How do you clean grates?

[abjim]

Obviously just got started with S&I, and while running at full speed for some time the clean your grates warning comes up. I've looked in the manuals, but can't find a way to do it. Is it just a matter of slowing down? Hard to do when being chased by fast ships. I was going to ask about the top speed a ship can launch from the torpedo flat, but found that it's 25 kts.

[williammiller]

IIRC the 'fouled gates' warning is more of an information/alert item for the player, mostly to show that the ship has been going at so high a speed for so long that the propulsion machinery is becoming less efficient and your top speed thus suffers. As in real life there is little you can do about this (other than slowing down for a period of time) as whatever minimal corrective measures possible by the ships crew while at speed are already taken into account by the game engine.

[randomizer]

Sept 15, 2015 2:04:40 GMT -6 abjim said:

Obviously just got started with S&I, and while running at full speed for some time the clean your grates warning comes up. I've looked in the manuals, but can't find a way to do it. Is it just a matter of slowing down? Hard to do when being chased by fast ships. I was going to ask about the top speed a ship can launch from the torpedo flat, but found that it's 25 kts.

Welcome to the Forums. As William says and there are levels of fouling that drop your top speed one knot at a time. Slowing to 16-knots (14-knots in SAI-RJW as I recall) will begin the process of unfouling your boilers and I believe at between at 17 and 18 knots the increase to the rate of fouling is greatly reduced. The buildup of ash and clinker in the fire boxes was a very real problem in coal-fired ships running at high speed but it is important to remember that if slowing down when being chased is difficult, the pursuers are likely having similar issues.

[abjim]

Thanks, I feel better about it now, and will treat it like an engine warning light, not like a low oil pressure warning light.