Stark's Arc Reactor Fuel Consumption

[Batman]

Transporter pattern buffer. How else do you think I manage to fit all the stuff I routinely carry around into an utility belt that for most of my career didn't even have pockets?

[TOSDOC]

I believe every word you said.

What was the consensus for Stark losing power at the end of Avengers, then, that he used it up or that it simply wasn't designed to function in the vacuum of space? (I personally hold with the latter).

[Gandalf]

I just assumed he'd run out of power, using the last of it to push the missile into the portal. Though that's a bit odd, because earlier in the film they showed Thor seemingly being able to change the suit with his lightning.

[InsaneTD]

That's also two different suits, it might not have taken power like the earlier suit and then they didn't have time for Thor to power up the suit. That begs the question though, how did the suit store all that extra energy? I can't see Tony putting in enough energy storage to hold that much extra power, and there aren't that many storage mediums that could be over charged like that either.

[Enigma]

That's also two different suits, it might not have taken power like the earlier suit and then they didn't have time for Thor to power up the suit. That begs the question though, how did the suit store all that extra energy? I can't see Tony putting in enough energy storage to hold that much extra power, and there aren't that many storage mediums that could be over charged like that either.

I don't think Tony knew it would hold the charge. It was a surprise to him. Maybe he just over builds his armors.

[Darmalus]

Maybe his suits have really big capacitors that the reactor is constantly charging, and Tony was surprised that it was successfully charged by an impromptu outside source?

[InsaneTD]

That could explain why it runs out of power. Though I've never heard of a capacitor that can take a four times overcharge.

[sarevok2]

How did War Machine kept his suit running when Rhodes and Tony developed a rift in IM2 and Rhodes took the suit to the air force ? Would not the US government need Tonys help to keep the ARC reactor in the suit fuelled ?

[Elheru Aran]

How did War Machine kept his suit running when Rhodes and Tony developed a rift in IM2 and Rhodes took the suit to the air force ? Would not the US government need Tonys help to keep the ARC reactor in the suit fuelled ?

I believe Rhodes didn't do much with it other than just try to knock Tony around a bit and fly it to the AF base. That's not a whole lot of activity there, and it's quite possible Tony's managed to streamline creating arc reactors to the point that he can just stick a fully-loaded one into every suit he has, as you can see in IM3.

Which does raise the question of why the hell doesn't he decide to just open a factory for commercial production of arc reactors in that size to power everything on the planet, but that's a whole other story in and of its own along with 'why doesn't Reed Richards fix everything' or 'why doesn't Doctor Doom rule the planet yet'...

[Terralthra]

How did War Machine kept his suit running when Rhodes and Tony developed a rift in IM2 and Rhodes took the suit to the air force ? Would not the US government need Tonys help to keep the ARC reactor in the suit fuelled ?

I believe Rhodes didn't do much with it other than just try to knock Tony around a bit and fly it to the AF base.

And participate in the demonstration at the Stark Expo and the final battle, but Vanko knows how to build arc reactors too, so he can presumably refuel it. What the government does to refuel the suit after Vanko is dead, I couldn't tell you.

Which does raise the question of why the hell doesn't he decide to just open a factory for commercial production of arc reactors in that size to power everything on the planet, but that's a whole other story in and of its own along with 'why doesn't Reed Richards fix everything' or 'why doesn't Doctor Doom rule the planet yet'...

Well, because he doesn't want that much power up for auction to the highest bidder. He's clear about that throughout the Iron Man movies: he built weapons that fell into "the wrong hands", thus he's keeping his new weapons (the Iron Man suit and its power source) in his own hands until and unless he can be sure they won't fall into the wrong ones.

[Elheru Aran]

How did War Machine kept his suit running when Rhodes and Tony developed a rift in IM2 and Rhodes took the suit to the air force ? Would not the US government need Tonys help to keep the ARC reactor in the suit fuelled ?

I believe Rhodes didn't do much with it other than just try to knock Tony around a bit and fly it to the AF base.

