As part of a little project, I'm looking for a listing of Starship Malfunctions. I know this is a bit odd, and a lot of it is technobabble, but if anyone knows any specific malfunctions and what systems they affect, its much appreciated.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Well, are you looking for what we might call pure malfunctions, or do ones caused as a result of sabotage or some unintentional source count? Just off the top of my head, you've got some serious computer failures in "Lonely Among Us" and "Contagion," but the first was due to a trapped energy being and the second a millenia-old infoweapon.
As far as nonmalicious mechanical failures go, there's the flawed dilithium support frame in "The Drumhead."
So which kind are you looking for?
Posted by QuinnTV (Member # 859) on :
Starboard Power Coupling !
Posted by Styrofoaman (Member # 706) on :
CORE BREACH!
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
And right after thats: CORE EJECTION SYSTEMS OFFLINE!!!
Mark
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
But the one will never, ever be included is the failure of the gravity generators! Posted by The Mighty Monkey of Mim (Member # 646) on :
Actually, they did that on ENT already... Posted by David Templar (Member # 580) on :
And recently, for the first time ever, a failure of the self-destruct system.
Transporter systems have malfunctioned a couple times, reasons ranging from bad weather to missing component to sabatoge.
The fire suppression system is almost always malfunctioning, back on the Ent-D.
Posted by E. Cartman (Member # 256) on :
Holodecks, if you're willing to spare a couple of hundred pages.
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
i almost crapped myself when Voyager's core ejection system worked that one time. I mean, the core NEVER ejects.. EVER.. that would have been too easy! Does anyone have a good tally of how many times the day would have been saved by a core ejection? "Generations" "Cause and Effect" "Contagion".. oh man.
Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :
IIRC, Voyager's auto-destruct system malfunctioned and couldn't be activated back in "Basics, Part I"... the finale for the 2nd season where they kept on getting attacked by the Kazon. because of Seska.
Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :
And there really is a way around the failure of the auto-destruct system. Just drop the containment fields around the antimatter in the core and the pods.
Posted by Shipbuilder (Member # 69) on :
There probably isn't a way to do that manually, that'd be alittle dangerous. I'll bet that can only be done as a command through the self-destruct system.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Well, you could always just shoot the antimatter pods w/ a phaser.
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
get phaser rifle. go to engineering. i'll let you figure it from there.
maybe they just didn't WANT to die as much as they should have at that point, hmmm?
[edit: DAMN YOU TSN, FOR THINKING IN A SIMILAR VEIN AS MYSELF AND THEN POSTING IN A SOMEWHAT QUICKER MANNER, BY MERE SECONDS, EVEN]
Posted by Fleet-Admiral Michael T. Colorge (Member # 144) on :
We didn't see Main Engineering much in Nemesis did we?
What about the torpedo guidance system malfucntion in that TNG episode where everyone de-evolved? What about that time when the Defiant lost power when Eddington prevented the ship from finding him? What about when Voyager had that thing from the nebula that took over the ship and tried to kill Janeway?
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
The giggling computer in "Tomorrow Is Yesterday."
Best. Malfunction. Ever.
Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
And please shut down the holodeck after you leave. It might become sentient.
The TNGTM also has some 'fun' malfunctions. SIF and IDF malfunctions are nasty. You could be more inventive and have 'less important' things like the waste recycling system malfunctioning... imagine the mess that would cause.
Or what about a Kursk-style torpedo failure. Or the navigational deflector giving up on you (I'd guess you'd have to raise shields or something). What would happen if the mass reduction coils of the impulse systems malfunctioned?
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
"I've never trusted tribbles.. and I never will.. I can never forgive them.. for my chicken salad sandwich." Posted by Wraith (Member # 779) on :
quote:Originally posted by Shipbuilder: There probably isn't a way to do that manually, that'd be alittle dangerous. .
Understatement of the year?
Posted by Kalax (Member # 723) on :
As for what I'm looking for, is general internal technolgical malfunctions, things that could go wrong due to lack of maintance. Nothin due to foul play.
Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :
Well, in that case, none that i know of, 'cause they do maintain their ships, shuttles, stations, and general equipment. I could say Transwarp drive, but that really wasn't because of lack of maintenance. It just wasn't feasible at that point in time.
