I have a 25 wide line of dispensers pointing upwards to dispense water to flood a 25x7 area. I tried powering them with a line of redstone dust underneath but it doesn't do anything. I then put a line of blocks underneath them and put repeaters pointing into the side of those blocks with redstone powering the repeaters and this works until I reach the 16 block redstone limit. So I made a branch off to the side of the dust and put a repeater there to continue the signal, but when I press the button to turn off the dispensers the repeaters stay powered.
I have tried to figure something out using redstone torches but I would need them all to be in the off state by default so that when I activate the lever/press the button it turns them out and activates the dispensers but no idea how to make this happen. Is there a simple way to do wire up bucket dispensers so that they're on/off via a simple stone lever?
I have a 25 wide line of dispensers pointing upwards to dispense water to flood a 25x7 area. I tried powering them with a line of redstone dust underneath but it doesn't do anything. I then put a line of blocks underneath them and put repeaters pointing into the side of those blocks with redstone powering the repeaters and this works until I reach the 16 block redstone limit. So I made a branch off to the side of the dust and put a repeater there to continue the signal, but when I press the button to turn off the dispensers the repeaters stay powered.
I have tried to figure something out using redstone torches but I would need them all to be in the off state by default so that when I activate the lever/press the button it turns them out and activates the dispensers but no idea how to make this happen. Is there a simple way to do wire up bucket dispensers so that they're on/off via a simple stone lever?
Thanks!
Redstone dust [RSD] underneath doesn't work because a dispenser needs one of the six blocks next to it (no diagonals) to be powered (which requires a 'solid' block) and RSD is not a 'solid' block.
In all cases controlling a dispenser directly with a lever will require flipping the lever ON-Off to dispense the water and ON-Off again to retract it. (Dispensers only act on recieving a pulse.)
Powering the blocks underneather (as you've been doing) will work.
(Using RS-torches would mean needing to power the blocks to which the torches are attached to get them to change state which merely moves the issue a bit farther away…
You can, however, set a row of blocks diagonally below the dispensers with RS-torches directly beneath the dispensers and run a line of RSD on top of this row of blocks: this would have the RSD powering the blocks which power (turn-off) the RS torches.
If you were to control this line of RSD via another RS-torch and attach a lever to the block supporting that torch, you would have a line of normally off RS-torches under the dispensers.
Note that there would need to be something above the line of RSD to prevent its being destroyed by the dispensed water.)
[Not to belabor the obvious, but (in light of the turn-around time for forum query/answer cycles)…
the dispensed water sources need to be greater than two apart (to prevent generating additional water sources)]
Not understanding why the repeaters are remaining powered… this may be due to an unintended loop in the power line alowing the line to power itself. (Picture likely needed.)
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"Why does everything have to be so stoopid?" Harvey Pekar (from American Splendor)
WARNING: I have an extemely "grindy" playstyle; YMMV — if this doesn't seem fun to you, mine what you can from it & bin the rest.
OK thanks but not really understanding any of that. The dispensers are pointing upwards at floor level so unable to put blocks diagonally with RSD on it. I can only power them from underneath. Do you have any pics of how this can be done please? I have searched the entire youtube site and there are no videos on this. This video is about the closest I could find for powering them from underneath so I'm wondering if something from this could be adapted for my needs as I only need one straight line of dispensers powering?
I've uploaded a few screenies so you can see. This is just a test width at 11 wide but will be wider eventually. In this test I realise I can just move the lever 1 block closer and the signal will be long enough to reach the last dispenser but when there are 25 of them it won't. The problem is the repeater is generating its own power and stays lit when the lever is switched off. I've tried moving it around in different positions and adding other repeaters, raising and lowering the level but I'm unable to find a solution. The dispensers are above the blocks that the repeaters are pointing into.
The easiest solution would be to power the line from the middle, either putting the switch there, pic1 or having a separate redstone line to a repeter, pic2.
If you don't want a wide tunnel all the way under the floor but have room in the middle pic3 shows how to refresh the signal without it locking. (The signal comes in from the left.)
--
If the timing isn't critical you can leave out half of the repeaters, pic4.