And participate in the demonstration at the Stark Expo and the final battle, but Vanko knows how to build arc reactors too, so he can presumably refuel it. What the government does to refuel the suit after Vanko is dead, I couldn't tell you.

My guess is that after IM2, whenever the War Machine suit needs gas, they call Tony or one of his guys and they show up with a fresh arc reactor for it to exchange for the old one.

Which does raise the question of why the hell doesn't he decide to just open a factory for commercial production of arc reactors in that size to power everything on the planet, but that's a whole other story in and of its own along with 'why doesn't Reed Richards fix everything' or 'why doesn't Doctor Doom rule the planet yet'...

Well, because he doesn't want that much power up for auction to the highest bidder. He's clear about that throughout the Iron Man movies: he built weapons that fell into "the wrong hands", thus he's keeping his new weapons (the Iron Man suit and its power source) in his own hands until and unless he can be sure they won't fall into the wrong ones.

I had forgotten about that point.

It strikes me though that given he's the only one (supposedly) who understands the tech, he would be in a position to have a serious monopoly over it. Granted, if he made a Stark-Mobile or some such, the first buyers would probably be fronts for major corporations who would immediately start tearing them apart to try and figure them out... so there's that.

He doesn't seem shy about sharing with SHIELD though, didn't he supply repulsor techology for the next generation Helicarriers? So he has to have a production line somewhere that he's cranking out arc reactors. He definitely had a production line for Iron Man suits (ref IM3).

[Gaidin]

He doesn't seem shy about sharing with SHIELD though, didn't he supply repulsor techology for the next generation Helicarriers? So he has to have a production line somewhere that he's cranking out arc reactors. He definitely had a production line for Iron Man suits (ref IM3).

A fairly large Arc Reactor was a publicity project at Stark's company. It's the small one that he very much wants to keep to himself. And a SHIELD agent was embedded into Stark's company for most of IM2. Why couldn't they just nab plans for an Arc Reactor and make it of the large size they needed to? Assuming they didn't just make a copy of the original sheet that was in Howard Stark's SHIELD box.

[InsaneTD]

The first big ARC reactor didn't actually work though, it used as much power as it provided, which was the reasons it was called a publicity stunt in the first movie. Tony did something that both miniaturized it, and upped it's efficiency. He then used that as the basis for bigger reactors.

[Gaidin]

The first big ARC reactor didn't actually work though, it used as much power as it provided, which was the reasons it was called a publicity stunt in the first movie. Tony did something that both miniaturized it, and upped it's efficiency. He then used that as the basis for bigger reactors.

Tony might have had the Eureka moment, doesn't mean they can't do their own extended research once they raid his back yard of anything and everything even if it came from before the Eureka moment. Let's not limit the world's brilliance to Tony Stark and Mr. Fantastic now. Especially when the movie world itself demonstrate SHIELD doing their own extended research on many different projects.

[Havok]

How did War Machine kept his suit running when Rhodes and Tony developed a rift in IM2 and Rhodes took the suit to the air force ? Would not the US government need Tonys help to keep the ARC reactor in the suit fuelled ?

I believe Rhodes didn't do much with it other than just try to knock Tony around a bit and fly it to the AF base. That's not a whole lot of activity there, and it's quite possible Tony's managed to streamline creating arc reactors to the point that he can just stick a fully-loaded one into every suit he has, as you can see in IM3.

Uh... Rhodey used the suit to fight Iron Man then fly it to the Air Force base then fight alongside Iron Man against Vanko. That's not just something you can do running on a battery. It clearly had it's own reactor.

[Ted C]

Isn't it supposed to run on palladium? I recall him saying he needed 1.6g for the first one he built, and he was changing over cartidges of palladium in IM2.

Palladium is a necessary component, but I don't think it's the fuel.

In IM2, he was apparently depleting the palladium cores from his reactor.

The palladium was degrading with use, but I still think it was more of a catalyst than a fuel.

[Ted C]

It has it's own juice, which is why it ejects when it's own power is spent, otherwise it would just stay on his wrist.

