Factorio Forums

On Gleba, I'm running belts in front of biochambers to insert the inputs, and if there's no further use for what's on that belt, I put a splitter at the end with a spoilage filter to draw away the spoilage so the inserter can grab the unspoiled inputs again. But sometimes it backs up anyway, so I wonder if I have the wrong design.

When an inserter is taking from a splitter, is it capable of drawing from the input, the output, or both?

I'm talking about the orientation where a belt is running along a row of biochambers, and inserters are drawing from the belt, and a splitter is placed at the point where the last inserter draws. Is there a way to arrange this that would be more effective at removing the spoilage so the inserter can get the good stuff?

I've been putting a spoil-away belt at the filtered output side, and nothing on the other side, that should work, right?

When an inserter is taking from a splitter, is it capable of drawing from the input, the output, or both?

I'm not a mechanics expert, but from what I have tested, a splitter acts like two ordinary belt tiles, plus some items getting moved from one belt to the other, roughly in the middle, if there is room to do so. Inserters only interact with the belt that they point at, whether or not that belt is part of a splitter. Therefore, an inserter can grab from the input on its side, the output on its side, and cannot grab any item from the far side unless the splitter decides to move those items.

If you have a splitter set to filter spoilage, there is room on the spoilage output belt, there is spoilage available on the input belt, and the spoilage isn’t getting through, then it must be that non-spoilage items are backed up (even just one hidden underneath the inserter’s top is enough) so that they are blocking the input belt and preventing the spoilage from reaching the position where the splitter decides to move an item.

I'm having difficulty imagining how you have your setup, however in regards to your question...

rockaday wrote: Tue Nov 05, 2024 11:51 pm
When an inserter is taking from a splitter, is it capable of drawing from the input, the output, or both?

the answer is yes.

kpreid wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 1:11 am If you have a splitter set to filter spoilage, there is room on the spoilage output belt, there is spoilage available on the input belt, and the spoilage isn’t getting through, then it must be that non-spoilage items are backed up (even just one hidden underneath the inserter’s top is enough) so that they are blocking the input belt and preventing the spoilage from reaching the position where the splitter decides to move an item.

Thanks, that's probably what's happening. I'll try to test/observe more to check. If so, I can leave it to spoil and it will eventually move through (as long as spoilage doesn't back up).

Mightyloly wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 1:14 am the answer is yes.

Thank you!

I found a specific example where it does not seem to be working. Looking for help with this.

The biochamber says there's no jelly. But the splitter shows jelly as one of the contents, and yet the inserter doesn't grab it. What's happening here?

Inserters only grab from the output belts of splitters. There is spoilage in both lanes of the "non-spoiled" output blocking the fruit from coming out further. Maybe the inserter can only pick up the last item on the splitter output belt?

I haven't tackled Gleba myself yet. It seems you'll need to get clever with belt sorting since any belt is liable to be contaminated with spoilage at any time basically. In this case, a second inserter filtered for spoilage also picking up from the splitter output might help unclog it. Or rethink the dead-end splitter technique and use a buffer chest or sushi belt to make it easier to filter out spoilage as it appears

robot256 wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 9:31 pm Inserters only grab from the output belts of splitters.

Thank you! This is what I was trying to ask in my original post. Very helpful.

Sounds like you have an answer.

I have something similar on my space platform but use a blacklist filter for anything that should not be on the belt. Helps when you get those random drops especially when not around.