Factorio Forums

On the third level in the demo, I'm unable to fill Boilers with coal from a transport belt using either a burner inserter or an inserter. I've tried setting it up in multiple different ways such as shown below, but they still won't fill the boilers. I'm not sure if this is just a limitation to the demo version, or if it's been fixed, but figured I'd mention it.

Edit: Nevermind, it looks like the inserters only work when the coal level drops below 5 pieces.

TAC wrote: Edit: Nevermind, it looks like the inserters only work when the coal level drops below 5 pieces.

Hi, this is what I wanted to ask you.
We should probably document it better.
We made it as feature, that automated insertion into burners is limited by just few pieces (5 at this moment).
When the machine doesn't need the coal, it lets other machines using the same transport belt have it.
The same case is with any burner-based machine (furnace for example).

There is similar feature when inserters put stuff into assembling machines, you can put full stacks there manually, but the inserter will put twice the amount to do 1 thing at max, so the assembling machine won't hold materials that could be used elsewhere.

Personally, this should either be configurable or the full amount should be put in. It's what I would expect and very annoying when systems stop working almost immediately after the coal runs out.

azoundria wrote:Personally, this should either be configurable or the full amount should be put in. It's what I would expect and very annoying when systems stop working almost immediately after the coal runs out.

Funny, I have exactly the opposite opinion on the desirability of having systems stop working quickly and cleanly . Configurable isn't a bad idea, though, preferably on a per-machine basis: some machines you want kept full at all times, some you want this standard behaviour.

I ran into that issue, too. I understand the reasoning, but yes:

We should probably document it better.

You could just add one or to sentences to the wiki whenever you're implementing something new (from now on)? That way you don't have to worry that somethings not documented when releasing updates.

Personally, this should either be configurable or the full amount should be put in. It's what I would expect and very annoying when systems stop working almost immediately after the coal runs out.

Well, you could add a chest and an additional inserter if you want the buffer? It takes more space, but it keeps stuff running when moving your mines.

You could just add one or to sentences to the wiki whenever you're implementing something new (from now on)? That way you don't have to worry that somethings not documented when releasing updates.

We will be getting more organized here for sure. The first step are changelogs with brief changes descrption coming together with every release (most probably in the official news area).