Posted by David Templar (Member # 580) on :
What about the M-5 in "The Ultimate Computer"? The thing went psycho and killed a whole bunch of people. Yeah, I'd call that a malfunction.
DS9 was one giant malfunction floating in space until the later seasons.
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
Do you want large potentially dangerous malfuntions? "Uh, we better fix that before we die..."
Or more mundane "*BASH BASH* Stupid Replicator! Why won't you work!? *BASH BASH*"
If you had some time, a list of scientifical words, and some more time you could think of alot of imaginary malfuntions. like: "The Isolinear control chip failed, causing the the Warp Field De-Inhibitor to reverse polarity and stall the ship in deep space." Something like that...
BTW the Millenium Falcon was also a floating malfuntion. Cept a little droid will always save your ass when running away from a Super Star Destroyer. Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
quote: The giggling computer in "Tomorrow Is Yesterday."
The programmers intended that as a feature, though, not a bug.
Posted by Kalax (Member # 723) on :
I was accualy looking for everyday wear and tear stuff, like blown relay or mis aligned whatever, howeverm I'm thinking I can get away with technobabble. Another thing, something I think is a tad bit easier, is examples of tools and what they were used for if anyone remebers.
Posted by QuinnTV (Member # 859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Kalax: As for what I'm looking for, is general internal technolgical malfunctions, things that could go wrong due to lack of maintance. Nothin due to foul play.
On the reverse side, I'd like to offer the bit of tech that *never* failed: the engineering isolation door.
Geordi always had a reason to stop, drop and roll!
Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :
The E-D did have two Engineering isolation doors. The inner one that sealed off the waro core, and the big one that sealed off the core and the inner stations such as the one where Geordi always worked from. The E-A had the big isolation door and the Defiant had one that sealed Engineering off from the upper deck. Voyager never had one, but it did have the main door that could be sealed off from the rest of the deck. The E-nil refit and the Reliant also had isolation doors... a big one that looks like it cuts through the Power/Plasma Transfer Conduits and a smaller one which seals Engineering off from the rest of the deck.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
quote:Originally posted by David Templar: What about the M-5 in "The Ultimate Computer"? The thing went psycho and killed a whole bunch of people. Yeah, I'd call that a malfunction.
DS9 was one giant malfunction floating in space until the later seasons.
I *SO* Disagree with you.
DS9 season 1 and 2 was fantabulous! I guess a lot can't appreciate stories and characters instead of shoot-em-ups. I guess that's why we got Voyager and Enterprise.
There was the TNG malfunction where Geordi was in the transport tube - and got flung all about.
There was that malfunction with all the systems turning to goo.
The crew malfunctioned in The Naked Time and the Naked Now!
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
The Excelsior malfunctioned... thanks to Mr. Scott in TSFS.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"DS9 was one giant malfunction floating in space until the later seasons."
"I *SO* Disagree with you.
"DS9 season 1 and 2 was fantabulous! I guess a lot can't appreciate stories and characters instead of shoot-em-ups. I guess that's why we got Voyager and Enterprise."
What has any of that got to do w/ the fact that the station was in a constant state of disrepair during the early seasons?
Posted by Revanche (Member # 953) on :
quote:Originally posted by AndrewR:
quote:Originally posted by David Templar: What about the M-5 in "The Ultimate Computer"? The thing went psycho and killed a whole bunch of people. Yeah, I'd call that a malfunction.
DS9 was one giant malfunction floating in space until the later seasons.
I *SO* Disagree with you.
DS9 season 1 and 2 was fantabulous! I guess a lot can't appreciate stories and characters instead of shoot-em-ups. I guess that's why we got Voyager and Enterprise.
Maybe I'm being naive, but I think D. Templar intended to refer to the constant mechanical errors that Chief O'Brien had to constantly contend with, up until the major upgrade by Starfleet. _________________________________________________________ I guess we were all guilty, in a way. We all shot him, we all skinned him, and we all got a complimentary bumper sticker that said, "I helped skin Bob." - Jack Handey
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
LOL! Yes, I see that now! LOL!
I thought it was a pay-out on DS9 season 1 and 2!!
Agreed about the state of DS9 in 2269-2270. It never really had any major malfunctions though, did it. I guess it did in "The Forsaken" - with "pup".
Oh I forgot on TNG - there was 'Disaster'.
