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Florida Sailor · 04-06-16, 09:15 AM

FUEL and BATTERIES

FUEL
There is nothing worse than running out of fuel before you reach your home port. Your career is in effect finished if you run out of diesel while out at sea. There are no tugs, you can't radio for help, there is no way to get home, period. US Fleet boats do not have oars or sails.

There are many factors affect fuel range. Each class of submarine has it's own set of built in range factors with the S Class having the shortest range. The following conditions affect the range of all classes. Some MODs make changes to the stock values, but the factors listed below are true for stock and most MODs.

1. Speed

a. The best fuel economy is found between 8 and 11 knots. In the stock game the ideal speed for maximum range is 10.95 knots. Mods alter this slightly so experiment a bit. Speeds above or below this speed increase fuel consumption.

b. Flank speed will result in the highest fuel consumption, so use it sparingly.

c. Slow speeds, below 8 knots, will also decrease your range. If you are low on fuel, heading home at 5 knots will use more fuel than 8 to 11 knots.

d. It is easier to set your speed with the knotmeter rather than the 1/3, 2/3 etc. Engine Telegraph. Click on the stem of the Engine Telegraph and it will change to the Knotmeter.

2. Battery Charging

a. When you are charging your batteries, you are running one of your engines at Flank speed to charge them. (You do not really have four engines in the game, you only have two.) During this time your fuel economy drops dramatically. To conserve fuel do not travel using batteries unless you have to. Just submerge and sit there until it is safe to travel on the surface.

b. Battery charging is automatic and unless you manually turn off battery charging, every time you surface the crew will run the charger until the batteries are charged to 100%.

c. Damaged batteries will decrease your range by 2/3. See section 3. b.

3. Damage

a. Leaks. If your fuel tanks are damaged, head for home. Even if the crew "repairs"? the damage you will still lose some fuel and only a return to base will completely repair your boat. A refit will NOT fix a leaky fuel tank.

b. Battery Damage. Your crew can not completely repair damage to your batteries and they will stop accepting a charge at something less than 100%. If this happens and your batteries will not charge to 100%, but your crew will not turn off the battery charger without your intervention. Battery charging is automatic and unless you manually turn it off, every time you surface, it will continue to use diesel at a very fast rate. Do this if your batteries are not charging to 100% or you will never get back to your home port.

BATTERIES

As with diesel fuel, you range with your batteries is affected by speed. Use the knotmeter to set your underwater speed rather than the Engine Telegraph. Different boat classes have different underwater ranges and different lengths of time to recharge, but in general the following rules apply to all classes. The slower you go, the longer your batteries will last.
At 1 knot or less you will probably run out of air before your batteries completely discharge.
At 2 knots you will easily make it from sunrise to sunset and in some classes 24 hours.
At 3 knots, generally less than 12 hours.
At 4 knots 6 to 8 hours depending on your boat class.
Above 4 knots the batteries discharge fairly quickly.

Dave

04-06-16, 09:15 AM	#12
Florida Sailor Eternal Patrol Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Seffner, Florida Posts: 81 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 0	FUEL and BATTERIES FUEL There is nothing worse than running out of fuel before you reach your home port. Your career is in effect finished if you run out of diesel while out at sea. There are no tugs, you can't radio for help, there is no way to get home, period. US Fleet boats do not have oars or sails. There are many factors affect fuel range. Each class of submarine has it's own set of built in range factors with the S Class having the shortest range. The following conditions affect the range of all classes. Some MODs make changes to the stock values, but the factors listed below are true for stock and most MODs. 1. Speed a. The best fuel economy is found between 8 and 11 knots. In the stock game the ideal speed for maximum range is 10.95 knots. Mods alter this slightly so experiment a bit. Speeds above or below this speed increase fuel consumption. b. Flank speed will result in the highest fuel consumption, so use it sparingly. c. Slow speeds, below 8 knots, will also decrease your range. If you are low on fuel, heading home at 5 knots will use more fuel than 8 to 11 knots. d. It is easier to set your speed with the knotmeter rather than the 1/3, 2/3 etc. Engine Telegraph. Click on the stem of the Engine Telegraph and it will change to the Knotmeter. 2. Battery Charging a. When you are charging your batteries, you are running one of your engines at Flank speed to charge them. (You do not really have four engines in the game, you only have two.) During this time your fuel economy drops dramatically. To conserve fuel do not travel using batteries unless you have to. Just submerge and sit there until it is safe to travel on the surface. b. Battery charging is automatic and unless you manually turn off battery charging, every time you surface the crew will run the charger until the batteries are charged to 100%. c. Damaged batteries will decrease your range by 2/3. See section 3. b. 3. Damage a. Leaks. If your fuel tanks are damaged, head for home. Even if the crew "repairs"? the damage you will still lose some fuel and only a return to base will completely repair your boat. A refit will NOT fix a leaky fuel tank. b. Battery Damage. Your crew can not completely repair damage to your batteries and they will stop accepting a charge at something less than 100%. If this happens and your batteries will not charge to 100%, but your crew will not turn off the battery charger without your intervention. Battery charging is automatic and unless you manually turn it off, every time you surface, it will continue to use diesel at a very fast rate. Do this if your batteries are not charging to 100% or you will never get back to your home port. BATTERIES As with diesel fuel, you range with your batteries is affected by speed. Use the knotmeter to set your underwater speed rather than the Engine Telegraph. Different boat classes have different underwater ranges and different lengths of time to recharge, but in general the following rules apply to all classes. The slower you go, the longer your batteries will last. At 1 knot or less you will probably run out of air before your batteries completely discharge. At 2 knots you will easily make it from sunrise to sunset and in some classes 24 hours. At 3 knots, generally less than 12 hours. At 4 knots 6 to 8 hours depending on your boat class. Above 4 knots the batteries discharge fairly quickly. Dave __________________ Dog down the hatches and take her deep boys!