The beam lasers on the Mark VI were "one shots" that ejected after use. The beams on the Mark VII are tied into the suit's main power, so they can be reused, and they don't eject.

[Ted C]

I believe every word you said.

What was the consensus for Stark losing power at the end of Avengers, then, that he used it up or that it simply wasn't designed to function in the vacuum of space? (I personally hold with the latter).

In his dialogue with JARVIS, it was pretty clear that the suit was running out of power.

[Ted C]

I just assumed he'd run out of power, using the last of it to push the missile into the portal. Though that's a bit odd, because earlier in the film they showed Thor seemingly being able to change the suit with his lightning.

True, but that lightning strike also caused some noticeable damage. While that might be acceptable on a suit that's in good condition (early in Tony's fight with Thor), it might not be safe on one that's already sustained serious damage (prolonged battle with Chitauri).

[Crazedwraith]

Geez man. You can combine your posts. Don't need to post four in a row.

In IM2, he was apparently depleting the palladium cores from his reactor.

The palladium was degrading with use, but I still think it was more of a catalyst than a fuel.

It's weird. In IM1 it seemed like palladium was the stuff he used to create a ring for the arc reactor. That could have been a superconducting element or something but I always assumed it was fuel.

Then in IM2 the reactor had been redesign so it was just blocks of the stuff being used and that has a more fuel like connotation to me.

[TOSDOC]

I believe every word you said.

What was the consensus for Stark losing power at the end of Avengers, then, that he used it up or that it simply wasn't designed to function in the vacuum of space? (I personally hold with the latter).

In his dialogue with JARVIS, it was pretty clear that the suit was running out of power.

I watched the battle this morning, and it's not clear where it's pretty clear that was said. I followed where JARVIS said "We will run out of power before we cut through [that creature's] armor", but he doesn't mention suit power after that, just calling Pepper on the phone. Can you give me a time index?

[Crazedwraith]

I believe every word you said.

What was the consensus for Stark losing power at the end of Avengers, then, that he used it up or that it simply wasn't designed to function in the vacuum of space? (I personally hold with the latter).

In his dialogue with JARVIS, it was pretty clear that the suit was running out of power.

I watched the battle this morning, and it's not clear where it's pretty clear that was said. I followed where JARVIS said "We will run out of power before we cut through [that creature's] armor", but he doesn't mention suit power after that, just calling Pepper on the phone. Can you give me a time index?

When He finds out there's a nuke incoming. He tells JARVIS something like 'put everything into the engines' to which JARVIS responds 'I just did' and he rockets off. And then later 'save everything we've got left for the turn' suggesting he was running low by that point.

[Elheru Aran]

Would there be any way to screen-cap the helmet-cam scenes to get some idea of any dials or gauges that may be in Tony's vision? Of course the problem with that is knowing what the dials actually indicate, they're generally shown from the back (our viewpoint) as they face Tony for obvious reasons...

[TOSDOC]

When He finds out there's a nuke incoming. He tells JARVIS something like 'put everything into the engines' to which JARVIS responds 'I just did' and he rockets off. And then later 'save everything we've got left for the turn' suggesting he was running low by that point.

Ok, I caught the first line, but not the second. And the first only suggests to me he can't use the other systems such as weaponry, only propulsion. And steering. And sensors to track the nuke. And the exoskeleton to grab it and hold on. And comms to call Pepper.

So if he's out of fuel after clearing the portal, why does he wake up again? Doesn't he need the arcreactor to keep the shrapnel away from his heart?

And then he's standing when they confront Loki. Shouldn't the Hulk be carrying him over his shoulder? (That would have been awesome, by the way). Or did they replace the fuel on the way up to grab Loki? It seems to me he still had a little juice left in the suit at the end, it just stopped working in space. Or the reactor's got enough fuel to power the Mark VII enough to walk around, and it's got a separate fuel source onboard for flight, like when it caught up with him in his midair fall.

[Havok]

There are two arc reactors. One in the suit, one in Tony's chest. I don't think Stark is the type of guy to make one not have enough power to power the suit.