Running The Charcoal and Kerosene Newcomen Pumps

Spoonwood · 2025-08-30 18:06:00

First thing, if you get born into one of the towns, you won't know what part of the water making process the pump you have stands at. You might also have a kerosene newcomen pump with a wick burner inside of it: https://onetech.info/2348-Kerosene-Wick-Burner The kerosene newcomen pump has advantages to it.

0. Using a kerosene newcomen pump doesn't produce less water in the long run. For reference, see this discussion of this back here a while back: https://www.onehouronelife.com/forums/v … p?id=10181

1. For each bucket of water used to run the pump, the charcoal pump gives 4 buckets of water. Thus, we have a 1/4 ratio of used buckets of water to produced buckets of water when running a charcoal pump. With the kerosene newcomen pump, we have a 1/8 ratio of used buckets of water to produced buckets of water.

2. The water ends up more mobile with the kerosene newcomen pump since the tank ends up bigger. Of course, mobile water has a disdavantage also, since we don't know who moved the tank of water. Hence, oil makers have sometimes liked an 8 bucket tank of water for when making oil.

3. The kerosene newcomen pump can be difficult to distinguish from the charcoal pump visually. If you can't see the difference, it can be easy to take out the kerosene wick burner.

4. Figuring out the next step of what to do in running the pump requires knowing what step of the process the pump sits at (or what the last action to run the pump consisted of).

5. The crafting hints system that comes with YumLife and YummyLife mods do NOT tell what step of the process the pump sits at. On the other hand, the game's default crafting guide DOES tell you the part of the process the pump sits at. The crafting hints system can get disabled while using YummyLife mod by the change of one flag (iirs, one 'yes' to a 'no' or conversely).

So, when playing in a new town to you where you have a pump or any town reall, I suggest that you first hold some object and try to throw it in the pump. Maybe it's a piece of adobe. Or maybe you use a basket. Or maybe you use a fire stick. Or a rubber tire. Heck, maybe even joke with yourself that you're trying to grief the adobe or basket. I do not recommend using a tank though, since you need to have a wick burner inside of a charcoal pump with water in it. After you've tried to grief the rubber tire or whatever, then you can figure out the next step.

PeaGirl · 2026-04-11 22:04:51

This is relatively good to remember. It's however little troubling when you don't know fully at which state the newcomen pump is at, so wick burner ends up becoming more convenient item early on some families while others go with memory when playing longer.

pein · 2026-04-12 20:50:43

rare instances where spoon is revived

the big water tanks are op
you could even start a city anywhere with them if you think about it
more reasons why the 3x3 farms around a well make no sense

it's weirdly more powerful than engine wells, it's less convenient but it's worth doing it
especially with revived cities where another nearby well spot opens up, like Pearl was 200 generations in and never made his own well yet.

It has to be wet to install the wick burner so it needs an extra rubber, and it can also run out right after converting it which I found very weird. it's generally best just to use most of the kerosene on it and remove it once you finished. keeping a tank for starting up the mine engine or trucks.

Rushing cisterns and emptying the well is quite powerful. But then most newbies don't understand whats the next step. especially that this one is not hinted or easy to assume.
getting rubber is not that hard on low pop which is often, but you could rush it all you want and might not ever run out.

With the surge of new players most cities reach the Newcomen stage If they survive the early rush to tools. There were several oil wells and even more tarry spots in between along the road, we had to carry oil from town to town and barely gets used, and the bottleneck is empty tanks not oil or manpower. Sometimes information, because even with maps it is not often finished. And some people just lose horses and trucks with all the oil inside them. But even towns 5000 east got revived and then you got options to get more oil nearby in low pop.

On a somewhat related note: keep the tools in dead towns, especially the adze and pick. You can disassemble wall boxes with an adze, convert to sledges, break down large boxes into small ones, convert to chests with sledges, then break those down and get back ropes. With threads on the wall make lassos then you can remake the large boxes in the fence in the next city. if you aren't using it up, at least the next city can store it the same way. With a truck, taking the boards might be viable. Or just remake them in the new location.

Swamp farms are also easy, just plant them once and they need no water, so then you got enough boards to cover buildings, chests, boxes, carts and enough buckets. People cut the clsoest trees and gets hard to make a fire. They still keep making kindling out of firewood which is why it should give at least 2-4 of it to make it worth.

One Hour One Life Forums

#1 2025-08-30 18:06:00

Running The Charcoal and Kerosene Newcomen Pumps

#2 2026-04-11 22:04:51

Re: Running The Charcoal and Kerosene Newcomen Pumps

#3 2026-04-12 20:50:43

Re: Running The Charcoal and Kerosene Newcomen Pumps

Board footer