Item capacitor (pic)

[MF-]

I realized that I need to build a "Capacitor" that would allow me to supply my power plants with little coal over long periods of time (charging) and supplying it all at once.

capacitor.jpg (107.21 KiB) Viewed 14897 times

It resulted in a nicely matching shape

I failed getting it displayed as a whole, without scrollbar

[wrtlprnft]

I failed getting it displayed as a whole, without scrollbar

You can always link to it directly:



As for the design, I think it's nicely executed, however it doesn't match my style of play: If my coal mining speed is too slow to keep up with the demand, I want to know instantly, otherwise the problem will just keep getting worse until I finally notice when my power goes out completely

[MF-]

Well.. my base doesn't use much power anymore, so most of the power simply deflects the creepers.
My coal mining site has quite dense deposits that cannot be mined faster. (There is enough of it, I just can't get it fast enough)

I don't really need the coal between creeper megawaves, yet I need quite some throughput during the waves.

[MF-]

if a coal supply gets too slow, it would cause a blackout as well, unless you have separate power for the mining site
Furthermore - I can simply put smart chests there and construct some sort of a "warning light"

[Dakkanor]

i use a similar system sometimes, but horizontal instead of vertical (parallel to the feeding line instead of perpendicular. the belts look like a trident) this is functionally the same. stopped really using this when splitters came out.

another way is to have two chests and three inserters to make a U shaped capacitor alongside a belt.

[Aza-Industries]

I realized that I need to build a "Capacitor" that would allow me to supply my power plants with little coal over long periods of time (charging) and supplying it all at once.

It resulted in a nicely matching shape

I failed getting it displayed as a whole, without scrollbar

What I like with that design is you can split up the 2 ends and add tons of storage in the middle.
A few fully researched bots can easily maintain it, just ignore the mass of bots I have they are to maintain other similar systems around the map.

On the supply side you just reverse the insterters and use requester chests. I think 5 inserters on either side can easily fill a fast belt.

[MF-]

I am not sure how fast the express belt is.
Regular belt needs 2.5 fast inserters to fill one lane (or 2 fast + regular)
Fast belts need 5 to fill a lane
I expect express to need 10 per lane (well, provided it has no turns which I expect to degrade it's performance to Fast)

[Aza-Industries]

I am not sure how fast the express belt is.
Regular belt needs 2.5 fast inserters to fill one lane (or 2 fast + regular)
Fast belts need 5 to fill a lane
I expect express to need 10 per lane (well, provided it has no turns which I expect to degrade it's performance to Fast)

Maybe 5 seems enough because its rare for the demand to be high enough to use up resources fast enough. Except for copper wire and similar stuff I guess.

I don't have my factories producing every items indefinitely so my line stops when a certain amount of each item is stored.

[LochNessCheeseBurger]

I am not sure how fast the express belt is.
Regular belt needs 2.5 fast inserters to fill one lane (or 2 fast + regular)
Fast belts need 5 to fill a lane
I expect express to need 10 per lane (well, provided it has no turns which I expect to degrade it's performance to Fast)

I just tested it, and with turns, it requires 7 fast inserters to fill an express lane. Offtopic: And now that I think about it, it would be better if they were called robotic arms, since they don't always insert, sometimes they take out, and sometimes they simply move objects. Also, it would be better if transport belts were called conveyor belts, since that's their actual name.

[MF-]

I like "transport belts", the proper name sounds lame to me for some reason.

I prefer the things to have a name, not just a description of what it does.