Cannot get electricity started, tried everything - really!

[garionh]

Played one full game, around 100 hours (14.x), had no problem getting electricity working. "Won" the game. Now upgraded to 15, starting a new game.

Here's a screenshot of my setup (Below are some closeups of the key areas)

The areas marked A is actually connected (not that it should matter), I think the missing power line there is a zoom artifact?

electricity not working.PNG (2.61 MiB) Viewed 1864 times

Got a pump, 13 boilers, 10 steam engines, connected power poles to electric mining drills. Got water after the boilers at 15°C, so I know the pump is working. Boilers have coal in them, and burner inserters ready to add more (5 coals are loaded when they are not being used). Burner-inserters add fuel to themselves first, so no problems there.

The water out the end of the boilers is simply not heating.

Tried having less boilers, less steam engines, closer power line runs, nothing seems to make a diff. When first placing a boiler, the fire in it glows for a few seconds, then goes out. Tried changing the position of all elements, tripled checked they are all connected. Read other threads related to my problem, none seem relevant. Read the beginners guide on Power twice to make sure I am not missing anything.

Electric mining drills show a red triangle, indicating "not enough electricity". Ok, so, why?!

[daniel34]

Boilers now output steam to the side, while water keeps flowing through them without heating it.

Example (as posted by Mr. Tact here):


Also forget the old ratio, the new one is 1 pump - 20 boilers - 40 steam engines (2 steam engines for every boiler).

[garionh]

well, that's a super-confusing change! Thanks.

[Mr. Tact]

Hey! How about some credit for my screenshot!

Edit: Thanks! LOL.