Inlet and Outlet Pumps are mechanisms used to transport liquids (water, lava, honey, and shimmer), without having to construct pathways through blocks or rely on gravity. Instead, an Inlet and Outlet Pump need only be connected to each other with Wires and activated, which transfers fluid from the Inlet to the Outlet. Each activation transfers up to four tiles of liquid. For continuous automated pumping, a timer can be used.
Despite its appearance as a pipe that takes in liquid from beside it, an Inlet Pump must be submerged in liquid, as it removes liquid that lies directly over its graphic, and does so equally from all of its 2×2 tile space. Similarly, an Outlet Pump spawns liquid directly over its graphic, and does so equally over all of its 2×2 tile space.
Crafting[]
Recipes[]
Result | Ingredients | Crafting station |
---|---|---|
Inlet Pump | Iron Anvil or Lead Anvil | |
Outlet Pump |
Notes[]
- If the Outlet Pump becomes completely submerged, it will stop pumping.
- When used to transport lava, a pump already submerged in lava cannot be reused without destroying it, so it will immediately fall into the lava. Therefore, the lava must be removed first to recover the pump. When a pump is used, it is possible that some liquid will appear. If you use a timer, this effect can be exploited. See also: Guide:Making liquid. Even though several pumps can be connected with the same cable layout, the number of liquid units transferred per operation does not result in needing more cables.
- Up to 5 Inlets and 5 Outlets can be connected using a single path of Wires. The fluid transfer rate is increased accordingly, without the need for additional Wires to act as "pipes".
- If there are more than 5 Inlets connected to more than 5 Outlets, then the 5 Inlets closest to the power source along the Wire will transfer liquid to the 5 Outlets closest to the power source along the Wire.
- An Inlet Pump will only take up liquid if it is connected to an Outlet Pump.
- It is possible to place a liquid sensor directly under the outlet pump and connect it in such a way so that the water coming from the pump activates the sensor, which then activates the pump, which then activates the sensor, and so on. This causes the pumps to continue indefinitely, until the inlet pump runs out of water, or the outlet pump becomes submerged.
Assuming the Inlet Pump is fully submerged, Outlet Pumps produce slightly more liquid than the Inlet Pumps take in.
Tips[]
- In Old-gen console, Windows Phone, Old Chinese, , and tModLoader Legacy versions, The Outlet Pump's ability to produce more liquid than an Input Pump takes in can be exploited in multiple ways:
- Tanks of liquid can be created by repeatedly sending liquids through a pump system. Only enough liquid to submerge the Inlet Pump is required, and any extra liquid produced from the Outlet Pump can be used to fill the tank, providing infinite liquid as long as a separate tank for actually producing the duplicate liquid is maintained.
- Using this gimmick, Obsidian/Crispy Honey Blocks/Honey Blocks can be mass-produced through the duplicated liquids.
- Ponds of water, such as fishing ponds, can easily be created using only a small amount of liquid.
- Tanks of liquid can be created by repeatedly sending liquids through a pump system. Only enough liquid to submerge the Inlet Pump is required, and any extra liquid produced from the Outlet Pump can be used to fill the tank, providing infinite liquid as long as a separate tank for actually producing the duplicate liquid is maintained.
- Lava falls can be made by using pumps, which can be used as an NPC-killing device or a means of protecting one's house from enemies.
- While of little use compared to lava falls, aesthetic waterfalls can also be made using Pumps.
- In item form, Pumps have a white rarity and will be destroyed when submerged in lava. While this is not an issue with other liquids, take care to ensure that the pump never becomes unseated while any lava is present, such as by mining the Inlet, or by placing the outlet on a platform (as lava removes all platforms except obsidian or stone). First drain the lava or convert it to solid blocks before attempting to remove the pump.
Trivia[]
- Both pumps' tool-tips wrongly describe that they are used to send or receive only water, whereas they send and receive any liquid.
History[]
- Desktop 1.4.4.2: Fixed Pumps turning Lava and Honey into Water.
- Desktop 1.4.0.1: Removed a glitch where outlet pumps would produce more liquid than they take in
- Desktop 1.2.0.2: Pumping honey will no longer turn honey into water.
- Desktop 1.2: Stack limit increased from 250 to 999 and maximum distance increased from 1000 to 2000 wire.
- Desktop 1.1: Introduced.
- Console-Release: Introduced.
- Switch 1.0.711.6: Introduced.
- Mobile-Release: Introduced.
- 3DS-Release: Introduced.