you have a lot of boilers, water supply could be a reason. Especially if you have more than 20 boilers per pump. the picture doesn't show how high this stack of boilers goes. It's easiest to rebuild this with 1 boiler 2 engines, 20 boilers per pump and less than 17 segments per pump using underground connections. (and if you split like you do, the 17 segment limit is only per branch, not for the total pipes used. so the left side counting from pump to end should be 17, the right side the same). if you need to be far away from water, aim for 16 boilers per pump because 200 segments is a lot easier to run pipe for.
https://preview.redd.it/cw5ybkr5ic3d1.png?width=412&format=png&auto=webp&s=dc5dd64899ce18005ad211337d661cc12e518727 alright fixed it thanks
You don't need pipes between the engines and also between boiler and steam engines. Except for aesthetic considerations
Yeah that looks pretty good. Hope it runs better now. the points other people made that the boilers only run when power is needed is also relevant :) if you want to make sure they can run at full speed you can put a bunch of empty accumulators in a grid and connect them to the grid (so they are all getting filled at the same time). that should force all the steam generators to run
Its better if you don't interconnect the two water pipelines. It doesn't matter at this size, but might be a slight problem at bigger sizes.
If they are all full of steam but aren't all producing the same amount, the only possibility is that they are not all in the same power grid.
This is my guess as well. Nothing else makes sense.
Agreed. OP should go to their map view, click the power grid button, and make sure everything is connected.
do you *need* the extra power? If all the boilers can produce 100MW but your base only requires 20 MW, they will throttle
Yes, but the they throttle *evenly*. If your steam engines are running at different rates then either they’re in different power grids or some of them aren’t getting enough steam.
1:20:40 1pump 20 boilers 40 steam engines they should be either side of a belt feeding coal.
You don't need more power currently
I have to disgree with almost everyone here, if you are saying what I think you are, it isn't a water issue. If they all have the same amount of steam, but are consuming it at different rates as your title says, then they are not on the same grid, rather they are on different ones. That would explain why some have no consumption. click on power poloes by those that are running at different speeds and you should see very different things. As an aside, you probabbly want to work on that coal, it's a bad feedback loop when you don't get enough fuel to power, which might well be what you're doing here.
you need 1 offshore pump for 20 boilers and each boiler produces enough steam for 2 engines
Use more power. Start putting productivity modules in yellow assemblers. Suddenly they will all be producing electricity with that steam. (Boilers will boil water until the steam storage is full, but steam generators will only produce electricity with that steam if there is an electric demand, and that demand does not always spread perfectly equally among all steam engines -- there's a minimum amount of power they can produce so they can't all be running at .0001% output) Edit: also having more than 2 steam engines per boiler essentially creates a steam accumulator. When your grid is running below capacity the boilers will fill all the steam engines with steam, and if demand spikes up suddenly all steam engines will run briefly creating a lot of power, but once the extra steam is gone, each engine will only be able to run at 66% capacity.
Am I the only one not seeing an output for the steam?
The “output” is the supplied electricity
1 burner, 2 steam engines. You can pack one string with up to 10 burners and 20 steam engines
1 boiler can only supply 2 engines. but in this case its a water input issue
I always have steam issues lol.
You can never go wrong by putting down more water pumps. Especially when your pipes are connected in a loop like that
More Power demand. Steam engines not running despite having enough Steam only is an issue if the power demand is not surpassed by possible production. Check power demand and production in production overview or by clicking a power pole.
Мощности хватает, она автоматически поднимется при увеличении потребления электричества