--
Or if you have the signal running on both sides you only need repeaters to boost the signal, pic5.
Hex that's brilliant thanks! I never thought of powering them from the middle like your pic 2. So obvious when you think about it and that would instantly solve the issue. Might have to move some stuff around but should be workable. Pic 3 works great and that was what I was originally wanting. I gave pic 4 a try but it makes the water stream go derpy when pulling the water buckets back in by leaving some strange source blocks over some of the dispensers even though even dispenser has its full water bucket in it. I went back to using pic 3 for now and it works flawlessly thanks.
Now, is there a way I can make the lever an on/off switch to dispense and retract the water without having to activate it twice for each cycle please?
When using dispensers for the water there is a certain risk that they will get out of sync, with some dispensers putting out water when they should be retracting it, in general I believe that designs with pistons moving blocks to release or block water are more reliable, though with your build it may be hard to fit the pistons in, perhaps they could be built into the ceiling. Or you could just be aware that you might have to reset the water every once and a while (by removing water with buckets and replacing the empty buckets in the dispensers.)
I want it on a permanent on/off toggle lever, not a timer. It's to push cows to a fence line so that I can whack them all with sweeping edge. Once they're all dead I then toggle the water off. Can they work by on/off toggle is it not possible?
I did have some problems with the water getting out of sync with my original wiring but yours seems solid.
Just replace the switch with a button and push the button to switch the water on or off?
It doesn't matter whether it's a lever or a button, they both still requires 2 activations to either turn the water on or off. Is it not possible for the water to be off in the 'off' position on the lever and by moving it to the 'on' position the water comes out, then move it to 'off' and it stops? It's not the end of the world but I don't like having to double press them.
No, the lever has to be turned on and then off to switch the water (or, if wired directly to the dispenser without the redstone torch off and then on)
The button has to be turned on, by pressing it, then it turns itself off automatically so pressing the button gives the same result as flipping the switch twice.
Sorry I beg your pardon, you are right! I have just tried it again with a button and it is only one press required to turn on/off. Brilliant! That works for me.
Hello.
I have a 25 wide line of dispensers pointing upwards to dispense water to flood a 25x7 area. I tried powering them with a line of redstone dust underneath but it doesn't do anything. I then put a line of blocks underneath them and put repeaters pointing into the side of those blocks with redstone powering the repeaters and this works until I reach the 16 block redstone limit. So I made a branch off to the side of the dust and put a repeater there to continue the signal, but when I press the button to turn off the dispensers the repeaters stay powered.
I have tried to figure something out using redstone torches but I would need them all to be in the off state by default so that when I activate the lever/press the button it turns them out and activates the dispensers but no idea how to make this happen. Is there a simple way to do wire up bucket dispensers so that they're on/off via a simple stone lever?
Thanks!
Redstone dust [RSD] underneath doesn't work because a dispenser needs one of the six blocks next to it (no diagonals) to be powered (which requires a 'solid' block) and RSD is not a 'solid' block.
In all cases controlling a dispenser directly with a lever will require flipping the lever ON-Off to dispense the water and ON-Off again to retract it. (Dispensers only act on recieving a pulse.)
Adding a dual edge detector (qv. https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Pulse_circuit#Dual_edge_detector ) between the lever and the dispenser will trigger the dispenser once when turned on and once when turned off.
Powering the blocks underneather (as you've been doing) will work.
(Using RS-torches would mean needing to power the blocks to which the torches are attached to get them to change state which merely moves the issue a bit farther away…
You can, however, set a row of blocks diagonally below the dispensers with RS-torches directly beneath the dispensers and run a line of RSD on top of this row of blocks: this would have the RSD powering the blocks which power (turn-off) the RS torches.
If you were to control this line of RSD via another RS-torch and attach a lever to the block supporting that torch, you would have a line of normally off RS-torches under the dispensers.
Note that there would need to be something above the line of RSD to prevent its being destroyed by the dispensed water.)
