Cleanroom

The Cleanroom is a multiblock that provides a sterile environment inside it. More specifically, when running at 100% efficiency, it satisfies the "Needs Cleanroom" requirement for any machine that runs inside it. A Cleanroom at less than a 100% efficiency rating has a chance of voiding items equal to the difference between its current rating and one hundred. Potential loss only applies to recipes that require the Cleanroom.

How to Build
A cleanroom is a hollow, variable-sized structure. It is, at the very minimum, a 3x4x3 (WxHxD) structure and, at max, a 15x15x15 structure. The cleanroom's width and depth must be the same and odd. In other words, it should look like a square when looking down at it from above. It requires:


 * 1 Controller block; top-most layer, perfectly centered
 * Between 0 and 168 Filter Machine Casings; must fill all of the top layer except for the controller and the edges
 * 1 Maintenance Hatch; anywhere
 * 1 Energy hatch; anywhere. This powers the cleanroom only, not the machines inside.
 * Up to 1 Reinforced Door; can be opened/closed with a redstone signal and must be closed for 100% efficiency
 * Up to 1 Elevator block, in the floor.
 * Up to 1 Travel Anchor, in the floor.
 * Up to 10 Machine Hulls; anywhere that is not an edge. This can power the machines inside a cleanroom.
 * Plascrete Blocks everywhere else (up to five percent of these can be replaced with reinforced glass - note that it is very hard to move reinforced glass without breaking it)

Doing a "Needs Cleanroom" recipe in a cleanroom without 100% efficiency can potentially void items. The current efficiency is displayed via WAILA when looking at the controller. Be absolutely sure that your cleanroom is running at 100% efficiency during use, either with a Extra Utilities Portable Scanner or a GregTech Sensor Kit on an Industrial Information Panel. (Right click the Controller to bind the Sensor Kit to the controller.) Furthermore, for each maintenance issue it currently has, the cleanroom will have a 10% chance of voiding items for machines running a "Needs Cleanroom" recipe.

When at 100% efficiency, the cleanroom drains 4 EU/t. However, while it's charging up to that value (0% through 99%), the cleanroom will drain 40 EU/t. For this reason, it is recommended to have at least two amps of LV feeding into an LV energy hatch (or 1 amp of anything higher than LV feeding into an appropriate energy hatch).

Machine Hulls
Machine hulls allow players to transfer items, fluids, and energy (henceforth abbreviated as IFE) in and out of the cleanroom. Putting IFE into a hull is easy enough. Treat it basically like any other inventory/tank when transferring items/fluids and treat it like a machine face when transferring power, since it can accept GT cables.

On the other side of the hull, rightclicking with a wrench will control where the "dot" face points and this face will be where IFE comes out. Note that the hull does not auto output items and fluids. There will need to be something pulling items and/or fluids out of the hull on the other side. Attaching GT conveyor and GT pump covers on a hull does not work because it itself holds no EU (it merely transports it) to power the covers. However, attaching GT pipes with covers attached to them (screwdriver set to "import") will work. The same goes for covers attached to machine faces (screwdriver set to "import") facing the machine hull dot face.

EU is transferred directly to the cable or machine face the dot face is pointing at and does not need anything special "pulling" the EU out. A hull can only transfer as much energy as the tier of the hull. For example, an HV machine hull can only output an amp of HV.

Because there is a max of 10 machine hulls (regardless of cleanroom size), it is important to be efficient with hulls. A single dedicated output hull from inside the cleanroom to the outside is highly recommended, rather than having an output hull for each machine inside. A dedicated power line is recommended as well.

Sample Minimum Build
The following is a sample Cleanroom build of minimal size (26 Plascrete, no Filter Casings) with automation to get you started with HV circuits. Note that this setup requires that you use the Reinforced Door to swap out the lens - remember to close the door when you're done.

Top Layer: - 1 Cleanroom Controller: top layer, center - +8 Plascrete Blocks: top layer, edges Middle Top: - 1 MV Energy Hatch, rear middle - 1 MV Machine Hull, middle left (Item Input) - 1 Hopper, outside, pointing into Machine Hull - 1 Brass Pipe, inside center - 1 MV Conveyor Module, pointed left on Brass Pipe, set to Import (Screwdriver x1) - 1 Wooden Cover, pointed up on Brass Pipe (blocking the Cleanroom Controller) - 1 Chest (or other container), outside middle right - 0 Reinforced Door (top half) - 1 Lever, outside front right - +5 Plascrete Blocks: remainder Middle Bottom: - 1 MV Machine Hull, rear middle (Power Input) - 1 MV Advanced Precision Laser Engraver, inside center, set to Auto-Output Items - 1 MV Machine Hull, middle right (Item Output) - 1 Brass Pipe, outside middle right - 1 MV Conveyor Module, pointed left on Brass Pipe, set to Import (Screwdriver x1) (Note: this pipe should connect to the Chest on the Middle Top layer.) - 1 Maintenance Hatch, front left - 1 Reinforced Door (bottom half) - +4 Plascrete Blocks: remainder Bottom Layer: - +9 Plascrete Blocks Elsewhere: - 1 Industrial Information Panel - 1 Industrial Information Panel Extender - 1 Lever, behind Information Panel, on - 1 GregTech Sensor Kit - Settings: #3 Off

This setup can be upgraded - take a look at the Tips section below!

Tips

 * Do not forget about upgrading hulls when upgrading a cleanroom to handle higher tier voltage machines. Overvolting will result in disaster.
 * A "Needs Maintenance" cover will also come in handy for alerting players about maintenance issues. Since the Cleanroom runs constantly while powered, it generates maintenance issues more frequently than intermittent machines.
 * Zinc is a relatively rare resource early on in the game. Because of this, it is recommended to expand a cleanroom vertically before expanding horizontally. This allows the player to focus on building plascrete blocks instead, which is much easier to make.
 * It is highly recommended to use Ender IO item conduits and fluid conduits to transfer items/fluids. Since different types of conduits are allowed to be placed in the same block, this greatly simplifies piping logic in and out of the cleanroom.
 * One can transfer multiple amps of energy into a cleanroom by up-transforming prior to sending energy into a hull and down-transforming inside the cleanroom. Be careful and remember that the correct voltage tier hull must be used when doing this.
 * You can use an elevator or other forms of teleportation to enter the cleanroom without opening the door.
 * Pollution does not affect cleanroom efficiency in any way, so it would also be possible to have combustion and gas generators running directly inside the cleanroom as a dedicated power source, so as not to deal with any wiring through hulls.
 * In order to get access to your ME Systeme inside of the cleanroom Wireless Connectors of AE2 Stuff can be used.