Posted by TheWoozle (Member # 929) on :
Star Trek in general has more shuttle acidents and transporter failures then we have air plane disasters today.
Posted by Revanche (Member # 953) on :
Except maybe in the last 72 hours (N. Carolina, Turkey, Peru). _________________________________________________________ The tired and thirsty prospector threw himself down at the edge of the watering hole and started to drink. But then he looked around and saw skulls and bones everywhere. "Uh-oh," he thought. "This watering hole is reserved for skeletons." - Jack Handey
Posted by J (Member # 608) on :
I have a listing a tools on my old website, it's still up I don't know why... I haven't even checked it in forever, I usually check it for errors every now and then but I haven't had the time... any way the URL is http://www.subspacelink.com/~jsharp/FEC/index.html the tools are in the database/bank under the Tools button
PS: no one point out errors to me, I don't have the time to fix them if you did.
As for malfunctions you are wanting to know about. I know for certain that sensors will go out of alignment just from simple use, thus the reason they need to be adjusted every now and then--- if this is true for external sensors then you can assume this is true for the sensors that watch the magnetic containment of the warp core and the antimatter pods-- very bad things if those readings are off. You can't run the warp drive without some type of over sight, simply running on autopilot forever will destroy the ship no matter what speed [even if you had infinite fuel, eventually the engines will over heat (either the nacelles {which could be the injectors or the coils}, core, or the PTCS, take your pick) or some type of alignment problem will spring up]. You have to watch the hull according to the TNG TM, even with the deflector some things will get by [the deflector isn't in use when you aren't moving anyway]. And isn't it a function of how much power the regulators are letting the gravity generators get that determines how much gravity they produce [wasn't that a mouth full?], if those regulators aren't checked regularly then they might fail and the gravity generators will get too much power and produce too much gravity. --- And it appears that anything can make the replicators go bad [and I'm sure because you're messing with so many laws in the universe] so they need to be checked regularly or your coffee might end up being poison.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dat: I could say Transwarp drive, but that really wasn't because of lack of maintenance. It just wasn't feasible at that point in time.
As Andrew pointed out, that was due to Scotty. If you mean in general, then, well, we have no idea why it failed, or even if it failed.(There's always a chance that "Transwarp" in that context just referred to "faster warp", and they got it working and just decided to keep calling it warp.) So, really, buh.
Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
Should we count Voyager's attempt to use slipstream drive from "Timeless"? That whole crash thing (er, pardon me, "uncontrolled descent from low planetary orbit") is also quite possibly the worst malfunction outcome we've seen that wasn't related to a core breach.
(Speaking of which, the ship crunched down on her antimatter pods, lower reactor, et cetera . . . and didn't blow. Wha?)
quote:Originally posted by CaptainMike: "I've never trusted tribbles.. and I never will.. I can never forgive them.. for my chicken salad sandwich."
I hate you. Dr. Pepper is not designed to exit one's nose.
Posted by MrNeutron (Member # 524) on :
quote:Originally posted by PsyLiam:
quote:Originally posted by Dat: I could say Transwarp drive, but that really wasn't because of lack of maintenance. It just wasn't feasible at that point in time.
As Andrew pointed out, that was due to Scotty. If you mean in general, then, well, we have no idea why it failed, or even if it failed.(There's always a chance that "Transwarp" in that context just referred to "faster warp", and they got it working and just decided to keep calling it warp.) So, really, buh.
I've often wondered if the Transwarp was when the warp scale changed. The drive was some kind of improvement and significant speed increase, hence the new scale.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
I seem to remember from my boyhood days the 2 prevailing theories of transwarp, that either it was a sort of controlled type of the spatial interphase that caught Kirk & the Defiant from "The Tholian Web" (Shane Johnson, "Mr. Scott's Guide") or that it involved massive transporter machinery in the nacelles to "capture the warp envelope & beam it ahead of the ship." (FASA)
Posted by Styrofoaman (Member # 706) on :
quote:Originally posted by Shik: ...or that it involved massive transporter machinery in the nacelles to "capture the warp envelope & beam it ahead of the ship." (FASA)
Gaaaah! That's just sooooo damn silly it makes my head hurt!
Another one involved "controled wormhole effect." That was listed in the Starfleet Dyanmics book.
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)