The Energy Link is equivalent to Forestry's Electrical Engine.
Energy Link used in between an IC2 power source and Buildcraft machine.
Sample Energy Efficiency Test Setup
As it converts electrical energy (EU) to mechanical energy (MJ). The mechanical energy produced can then be used by machines that require MJ energy (e.g. a Quarry), or the Energy Link can be placed directly beside a Wooden Transport Pipe or Wooden Waterproof Pipe to power it without an Engine. Note that this may cause massive pipe overflow as the energy link will draw all available power (far beyond the per-face limit listed below) to move single items or liquids at a high rate. (The wooden pipes have a rate limit of their own however). Sometimes, transport pipes may also bug and sometimes will not accept power. The player must place the Energy Link directly to the receiving machine, without a wire. It is fine to have a wire from the source.
There is a bug where the Energy Link does not output energy from the bottom side, but this only appears to occur on Multiplayer.
A quarry being powered from a energy link and a high voltage array, with excess power charging items
Recipe[]
2x Advanced Alloy
1x Copper Cable
2x Gold Gear
3x Redstone
1x Wooden Conductive Pipe
Passing energy from a filled EU Storage Device directly to an Energy Link, directly to an Engine Generator and back to secondary storage returns around 99.6% of the initial energy, meaning that the efficiency of the Energy Link is close to 100%.
A power source must be connected to one side of the Energy Link - the source can either be placed next to the Energy Link, or it can be connected using cables. The Energy Link must then be connected to the block which requires the mechanical energy - again, it can be placed next to the block or connected using conductive pipes. If using pipe, a wooden pipe is required, but it does not have to be externally powered.
This is useful, as it means that Powered Teleport Pipes can be used to transmit mechanical energy across large distances, allowing an Energy Link to be placed next to a power source and the mechanical energy to be used at much higher efficiency than if the electricity were to go through many blocks of cabling. In order for the Energy Link to output power into Conductive Pipes, a Wooden Conductive Pipe must be connected to the Energy Link before the Conductive Pipes. This method, unlike traditional cabling, has a fixed loss rate that does not depend on how far away the Energy Link is from the Engine Generator, meaning it will be much more efficient when transferring EU through very long distances, thus being a cheaper alternative for Glass Fibre Cables.
An Energy Link will drain up to 72 EU/t from a power source, per face used as an output. Each additional face used as an output can drain another 72 EU/t of power, but take care not to direct energy out via one Wooden Conductive Pipe and through another connected to an Energy Link, as this will reduce the overall output and make an EU-Reader give false readings.
The Energy Link can also be toggled on/off via redstone signal to any free side, which with the addition of Wireless Redstone's Wireless Transmitter and Wireless Receiver can allow for remote operation so long as both chunks are loaded.
Energy Links will continue to draw power as long as its on, but only if it is actually connected to an object which can (not necessarily actively) use MJ. Therefore, engines can be used to "suck" power from power sources, with it not going anywhere. The player must be careful so that the Engine is not pointed towards the Energy Link.
Tips[]
- If you have an HV power source do not put your energy link next to any redstone or steam engines or they will explode!