How do you deal with leftover materials?

[Indiglow]

Let's say I have a train that picks up 1k coal then heads to a station and only unloads 900.

It then goes back to the depot with coal still in it and LTN tells it to go pick up iron plates.

I know I can use filters so only iron plates are unloaded, but how is everyone handling the lingering 100 coal? Do you just let the LTN figure itself out (next time it gets asked to go to a coal station it will unload?) This obviously causes problems though as the LTN checks cargo amounts when loading/unloading.

Thanks in advance!

[steinio]

If the train loads 1000 and only 900 are needed your setup is wrong.
LTN loads only as much as needed.

[Indiglow]

If the train loads 1000 and only 900 are needed your setup is wrong.
LTN loads only as much as needed.

What about trains that take longer than 5 minutes (I haven't found a way to up this at 5 minutes seems to be the max) and then get re-routed back to the depot with materials still left in it?

Would a second depot work and does LTN pick the depot that is closest or is it random?

[Igie]

I usually just make a statio near depot, unload all materials to the station and set high priority so trian picks from station near depot. Set filter inserters so that you pick only what other stations are asking

[Ringkeeper]

well, if you use the designs from viewtopic.php?f=194&t=47773 you will find a depot that automatically unloads all waggons that arrive.

So your cargo wagon will be always empty. Now you just have to deal with all the garbage at your depot. For that you can use a universal provider with the filter from the design thread (to filter the fuel you deliver to depot) and the garbage will be taken away (place enough storage and bots).

Similar you can do for tanker but a venting mod is the easier solution^^

[knightofrust]

Is there a way to deal with leftover items in the hand of an inserter when using universal provider station?

[Ringkeeper]

never had that problem so far and i use the universal provider heavy (total against for what it was designed for^^).

Might happen if the wagon is full? There "locked slot per wagon" and blocking 1 slot should help

[mrvn]

never had that problem so far and i use the universal provider heavy (total against for what it was designed for^^).

Might happen if the wagon is full? There "locked slot per wagon" and blocking 1 slot should help

Better make that 10 for the universal provider. There request might be for more than one good and then each needs a spare slot to dump the excess hand content.


I'm using such an universal provider station to dump any left over goods. But what about left over fluids? You can't have an universal fluid station. Currently I have a latch at the fluid depos that turns the exit signal red when the train has left over fluids and then sounds a global alarm. But I have to manually walk there and reset the latch to get things moving again. Sucks.

[Bushdoctor]

In regards to the original question: I would like to make sure that my train goes empty before it leaves the unloading-station.
Can someone tell me how to do that please. Or even better: Post a small blueprint string.

Thank you.

[mrvn]

In regards to the original question: I would like to make sure that my train goes empty before it leaves the unloading-station.
Can someone tell me how to do that please. Or even better: Post a small blueprint string.

Thank you.

It's simple: Set the request limit to the train size and never request more than you can buffer. That way the train can always be fully unloaded.

[Bushdoctor]

It's simple: Set the request limit to the train size and never request more than you can buffer. That way the train can always be fully unloaded.

First, thanks for your reply. But here's the thing.. I might use the mod in a different way, or may have other reasons to want to make sure my train goes empty. For example I might have a power out which causes the unloaders to stop and my train to leave without being completely empty. I might accidentally screw with the cable so that the station thinks there's nothing in stock.. stuff like that. Frankly, I don't understand much about combinators and I run a very simple but extensive LTN network that is lacking a few options. Like making sure a train goes empty. Perhaps there's a combinator setting for it. Or another solution.

Thanks!

[mrvn]

It's simple: Set the request limit to the train size and never request more than you can buffer. That way the train can always be fully unloaded.

First, thanks for your reply. But here's the thing.. I might use the mod in a different way, or may have other reasons to want to make sure my train goes empty. For example I might have a power out which causes the unloaders to stop and my train to leave without being completely empty. I might accidentally screw with the cable so that the station thinks there's nothing in stock.. stuff like that. Frankly, I don't understand much about combinators and I run a very simple but extensive LTN network that is lacking a few options. Like making sure a train goes empty. Perhaps there's a combinator setting for it. Or another solution.

Thanks!

First: The train schedule waits for train empty and 2 seconds of inactivity or 1666 seconds of inactivity (from memory, numbers might be off a bit). So you need quite a long blackout for the train to leave. If you have blackouts that last that long then go and fix your power generation. Once you have power come back and clean up all train stations.

Second: Trains at the depot wait for inactivity. So add some inserters there that unload any left over goods and shuffle them into a generic provider station. Provider limits = 1, provider priority = 1M. So anything that does get left in a train will get unloaded at the depot and used up next so the provider stations doesn't overflow. It's also a good idea to connect a speaker to sound an alarm if this happens. Because it really shouldn't and it means you have to fix something.

Shit happens. You request too much, e.g. 100000 coal instead of 10000, by accident or you mess up the wiring. That's what the second case is for. It's your safety net and well worth spending the resources for a few inserters, underground belts and the provider station. I would be surprised if you played a whole game with LTN without messing up a station ever.

[jape3]

I've setup my depots so, that they will unload any leftover materials still on train cars that arrive there. I've also wired in an alarm, that triggers for any train that arrives with stuff on board. If everything is setup correct it's still possible to get leftovers to the depot if you get a blackout for example..

[mrvn]

I've setup my depots so, that they will unload any leftover materials still on train cars that arrive there. I've also wired in an alarm, that triggers for any train that arrives with stuff on board. If everything is setup correct it's still possible to get leftovers to the depot if you get a blackout for example..

Shouldn't happen with blackouts unless they last really long.

Bigger problem might be loading stations. With power being low inserters slow down. So when the train is full there might be inserters with goods in hand still trying to load the train. But because power is low they are really slow and the train leaves after 2 seconds of inactivity. Then the next train gets whatever was left in the hands of the inserters. And then you get the wrong goods at the unloading station.

Nothing you can do about that though. So better make damn sure you have power.