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Returning from a long break (last time I played we only had 3 science packs plus the alien pack), and I am trying to set up a small 2x2 nuclear plant. Combinators are completely foreign to me, and I was wondering if anyone can explain in a simple, step by step manner that even a non-programmer can understand, how to set up a system that will insert 1, and only 1, fuel cell into each reactor when the steam reserve gets below, say, half full, then not put another one in until the first is spent, and only if the steam is still below half. I would love to be able to do this without bunches of combinators and such, just a couple of simple networks........ is this even possible? Again, timers, complex (or even simple) programming, memory cells, etc are way more than I can handle, although I think I barely understand how an S-R latch is set up...... but that by itself doesn't seem to cut it. Any help for me would be a godsend lol.

veldez wrote:timers ... are way more than I can handle

So let's avoid timers, and use a massive steam buffer.

Putting 4 nuclear fuel cells in a 2x2 reactor produces 39.6 tanks of steam. But even with "Override stack size = 1", an inserter will put 6 fuel cells into an empty reactor. So we need to handle 6 times that, or 237.6 tanks of steam. And then you want to leave half your steam in reserve, so we need 476 tanks.

So your setup is:
Chest of Uranium fuel cells -> Inserter -> Nuclear Reactor
Inserter connected to 1 storage tank with green wire.
Storage tank connected to the other 475 storage tanks with pipes.
Inserter Override stack size: 1
Inserter Enabled condition: Steam < 12500

That's about as simple as it gets, thanks! As an aside, there isn't any way to stop the inserter from filling the reactor with 6 cells without circuitry then?

You could probably use a loop of belt to act as a crude timer. That is simpler than a timer. (Wire a piece or belt, set it to hold if steam > 12500, wire the next piece of belt, set it read belt contents, add a token. When it reaches the second piece of belt use that to enable your inserters). If I remember the maths right a loop of 375 yellow belts will take 200 seconds. (If you are confident that your steam tanks will be back over 50% steam in a shorter timeframe, you could shorten the loop. eg 360 yellow belts should be 192 seconds).

Edit: A better solution might be to detect the removal of a used fuel cell. Add a box as an output buffer. Set the inserters loading fuel cells to only swing if steam <12500, and a used fuel cell in the output buffer. Add another inserter to empty the output buffer. Wire it up the same as the input inserters. That should swing on the same tick as the input inserters and empty the output buffer.

Zavian wrote:A better solution might be to detect the removal of a used fuel cell.

Good idea. I updated the wiki with this design:

veldez wrote:... Any help for me would be a godsend lol.

Today I saw a new tutorial on youtube about exact this problem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ReduT-3Wx4

oxo wrote:

veldez wrote:... Any help for me would be a godsend lol.

Today I saw a new tutorial on youtube about exact this problem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ReduT-3Wx4

Thanks for linking to my video, but I have to tell you that I have discovered a problem with that circuit - if the steam runs low AFTER the spent fuel has already been removed, then the circuit will never get another empty fuel cell signal, and new fuel will not be inserted. I'll update the tutorial at some point.

In the meantime, please refer to this one instead: https://youtu.be/Uv-6e-b9g3k?t=19m4s

It's from a previous series where I set up a more complicated circuit, but it remembers whether or not there is fuel already inserted, and will only insert fuel if there is none already in the reactor.