Cable

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Experimental-Only Content: This information has been updated to the V2.X version of IC².
The most recent version of IC² is V2.8.<html>.

The Cables are the primary means of transferring EU from one device to another. There are several different types of cable, each type made from different metals, and each type can tolerate a different maximum EU/p, usually referred to as Voltage. If an applied Voltage exceeds a cable's maximum, the cable will instantly melt. This is NOT to be confused with (EU/t), usually referred to as Current; all cables can handle an infinite amount of current.

All cables suffer from energy losses over distance. Long cables will lose energy in the process of transferring it. There are several ways to reduce losses - Transformers , insulation, and daisy-chaining storage devices.

Uninsulated cables damage all entities that comes near the cable when there is EU flowing through the cable. An uninsulated HV cable with a current of 2048 EU/t can kill a player fully equipped with fully charged Quantum Suit within 20.5 seconds. The higher the voltage, the more damage a cable can inflict on entities.

Insulating cables with rubber reduces energy losses, reduces shocks, and allows the cable to be painted using the Painter. Painted cables will not connect to different colored cables. This also greatly reduces the strain on CPU, as large cable meshes with many intersections require the game to perform many CPU-heavy calculations.

Note[edit]

Not all of this information is as updated as it should be.

Video Tutorial[edit]

A Basic Tutorial on How to Make And Use All Cables!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1ll6RUQ8yI

Insulation[edit]

Cable can be insulated by adding 'rubber'. Insulation reduces the EU loss over distance of cable.

Placed cable can have insulation added or removed with Insulation Cutters. (Does not work in the most recent version)

Uninsulated cables (except glass fibre) cannot be coloured with the Painter.

Cable Types[edit]

More detailed information and a larger recipe list is available by looking at the page for each cable type.

Tin Cable[edit]


Grid Tin Plate.png


Grid Cutter.png




Grid Tin Cable.png

Tin Cable

Tin Cable


In the most recent versions of IC2, Tin Cable can tolerate Low Voltage (up to 32 EU/p), which means they can handle the energy outputted by basic Generators, but they're very cheap to make and have relatively low energy loss (0.20 EU/block).

In older versions, Tin cables could only tolerate Micro Voltage (up to 5 EU/p). Since no transformer can "step down" voltage this low, Tin cables were only suited for lower-output generators like Solar Panels, Water Mills, or Wind Mills.

Copper Cable[edit]


Grid Copper.png


Grid Cutter.png




Grid Copper Cable.png

Copper Cable

Copper Cable


Grid Rubber.png
Grid Copper Cable.png






Grid Insulated Copper Cable.png

Insulated Copper Cable

Insulated Copper Cable


In the most recent versions of IC2, Copper Cable are the most common cable tier. They are only capable of handling Medium Voltage (up to 128 EUP), however, they suffer the second smallest, distance-related energy losses out of all the conventional cables (same as tin cables, 0.20 EU/block). In older versions, they were only able to handle Low Voltage (up to 32 EUP)

Gold Cable[edit]


Grid Gold.png


Grid Cutter.png




Grid Gold Cable.png

Gold_Cable

Gold_Cable



Grid Rubber.png


Grid Gold.png




Grid Insulated Gold Cable.png

Insulated_Gold_Cable

Insulated_Gold_Cable



Grid Rubber.png


Grid Insulated Gold Cable.png




Grid 2xIns. Gold Cable.png

In the most recent versions of IC2, Gold Cables can transport High Voltage (up to 512 EU/p) but has higher energy loss than copper (0.40 EU/block) However, since the energy loss applies to each package of energy, if carrying full 512EU/p, the gold cable will lose less energy than copper over distance, see below for more information. In older versions, they could only transport Medium Voltage (up to 128 EU/p).


HV (Iron) Cable[edit]


Grid Refined Iron Plate.png


Grid Cutter.png




Grid HV Cable.png

HV_Cable

HV_Cable



Grid Rubber.png


Grid Rubber.png
Grid HV Cable.png
Grid Rubber.png


Grid Rubber.png


Grid Insulated HV Cable.png

Insulated_HV_Cable

Insulated_HV_Cable



Grid Rubber.png


Grid Insulated HV Cable.png




Grid 2xIns. HV Cable.png


Grid Rubber.png


Grid 2xIns. HV Cable.png




Grid 4xIns. HV Cable.png

HV Cables can handle the highest amount of current possible at Extreme Voltage (up to 2048 EU/p) however it loses energy very quickly over distance (0.80 EU/block). When transporting EU at 2048 voltage using transformers, HV Cable is actually far more energy efficient than either Gold or Copper Cable. Only Glass Fibre Cable is more energy efficient, at the expense of Glass Fibre's diamond material cost.

Glass Fibre Cable[edit]

Grid Glass.png
Grid Redstone.png
Grid Glass.png
Grid Glass.png
Grid Diamond.png
Grid Glass.png
Grid Glass.png
Grid Redstone.png
Grid Glass.png
Grid Glass Fibre Cable.png

Glass_Fibre_Cable

Glass_Fibre_Cable


Grid Glass.png
Grid Silver ingot.png
Grid Glass.png
Grid Glass.png
Grid Diamond.png
Grid Glass.png
Grid Glass.png
Grid Silver ingot.png
Grid Glass.png
Grid Glass Fibre Cable.png

Glass_Fibre_Cable

Glass_Fibre_Cable


Glass Fibre Cable is a special type of cable capable of transporting Insane Voltage (up to 8192 EU/p). It does not shock anything standing too close and has only a tiny amount of energy loss, however, it is very expensive to make.

