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I have a windmill and it is transmitting power to a gear assembly below. The gear assembly is connect to an axle so it looks like this:

ground level: X is windmill

XXX
XXX
XXX

below:

G is gear A is axle

OOO
OGO
OAO
OAO
OGO

DF says this is all powered, so no problems yet. I built my pump so that it's half on the bottom G, ie. the gear assembly is directly one tile below my pump. However it does not have power. Any ideas?

Edit: Sideview would be

   WWW P
    GAAG
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Honestly, it might be simpler (and its definitely more efficient!) to just build the windmill directly above your screwpump. – Raven Dreamer♦ Oct 16 '11 at 22:42

2 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

A windmill produces 0, 20, or 40 power depending on the embark location. Each gear assembly consumes 5 power, and each tile of axle consumes 1, so your power transmission already consumes 12 power. A pump needs another 10, which brings you to 22 requirement. So if your windmill produces 20 power, that's enough for the whole power line, but just a tad too little for the pump.

According to the DF wiki page on pumps, pumps can be powered from below, but only on the output tile, and that tile must have its floor removed before construction of the pump.

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Correct. You're doing to need to hook another windmill up to the gear assembly. – Shadur Oct 16 '11 at 19:19
My windmill produces 40 power. Perhaps you can't power a screwpump from below? – SLC Oct 17 '11 at 8:21
@SLC that might be an issue. Check df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Pump#Example_layouts . If you want to power the pump from below, you need to put the output tile above the gear assembly, and first, you need to remove the floor below the output tile. – Hackworth Oct 17 '11 at 9:10
I see, it's possible I have the input tile above it not the output tile. I'll give that a shot! – SLC Oct 17 '11 at 17:50
up vote 2 down vote

You need to channel a hole, in the tile under the center of the windmill, before building it - otherwise the floor prevents the power from transferring through.

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