Steel Cruicble Bug?

[Tugboat]

I looked around the forum but did not see anyone else having this problem.

I filled a steel crucible full with blocks and sticks (orange fuel bar completely full). I came back 9 hours later to check on it and it was out, fuel was gone, and 36 hours of progress lost. Am I doing something wrong or is this broken? I thought - and so far this has worked - the full crucible load of fuel was 12 hours, but this was only 75% of that time. This is not the first time this has happened, either.

Thoughts?

[LadyV]

I looked around the forum but did not see anyone else having this problem.

I filled a steel crucible full with blocks and sticks (orange fuel bar completely full). I came back 9 hours later to check on it and it was out, fuel was gone, and 36 hours of progress lost. Am I doing something wrong or is this broken? I thought - and so far this has worked - the full crucible load of fuel was 12 hours, but this was only 75% of that time. This is not the first time this has happened, either.

Thoughts?

Fully loaded they last about 8 hours. I don't think mine has ever lasted 12. Anyone else confirm?

[Phinix]

I looked around the forum but did not see anyone else having this problem.

I filled a steel crucible full with blocks and sticks (orange fuel bar completely full). I came back 9 hours later to check on it and it was out, fuel was gone, and 36 hours of progress lost. Am I doing something wrong or is this broken? I thought - and so far this has worked - the full crucible load of fuel was 12 hours, but this was only 75% of that time. This is not the first time this has happened, either.

Thoughts?

Fully loaded they last about 8 hours. I don't think mine has ever lasted 12. Anyone else confirm?

Same here they run out faster than what the wiki says.

[CheetosPotato]

Thank goodness I read this before I started making steel. It would seem that the wiki needs to be revised.

[borka]

Well if it got changed it got changed in the last days

I started a steel cooking process with 3 timers at 6,8 and 10 hours set ... let's see what comes from it

Update: 10 hours test done - it's still 12 hours fueling ( blocks only)

[Morrighan]

I used coal consistently in mine, fully loading the crucibles, yet twice when I came back at 8 hour intervals the crucibles were out cold and I had to start from scratch. (this was around Christmas time) To keep them lit, I had to come back at 6 hour intervals to top up the fuel. I have entertained the thought that server crashes/reboot may have caused the shut down.

Edited to add...

It wasn't that I started the process, left 8 hours and came back and they were out both times. The first time I was almost done a full run and came back early to top up fuel (as I had been using 10 hour increments to make sure they stayed lit) The second was half way through. I only found out because I had to go out on both those occasions and I went to fuel up early so they wouldn't go out while I was away.

[Amanda44]

Yes, it seems to be totally inconsistent. I have spent a lot of time this world making steel and have found it safest to recheck every 6 hrs. I have never discovered what causes the differences, I always use blocks for fuel, fully fill and always set timers but it rarely lasts for 12 hrs or even 10hrs.
After losing a few batches I found I had success with an 8hr timer, but as Morrighan says above, I have also lost batches on the 8 hr timer, not very many, about 3 times but, all on the last stage which is incredibly frustrating.
Now I stick to the six hour check and since doing so have lost none.

[borka]

yep 6 hours is prolly the safest

[Phinix]

yep 6 hours is prolly the safest

I normally just refill the crucible with coal and than do something else and when I go off I refill them and then refill them when I get the time... it's really not that hard to make steel but it does take some time.

[Tugboat]

Thanks all for the thoughts. Up until this last one, I was doing pretty good checking at the 10-hr or so mark, and I usually had a little left in the fuel bin. I have shortened my check time to 6-7 hours and have not busted since doing so. Aside from server crashes, I wonder if there is just a little variability built into the burn cycle.

Anyway, thanks for sharing.