Water Wheel
Acquisition
Acquiring the water wheel requires researching an idea from Garrek, with 300,000 total prosperity, and costs 100 stone, 60 hardwood, 25 tin, and 20 copper to research and build.
Location
The water wheel is built just north of the bridge to access the jungle.
Tools
The water wheel has three possible tool attachments.
Press
The press tool processes the same items as the Press processor. The water wheel is capable of pressing 157 items per day.
Mill
The mill tool processes the same items as the Mortar and Pestle processor.
Spinner
The spinner tool processes the same items as the Spindle Whorl processor.
Modes
There are four possible modes to set the water wheel to. Modes can be changed by interacting with the sign next to the water wheel. Tools may not be changed throughout the day, so the new mode will apply at the start of the next day.
'Press' Mode
This mode sets up the press tool on the water wheel, regardless of what items are in the input bin.
'Mill' Mode
This mode sets up the mill tool on the water wheel, regardless of what items are in the input bin.
'Spinner' Mode
This mode sets up the spinner tool on the water wheel, regardless of what items are in the input bin.
'Auto-Select' Mode
The water wheel will check the input bin for the first item in the list, and apply the appropriate tool to process it. It does not look for the number of items associated with a particular tool, just the first item it encounters. The game checks left to right, then top to bottom, starting at page one -- like reading.
Note: The water wheel may stall if the first item encountered is a stack of fiber of less than 5 units. To avoid this, place your fiber in the bottom-right position(s) on page three of the input bin, or only add fiber in multiples of 5.
Products Processed on Multiple Tools
There are a few items, such as animal meats and some grains, that can be processed by multiple tools. When processing these items, it is recommended to manually switch the mode to whatever tool you want to process those items on.
Output Overflow
If the output bin is full, the water wheel will not continue processing items (unless the item can stack with one already in the bin). Be sure to check your output bin regularly to prevent production from stopping.
Symbols
When placing items into the input bin, an icon will appear next to the item in the upper left.
Red Circle
This symbol means that the item cannot be processed on the current tool.
Yellow Cyclic Arrows
This symbol means that the item can be processed on the current tool, but not necessarily that it is being processed right now.
Hours
The water wheel processes items from 6am until 8pm. Neither products added after this time, nor products added prior that haven't yet been processed, will be processed until the following day (or the next day with the appropriate tool).
Note: There is currently a bug that shows items as being processed after 8pm if they were added prior to that time, but no processed items actually enter the output bin after 8pm.