Sandustry lava guide

Prepare the destination before mining Lava

Find a Lava pocket below the early factory, but do not open the whole cavern as soon as you see it. Clear a standing area, light the route, and decide where the transported heat will be used. The useful transport state is Cinder, so the destination needs a sealed Cinder drop and a separate chamber where heat can turn it back into Lava.

Build the receiving basin from solid walls before carrying the first load. Leave a small recovery pocket at the lowest point and keep Water, Snow, Ice, Seeds, and production outputs outside the room. One open tile can send the restored liquid into a belt shaft or steam system that was not designed for it.

• Reserve a sealed basin with no shared floor drain.
• Keep the cold tool and a solid-material removal route nearby.
• Test the walk back to the factory before carrying Cinder.

Freeze and transport Lava as Cinder

Apply cold at the edge of the Lava until the contacted material becomes Cinder. Work from a safe edge rather than standing below an open pocket. Mine or loosen a small amount, collect the solid, and move it with the Grabber, Vacuum, belts, or another solid-material route available in your current build.

Normal Pumps and Liquid Vents do not provide the verified Lava transport path. Treat every pipe-based Lava layout as unsupported unless the current game version demonstrates it. Cinder is easier to count, store, and stop before it reaches the destination chamber.

Move one test batch first. If stray Cinder falls through the floor or joins another material lane, repair the route before collecting more from the source pocket.

• Freeze from the outside of the pocket inward.
• Keep Cinder separate from Copper and other dark solids.
• Stop the transport line before opening the destination basin.

Restore Lava inside a sealed chamber

Drop the Cinder into the prepared basin and apply enough heat with the Flamethrower or the heated setup available to you. Watch the first particles change state and confirm the liquid remains inside the intended floor profile.

Do not release the full stockpile while the test batch is still changing. A thin batch exposes more material to heat and makes the boundary easy to inspect. Once the restored Lava sits against the intended Thermal Buffers without leaking, increase the stored amount in controlled batches.

• Close the Cinder input before heating.
• Inspect corners and wall joins while the first liquid spreads.
• Keep the cold recovery tool outside the chamber, not above the Lava.

Connect heat to Copper or Steam production

Use the contained Lava to charge adjacent thermal structures, support Copper smelting, or vaporize Water in a separated steam room. Keep the hot basin and Water reservoir divided so only the intended interface transfers heat.

Watch the receiving machine rather than the Lava volume alone. Copper that stops melting or Water that stops producing Steam can indicate poor contact, an exhausted thermal path, or cold material entering the chamber. Increase thermal contact only after ruling out a blocked output.

Recover from a spill without spreading it

Stop incoming Cinder and shut down any nearby material feed. Freeze exposed Lava from the outside edge, remove the new Cinder, and repeat until the spill no longer moves. Clearing the surrounding belts first prevents a recovered solid from joining a production line.

After cleanup, run another single-batch test. The recovery pocket should catch missed particles without sending them under the room. If it does not, enlarge or deepen that pocket before restarting normal heat production.