Quick fix to evacuate left over liquids from pipes

[mrvn]

TL;DR

It should be possible to pump empty a pipe and then use it for a different liquid without having to deconstruct/reconstruct it.

What ?

Pipes are now locked into one liquid by either
a) a fluid box has a filter for a specific liquid.
b) some liquid is present in the pipe.

My suggestion is to relax b. Liquid in a pipe only locks the pipe to that liquid if it is a noticeable amount (that can still be pumped out of any reasonably large pipe system). I suggest trying 0.001 or 0.01.

Secondly if a pipe gains a lock into a new liquid all other remaining liquid is destroyed. This would be at most 0.001 * pipes/tanks/pumps in the fluid system.

Note: In a 1000 pipes long pipe one might loose 1 unit of liquid on change. I think that is acceptable.

Why ?

Having to deconstruct all pipes and rebuilding them because the wrong liquid got into the pipe is a pain. Pipes longer than a few pipes and/or forks can't be pumped completely so deconstruction is the only way to clear them.

There have been other requests with complicated ideas and requests to redesign the whole fluid system. All of that is far t complex to get fixed fast. This idea though would be a simple quick fix that's good enough right now instead of waiting for perfect in a year (or 2 or 3 or 10).

[coppercoil]

1. Isolate problematic pipeline segment.
2. Connect the pipe to storage tank via pump.
3. Wait 10 second or so.
4. Destroy the tank.
5. Profit.

[mrvn]

1. Isolate problematic pipeline segment.
2. Connect the pipe to storage tank via pump.
3. Wait 10 second or so.
4. Destroy the tank.
5. Profit.

That only works for short / non-forked pipes. The pump will take out most but some 0.00001 fluid will move around the pipes taking random (or predictable / build order dependent?) forks and never end up in the pump.

[coppercoil]

That only works for short / non-forked pipes. The pump will take out most but some 0.00001 fluid will move around the pipes taking random (or predictable / build order dependent?) forks and never end up in the pump.

You're right. Small mistakes are easy to fix. Big mistakes makes big pain . This is a fair game, isn't it? There shouldn't be a single-click solution for anything.

[mrvn]

That only works for short / non-forked pipes. The pump will take out most but some 0.00001 fluid will move around the pipes taking random (or predictable / build order dependent?) forks and never end up in the pump.

You're right. Small mistakes are easy to fix. Big mistakes makes big pain . This is a fair game, isn't it? There shouldn't be a single-click solution for anything.

The suggestion isn't to make the fix easy but to make your fix possible. Pumping the pipe with wrong fluid should be possible. That's what I suggest the fix should be.

The "quick" in the topic is for the developers. Quick to implement. Not quick for the user.

[coppercoil]

How about a special "cleaner" fluid? It would "anihilate" any other fluid on contact. It would be damn expensive. It would be a headache to deliver it into location of accident. Maybe even it would have limited shelf life. Sounds good

[BlueTemplar]

I thought that fractions of a liquid in pipes were already being deleted now (since 0.17.0?) ?

[mrvn]

How about a special "cleaner" fluid? It would "anihilate" any other fluid on contact. It would be damn expensive. It would be a headache to deliver it into location of accident. Maybe even it would have limited shelf life. Sounds good

Sounds horrible. You can't carry fluids around so you would have to barrel them and then place an unbarreling pump somewhere and flood the pipe. And then you have a pipe filled with cleaner fluid. Any other fluid you pump in gets destroyed. How would you ever get the cleaner fluid out of the pipe?

So not only does the problem still remain you also invested a ton of resources, inventory space and time into it.

[mrvn]

I thought that fractions of a liquid in pipes were already being deleted now (since 0.17.0?) ?

If so then the fraction is too low. Didn't delete it from my pipes.

[coppercoil]

Sounds horrible. You can't carry fluids around so you would have to barrel them and then place an unbarreling pump somewhere and flood the pipe. And then you have a pipe filled with cleaner fluid.

Souds like "not a quick solution for the user"? Sounds good. This is why I love Factorio.

Any other fluid you pump in gets destroyed. How would you ever get the cleaner fluid out of the pipe?

Cleaner fluid would be destroyed too, by 1:1 or by some other radio.