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[Dwarfler]

Can wells back up?  I've had mine for around four years now, and suddenly I noticed the well room was full of water!  It's never happened before, and the wiki didn't say anything about it, so I'm a little puzzled.  Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening?  Thanks!

[Tayrin]

Yeah, this has happened to me too. If the well's initial water source is higher than the base of the well, there's a risk that the water may be pushed up and out of the well if the water system becomes too full at any time.

Try not to have the well built lower than the surface of the water that it gets its supply from. Failing that, make sure you always have some way for excess water underneath the well to escape, so that the water pressure is never great enough to cause the well to overflow.

[Edit] You could also temporarily block off the flow of water to the well with a door or floodgate connected to a lever (or pressure plate, set up correctly), to only let more water in when necessary. As long as you're not getting more water trying to push down into the space under the well when it's already full, you should be safe.

[ March 28, 2008: Message edited by: Tayrin ]

[numerobis]

Be really really careful with that "block it off if it starts to overflow" thing, lest you build a u-bend and flood everybody.  I tend to use screw pumps for pressure (and, sometimes, flow) regulation.

[Derakon]

Does someone have a reasonably complete description of how U-bends work? I've seen a few scattered references to them and how they generate infinite fluids, but not any structural diagrams. Is it simply a matter of putting a tight S-shaped bend in your inflow tunnel?

[ZedEh]

I believe a U-bend is any situation like the following:

code:

Side view
River ###########
~~~~~~#         #
#####~#~~~~~~~~~#
#####~#reservoir#
#####~#~~~~~~~~##
#####~#~ <-------- And this is where fortresses
#####~~~~~~~~~~##  instantly die.
#################

I think that's enough to do it.  Only had it happen to me once, but it's an instantaneous flood up to the water level in the ASCII reservoir above.  So fill from the top.  Preferrably with a screw pump.

[ March 28, 2008: Message edited by: ZedEh ]

[puke]

but only if you have a leak in your resivoire, right?  if its properly sealed, then there should be no problem?

[Cavalcadeofcats]

It's never happened to me, but I'm guessing that there doesn't need to be a leak in the reservoir, per se - in the above example, if it floods up to reservoir level, then the level at the river level will be flooded - that is, probably the entire surface of the map.

If so, this may cause one or two problems.

[Derakon]

quote:Originally posted by puke:
<STRONG>but only if you have a leak in your resivoire, right?  if its properly sealed, then there should be no problem?</STRONG>

The problem with reservoirs is that they need to have "leaks" in order to be useful.  

[Khosan]

Has anyone considered adding a U-Bend into some kind of water trap?  The extra pressure from it will speed up the fill of whatever chamber you choose.

[Kaelem Gaen]

You'd probably have to use a floor hatch attached to a pressure plate (Or two?)

Assuming your feed from the U-bend is only one square wide or one row long

Something like (and I apologize if it doesn't make sense

code:

 Side view
River ###########
~~~~~~###########
#####~###########
#####~###########
#####~#±±----¬-¬[
#####~#H#########
#####~~~~~~~~~~##
################# 

where:
H = floor hatch
¬ = Pressure Plates
± = Floor grates

So basically, in my mind it works like this.

Gobbo "¥" walks onto the Pressure plate 2 which opens the "Hatch of Watery Doom" and seals the door tight.  Insta-flooding the chamber and (Presumably) drowning said Gobbo.  

When the water reaches Plate 1 at a height of 7/7 water,  Hatch o' doom shuts and door opens, allowing the water to drain out into some disposable area.

Of course I know little about the computing, and the way trapping works (as well as the pressure on floor hatches and doors.)

[sneakey pete]

I was under the impression that u-bends actually relied upon the block of land that they need to pass over to escape, rather than the block that they need to get under.

Eg

code:

River ###########
~~~~~~###########
#####~#~~~~~~~~~#
#####~#~~~~~~~~~#
#####~#~~~~~~~~~#
#####~#~<---Death starts here
#####~~~#########
#################   

That's from my own experiences though.

[ March 29, 2008: Message edited by: sneakey pete ]

[ZedEh]

quote:

code:

River ###########
~~~~~~###########
#####~#~~~~~~~~~#
#####~#~~~~~~~~~#
#####~#~~~~~~~~~#
#####~#~<---Death starts here
#####~~~#########
#################

Actually, that looks right.  Knew I was forgetting something.  But yes, to re-iterate: the water will flood your entire fortress (stopping at doors as usual) until it reaches the level one below the source.

[Benitosimies]

Oh, *that's* the U-Bend?

Dang, I just called it a floooosh.

[numerobis]

The bug is not that it floods while the U-bend remains open (that makes sense).  It's that even if you block off the flow through the U-bend, it continues flowing.

[puke]

oooohhhh, i get it now.  thanks Benoit.