Fallout 4: Can you recharge Fusion Cores?

Power Armors are one of the mainstays of the Fallout series, and not just because they look damn cool. These full-body metal armors are one of the most important tools to get you the upper hand against the dangers of the Wasteland, and they run on nuclear power.

Considering the recent surge in popularity of Fallout 4, let’s help the new generation of players attempting to learn how to deal with keeping their armor powered up.

You cannot recharge Fusion Cores in Fallout 4

You cannot recharge Fusion Cores in Fallout 4 without mods. Rechargeable Fusion Cores only showed up in Fallout 76.

The best thing you can do with a core that’s nearing 0% charge is sell it to an NPC. They won’t pay much, but it’s always better to let it get depleted, as then it’ll just be automatically discarded.

How to get fusion cores in Fallout 4

Cores exist as loot that you’ll find scattered all over the Wasteland. There are, however, easier and more comfortable ways to get them.

In Sanctuary Hills, you’ll find an NPC named Trashcan Carla. She roams the central area of Sanctuary, mostly during nights, and will buy your core, even if it is low on battery, so long as you sell it before it gets fully depleted. You can sell Carla your core, and sit on a bench to do a time skip to wait for her to get another. Usually, waiting for 48 hours is enough for NPCs to replenish their inventory, but I warn you that I once needed to wait over 62 hours for Carla to replenish her inventory and have a 100% charged core ready for selling. It’s possible that some NPCs might require up to 72 hours to replenish their inventory, which means three 24-hour cycles. Carla only does one core at a time and it’ll still come at a cost higher than what she paid for your core, but it’s a pretty good deal.

Trashcan Carla is a terrible name to give someone, so we’ll trust that Carla helps us out due to the enjoyment she gets from sticking it to the devs. Thanks, Carla!

You can now play Fallout 4 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. You can watch the Fallout TV series on Amazon Prime.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article misrepresented how fusion cores function in Fallout 4. We’ve updated the article to more accurately reflect the information, and regret the error.