Reversing Fuel Flow In Ksp: A Step-By-Step Guide

To change the fuel flow direction in KSP, you can adjust the fuel priority settings. By right-clicking on a fuel tank and increasing its priority, you can control the order in which the fuel is burned. Higher-priority tanks with the highest numbers will be drained first. Additionally, enabling advanced tweakables in the game settings can provide access to fuel priority buttons. Another option is to use parts that do not allow fuel flow between specific engine components and the wings. It is important to note that fuel lines and decouplers can also influence fuel flow direction and priority.

Use the fuel priority system to change the direction of fuel flow

To change the direction of fuel flow in KSP, you can use the fuel priority system. Here's a step-by-step guide:

• Right-click on the fuel tank you want to prioritize and increase its priority.
• Higher numbers get burned first, so make sure the tanks you want to drain first have the highest priority.
• Note that this won't prevent other engines from burning fuel from tanks with lower priorities, but it ensures that the higher priority tanks are accessed first.
• You may need to enable "advanced tweakables" in the game settings to see the fuel priority buttons.
• Additionally, you can use parts that do not allow fuel flow between certain tanks and engines.
• Refer to the part descriptions in the catalog, as some parts may have a warning in red, indicating no fuel crossfeed.

By adjusting the fuel priority and using specific parts, you can control the direction of fuel flow in your KSP rocket.

Enable 'advanced tweakables' in the game settings to see the fuel priority buttons

To change the fuel flow direction in Kerbal Space Program (KSP), you can adjust the fuel priority settings. This can be done by enabling advanced tweakables in the game settings.

• Go to the main settings page, which can be accessed from the menu.
• Look for the option to activate advanced tweakables and enable it.
• Now, when you right-click on a fuel tank, you will see the fuel priority buttons.
• Increase the priority of the wing tanks in front of the air-breathing engines so that they have the highest priority. The highest numbers will be burned first.
• Note that this will not prevent the air-breathers from burning fuel from the middle tanks, but it will ensure that the middle tanks are accessed last.

By enabling advanced tweakables, you will have more control over your fuel flow and can set the priority for each tank. This can be useful for optimizing your rocket's performance and ensuring that fuel is used efficiently.

Set the side tanks to a higher priority so they drain first

To change the fuel flow direction in KSP and set the side tanks to a higher priority so they drain first, follow these steps:

Right-click on the fuel tank and increase its priority by selecting a higher number. Higher numbers get burned first, so make sure to assign the highest priority to the wing tanks in front of the air-breathing engines. This will ensure that the side tanks drain first.

Note that this setup will not prevent the air-breathing engines from burning fuel from the middle tank. It simply ensures that the middle tank is accessed last.

Additionally, you may need to enable "advanced tweakables" in the game settings to access the fuel priority buttons.

Another user has suggested that you can achieve the same result by using parts that do not allow fuel flow between the fuel pods of the engine and the wing. You can identify these parts by looking for a small warning in red noting "no fuel crossfeed" in the part descriptions in the structural tab.

By setting the side tanks to a higher priority, you can control the fuel flow direction and ensure that the side tanks drain first, providing more flexibility and efficiency in your KSP designs.

Enable crossfeed on the decouplers to drain outer tanks first

To change the fuel flow direction in KSP, you can enable crossfeed on the decouplers. This will allow fuel to pass through the decouplers and drain the outer tanks first. By default, crossfeed is turned off on decouplers to prevent the launch stage from draining the payload stage's fuel.

To enable crossfeed, simply right-click on the decoupler and select the option to turn on crossfeed. This will allow fuel to flow through the decoupler in both directions.

It's important to note that crossfeed on decouplers may not always work as expected, especially with radial decouplers. In some cases, the fuel may still drain evenly from all tanks, or the decouplers may not work at all. In these cases, you may need to try other methods such as adjusting fuel priority or using fuel lines.

Additionally, crossfeed on decouplers seems to be most effective with jet engines, which draw fuel from all tanks equally. With liquid fuel engines, you may need to use fuel lines in addition to enabling crossfeed to achieve the desired fuel flow.

By enabling crossfeed on the decouplers, you can control the fuel flow direction and ensure that the outer tanks are drained first, providing more flexibility in your rocket designs.

Use fuel lines to direct fuel flow

To direct fuel flow in KSP, you can use fuel lines. Fuel lines allow fuel to flow in one direction only, from the tank with a higher priority to one with a lower priority. When adding a fuel line, click from the tank with higher priority, drag, and release on the tank with lower priority. Arrows on the fuel line will indicate the direction of the fuel flow.

However, fuel lines are not always necessary. If you are using a simple setup, you can enable crossfeed on the decouplers to achieve the same result.

It is also important to note that the staging sequence will affect the priority of tanks. Tanks that are set to decouple first will have higher priority by default. This means that they will be emptied first, followed by the tanks in the next stage of the sequence.

In addition, the type of tank you are using matters. For example, MK2 modules assume shared resources, so the direction of the fuel lines does not matter. Instead, the drop tank gets dropped into the shared pool.

Frequently asked questions