[feature request] alternate-current

[tonimark]

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• Bug report
• Feature request

how about alternate current with frequencies I tried to build an inventer but it failed because of electricity response is way too slowly

[jrddunbr]

If I had a dime for every time that someone suggested we add AC to the mod, I'd be able to buy a pepperoni pizza. mmm, yum. I should make a FAQ on the wiki..

It's not feasible to add high frequency AC to the mod. If you only want <10Hz AC, well, you have that already (it's not the easiest thing to make, but it's totally possible, even in survival mode), and the machines will accept good AC power (generally). Last time I made AC though, there's one major pitfall - the poles add too much capacitance and so you can't go long distances with it. The diodes are also not very amazing (they take a tick to react due to the way that a MNA works), so bridge rectifiers are a bit crufty and tend to work better at low frequencies such as 1Hz. We also don't have proper transformers, since nobody uses AC.

Pretty much any of the reasons that AC is good in real life are not applicable to Mineccraft. Even then, a lot of the higher voltage parts of the grids in the US and other countries are moving to HVDC lines because it's better for various reasons, and DC has less loss over long distances compared to AC.

Here's a good read:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-voltage_direct_current

Edit: Here's a build with AC power:

In the back, I have a battery bank. I have 4 sections of batteries, split into 3 wires. I charge the batteries on one set, and run the AC power from the other set, and then I have two larger groups. I have a timer switch that moves from one bank to the other to charge one back while the other is used, and they swap every few seconds. This prevents the batteries from becoming too discharged. One could also use a bunch of capacitors.

In the foreground, you can see the wave generator, and the switching method. Originally, I had a set of rheostats, and I was able to do a very clean sine wave, but nothing in the mod benefits from that, and the output signal became noisy with the peaks chopped and a less than optimal power factor, and so I just went for a square wave, which was less choppy, and more useful.

Here's a macerator running from AC power. You can see the "wave" on the right, the power utilization on the left.