Missing something basic here!

[zigzag03]

Please look at this little screenie and tell me what I'm not getting. I'm mining and smelting copper at the bottom, moving it to a box. From the box I'm trying to move it to make wire, and then that wire on to make circuits. From the top I'm trying to move steel plates into the circuit maker as well. Nothing works after the first couple cycles, it just stops. There are plenty of copper plates in the box, and you can see the iron plates lined up. I don't see why this shouldn't work. What is it that I'm missing. Thanks.

Screenshot (2).png (3.32 MiB) Viewed 2310 times

[boskid]

Assembler for green circuits has no output. Inserters do not input more stuff when output has accumulated some amount of items. This is different than when you would iron plates and copper wires by hand.

[zigzag03]

So assemblers have to have an output, even if just to a box? There's only like 3 circuits accumulated in that assembler.

[Nosferatu]

Yes. And if you take those 3 it will produce 3 more.

[astroshak]

Yup. Put them into a box, set for 1 stack if that’s all you want to store. Or more (its 200 per stack).

The exception to this are the furnaces. Those will continue to operate until they have one stack of whatever they are producing buffered internally. Everything else makes a few and stops.

[valneq]

So assemblers have to have an output, even if just to a box? There's only like 3 circuits accumulated in that assembler.

You can hover over the assembler and look at its status. It should say: output item backup, or something similar. When you take the three circuits out, the inserters will input more ingredients.

This behavior is intended as boskid said. It prevents you from having gigantic buffers of unused materials sitting in all your production machines. The only exception to this rule: furnaces. Furnaces will happily buffer up to one full stack of output materials and inserters will feed them until they have a full stack. For assembling machines, inserters will just stop feeding them after the machine has accumulated a handful of items in its output slot.
If you want the assembling machine to run continuously, you have to provide an external buffer for its output. A single wooden chest would be enough to accumulate several stacks of items. Alternatively, you can have an inserter output the circuits onto a belt. Every tile of transport belt can hold up to four items per lane, eight items in total per tile. If you have a very long transport belt it alone will be carrying a buffer of hundreds to thousands of circuits.

[jodokus31]

The only exception to this rule: furnaces.

And chemical plants with fluid inputs, f.e. sulfur or solid fuel

[valneq]

The only exception to this rule: furnaces.

And chemical plants with fluid inputs, f.e. sulfur or solid fuel

Sure, but the fluids are not delivered by inserters – and it is the inserters that at some point refuse to input more ingredients into a machine. A chemplant making sulfuric acid will always be full of water, but the inserters providing iron plate and sulfur will stop once the output of the chemplant is full

[jodokus31]

The only exception to this rule: furnaces.

And chemical plants with fluid inputs, f.e. sulfur or solid fuel

Sure, but the fluids are not delivered by inserters – and it is the inserters that at some point refuse to input more ingredients into a machine. A chemplant making sulfuric acid will always be full of water, but the inserters providing iron plate and sulfur will stop once the output of the chemplant is full

That's true. I meant, a chemical plant with a recipe for only fluid inputs and a solid output also fills up to one stack. As soon as a solid input is involved like batteries, not anymore.

[zigzag03]

Excellent input folks, I'm grateful. My little line is moving nicely now. Stay tuned for more rookie questions! Thank you all.