Factorio Forums

impetus maximus wrote:oh, nukes right. lol yeah i guess if you're trigger happy more than one going would work.
does your chain limit to 40 going in each machine, or do the internal buffers fill up?

The input buffer does not go up at all. I use 3 boxes, one for the input, one for the output and a third to take the single extra unit of U-235. The U-238 that results go back to the belt and is not part of the box setup. When the cycle completes it outputs 41 of the U-235 to an output box, a circuit controlled and 1-item stack limited inserter removes a single U-235 to a different box. A different inserter reads the contents of the box with the 1 item inside and activates, removing the remaining 40 units back to the starting input box. Those 40 go right back into the centrifuge with another inserter - this one doesn't need a circuit. A final inserter checking for when the output box is empty again activates and extracts the single extra U-235 out of the system for storage -- in my current setup it goes on a belt and then to an active provider box for logistic bot pickup.

The idea of chaining them together doesn't really matter for anything other than inserting U-238 and collecting the extra U-235, the setup is not dependent on items going from one centrifuge to another.

The U-238 exits in the direction of the next centrifuge in the chain, but I suppose I could have put it on the leading side and it would go back inside the same one. This part doesn't matter much because I have 8 centrifuges doing raw ore processing and end up with plenty of U-238 on a belt that feeds the chain. I have left it running a long time and have not noticed it ever being starved for the U-238 at all.

EDIT: Here's a BP after I changed the design to remove all belts and just use logistic chests for input and output.