Detector Cable =[edit]


Grid Redstone.png


Grid Electronic Circuit.png
Grid 4xIns. HV Cable.png
Grid Redstone.png


Grid Redstone.png


Grid Detector Cable.png



The Detector Cable is a special cable which outputs a redstone current when EU is flowing through it. They can handle up to 2048 EU/p.

Splitter Cable[edit]


Grid 4xIns. HV Cable.png


Grid Redstone.png
Grid Lever.png
Grid Redstone.png


Grid 4xIns. HV Cable.png


Grid Splitter Cable.png


The Splitter Cable is a special cable which prevents EU from flowing through it when a redstone current is applied. They can handle up to 2048 EU/p.

Cable Efficiency[edit]

All cables suffer distance-related energy losses, and depending on the tier and insulation of the given cable, the losses can vary greatly. The general unit for cable efficiency is EU/block. It shows how much EU every EU Packet loses per block. The number is accumulated along the whole length of the cable, and then rounded down to the nearest integer. Therefore, if a distance is short enough, there will be no EU loss. For example, since Copper Cable loses 1 EU every 5 blocks, a 4 block long Insulated Copper Cable won't lose any EU.

Tin Cable Copper Cable Gold Cable HV Cable Glass Fibre Cable Detector / Splitter Cable
EU/b EU loss EU/b EU loss EU/b EU loss EU/b EU loss EU/b EU loss EU/b EU loss
Uninsulated 0.025 1 EU every 40 blocks 0.3 1 EU every 3.33 blocks 0.5 1 EU every 2 blocks 1.0 1 EU every block 0.025 1 EU every 40 blocks 0.5 1 EU every 2 blocks
Insulated (1") --- 0.2 1 EU every 5 blocks 0.45 1 EU every 2.22 blocks 0.95 1 EU every 1.05 blocks --- ---
Insulated (2") --- --- 0.4 1 EU every 2.5 blocks 0.9 1 EU every 1.11 blocks --- ---
Insulated (3") --- --- --- 0.8 1 EU every 1.25 blocks --- ---

Voltage Efficiency[edit]

Depending on the EU/p traveling through a cable it may be more efficient to use higher voltage cables and packets. This is because EU/b isn't applied on the total EU/t that travels the cable but on every single EU-Packet. So an insulated copper cable carrying 384 EU/t over 10 Blocks is actually carrying 12*32 EU-Packets and instead of: 384EU-2EU=382EU you get: 32EU*12-2*12=360EU. But when using 128 EU-Packets and 2x Insulated Gold Cables you get: 128EU*3-4*3=372EU. In this example this is a difference of 12 EU over 10 Blocks.

What can be concluded from a cursory glance over the numbers is that, when using maximum allowable voltage, Copper cables are actually the most lossy cable type (at 25.0% per 40 blocks), followed by Tin (at 20.0% per 40 blocks), then Gold (at 12.5% per 40 blocks), then Iron (at 1.56% per 40 blocks), and the most lossless is Glass Fibre (at 0.195% per 40 blocks). Remember, these values only apply if current is passed at the highest voltage available for that cable type.

The formula for overall EU/b is: Combined EU/t divided by Desired packet size multiplied by Cable's EU/b per Packet equals Combined EU/b

Below is an example of different EU/t packed into different EU-Packets and carried with different cables, cables are full insulated, EU-P equals EU-Packet, results are in Overall / Combined EU/b (not EU/b per Packet), results can't be rounded down to nearest integer.

Example EU/t Tin Cable Copper Cable 1" Gold Cable 2" HV Cable 3" Glass Fibre Cable
2 EU-P 2 EU-P 32 EU-P 2 EU-P 32 EU-P 128 EU-P 2 EU-P 32 EU-P 128 EU-P 512 EU-P 2048 EU-P 2 EU-P 32 EU-P 128 EU-P 512 EU-P
2 EU/t 0.025 0.2 0.0125 0.4 0.025 0.00625 0.8 0.05 0.0125 0.003125 0.000781 0.025 0.00156 0.00039 0.000097
10 EU/t 0.125 1.0 0.625 2.0 0.125 0.0312 4.0 0.25 0.0625 0.0156 0.0039 0.125 0.00781 0.00195 0.000488
100 EU/t 1.25 10.0 0.625 20.0 1.25 0.312 40.0 2.5 0.625 0.156 0.039 1.25 0.078 0.0195 0.00488
500 EU/t 6.25 50.0 3.125 100.0 6.25 1.56 200.0 12.5 3.125 0.781 0.195 6.25 0.39 0.097 0.024
2000 EU/t 25 200 12.5 400 25 6.25 800 50 12.5 3.125 0.781 25 1.56 0.39 0.097
percentual EU/b 1.25% 10% 0.625% 20% 1.25% 0.315% 40% 2.5% 0.625% 0.156% 0.039% 1.25% 0.078% 0.0195% 0.0048%
  • Blue color indicates that EU-Packets under 32 EU can't be obtained by transforming. They can only be generated with generators as they always emit EU-Packages the size of their output EU.
  • Green color indicates the optimal EU-Package for that EU/t example. Blue fields are ignored.
  • Orange color and red color indicates sub-optimal EU-Packages.

Cable Splitting[edit]

Up to 4 cables can connect to one cable. Current will only flow through a cable when requested by a consumer if the loss from the cable length will allow some energy to get to the consumer. i.e. a Batbox (32EU) will send across insulated copper to a furnace up to 155 blocks away (5x31). No energy will be sent to anything 156 blocks away.

Keep in mind, however, that an excessive number of cable intersections will increase strain on your CPU (and more importantly, the server, when playing on a multi-player server). Don't do things like having rows of adjacent cables with every block connected to every other block. Also, separate cables connected to an energy storage device (BatBox, etc.) or transformer do not count as a cable intersection, so take advantage of that when possible.