[Not to belabor the obvious, but (in light of the turn-around time for forum query/answer cycles)…
the dispensed water sources need to be greater than two apart (to prevent generating additional water sources)]
Not understanding why the repeaters are remaining powered… this may be due to an unintended loop in the power line alowing the line to power itself. (Picture likely needed.)
OK thanks but not really understanding any of that. The dispensers are pointing upwards at floor level so unable to put blocks diagonally with RSD on it. I can only power them from underneath. Do you have any pics of how this can be done please? I have searched the entire youtube site and there are no videos on this. This video is about the closest I could find for powering them from underneath so I'm wondering if something from this could be adapted for my needs as I only need one straight line of dispensers powering?
I have plenty of space available underneath.
I've uploaded a few screenies so you can see. This is just a test width at 11 wide but will be wider eventually. In this test I realise I can just move the lever 1 block closer and the signal will be long enough to reach the last dispenser but when there are 25 of them it won't. The problem is the repeater is generating its own power and stays lit when the lever is switched off. I've tried moving it around in different positions and adding other repeaters, raising and lowering the level but I'm unable to find a solution. The dispensers are above the blocks that the repeaters are pointing into.
https://imgur.com/a/12qR4s2
Edit: https://i.imgur.com/OEo5bQj.png This seems to work and all dispensers turn off now. But are there any simpler methods?
The easiest solution would be to power the line from the middle, either putting the switch there, pic1 or having a separate redstone line to a repeter, pic2.
If you don't want a wide tunnel all the way under the floor but have room in the middle pic3 shows how to refresh the signal without it locking. (The signal comes in from the left.)
--
If the timing isn't critical you can leave out half of the repeaters, pic4.
--
Or if you have the signal running on both sides you only need repeaters to boost the signal, pic5.
Just testing.
Hex that's brilliant thanks! I never thought of powering them from the middle like your pic 2. So obvious when you think about it and that would instantly solve the issue. Might have to move some stuff around but should be workable. Pic 3 works great and that was what I was originally wanting. I gave pic 4 a try but it makes the water stream go derpy when pulling the water buckets back in by leaving some strange source blocks over some of the dispensers even though even dispenser has its full water bucket in it. I went back to using pic 3 for now and it works flawlessly thanks.
Now, is there a way I can make the lever an on/off switch to dispense and retract the water without having to activate it twice for each cycle please?
This is one of the simplest ways.
To adjust how long the water stays on you can add more repeaters to the closest string and adjust the length of their delays.
--
There are lots of other ways depending on how long you want the water to stay on.
This particular one cant be used for much shorter times and if you want a long time it takes a lot of repeaters.
For long times there are designs with hoppers passing items back and forth.
https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Pulse_circuit/hopper-clock_pulse_extender
--
When using dispensers for the water there is a certain risk that they will get out of sync, with some dispensers putting out water when they should be retracting it, in general I believe that designs with pistons moving blocks to release or block water are more reliable, though with your build it may be hard to fit the pistons in, perhaps they could be built into the ceiling. Or you could just be aware that you might have to reset the water every once and a while (by removing water with buckets and replacing the empty buckets in the dispensers.)
Just testing.
I want it on a permanent on/off toggle lever, not a timer. It's to push cows to a fence line so that I can whack them all with sweeping edge. Once they're all dead I then toggle the water off. Can they work by on/off toggle is it not possible?
I did have some problems with the water getting out of sync with my original wiring but yours seems solid.
Just replace the switch with a button and push the button to switch the water on or off?
Just testing.
It doesn't matter whether it's a lever or a button, they both still requires 2 activations to either turn the water on or off. Is it not possible for the water to be off in the 'off' position on the lever and by moving it to the 'on' position the water comes out, then move it to 'off' and it stops? It's not the end of the world but I don't like having to double press them.
No, the lever has to be turned on and then off to switch the water (or, if wired directly to the dispenser without the redstone torch off and then on)
The button has to be turned on, by pressing it, then it turns itself off automatically so pressing the button gives the same result as flipping the switch twice.
Just testing.
Sorry I beg your pardon, you are right! I have just tried it again with a button and it is only one press required to turn on/off. Brilliant! That works for me.
Great!
Just testing.