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[Uzu Bash]

I have a series of waterwheels along a canal that are getting intermittent to no power. The source is both ends of a channeled brook which feed into the bottom of a 5 zlvl pump reactor and pumps out through a pressure gate, giving stable flow to 3 additional waterwheels on top.

The water then drains 9-lvls to a 3-wide tunnel which splits into two and both feed into a 4-wide canal through pressure gates from separate ends and drains through 2 single tile shafts. Each end has gated input and drain, so flow direction can be controlled north or south, and gated center so each input can flow separately to its own output drain.

Code: [Select]

|D--D|
|~~~~|
|~~~~|
|~~~~|-------|
|~~~~~~~~~~|
|~~~~|-------|
|~~~~|
|~~~~|
|~~~~|-------|
|~~~~~~~~~~|
|~~~~|-------|
|~~~~|
|~~~~|
|D--D|

Only wheels at the ends get power, but not stable enough to maintain mills. If I close the drain on one end and the input on the other, the center wheels should be getting flow in the direction of the open drain, but they don't power up.

The drains merge into 2-wide shafts and empty 15-17 zlvl down. The north side is routed off the map through a 6-wide exit. The south side empties into a depression and rises enough to merge with a pond on the edge of the map.

If it would be easier to view the fort yourself, the current season start is uploaded here: http://dffd.bay12games.com/download.php?id=10622&f=water_and_power.7z

F2 is the top of the stack
F4 and 1-2 zlvl down is the canal
Shift-F1 is a little south of bottom of a drain, the other drain is all south.

[Larix]

There are two common loss of power problems i've seen:

1 - not enough water: water under at least one of the waterwheel tiles must be 4 or higher. When too little water gets into a wide channel, depth can remain under a full four, which leads to either no power at all or power flickering on and off all the time (allowing no actual operation).
2 - too much pressure: water moved by pressure (pumps, gravity), doesn't flow but "teleports". Only the depth-spreading of water to less full tiles reliably establishes the "flow" characteristic needed by waterwheels. This can be solved by pushing less water into the system and/or increasing drain, but it's quite fiddly.

Check the water depth under your wheels and adjust accordingly - if you have 7/7 water in most tiles, increase drain/reduce input; if you have 3/7 and less, increase input and reduce drainage.

I rarely build waterwheels in artificial bodies of water, so take my advice with a liberal helping of salt.

[Uzu Bash]

The pressure gates depressure water to reduce risk of flooding; those are only opened when refilling the canal after it's been drained. When they're closed, intake volume is equal to drainage and the waterwheels get depressured water. The water level stays 7/7 along the center, and toward the drains reduce to no less than 3/7. I don't believe the terminal wheels get less than 4/7, but I can't be certain, and that may explain why their power is intermittent.

The wiki says that the whole body will have flow as long as it can flow directly off the map without spreading, and recommends a cavern layer to do it. Is a 6 wide channel direct enough, or does it have to narrow to 1? Does every possible outlet have to be direct?