Factorio Forums

This probably has been discussed before, however I don't think a main post has been created since Space Age Quality added a new layer of item management.

Currently, there are 3 main ways to set up your midgame mall.

• Just use passive provider chests in your mall. Problem: excess items from your inventory are not redirected there, and your mall keeps producing.
• Use Storage chests in your mall. Problem: only 1 filter can be set up for 1 quality. The random quality items won't be redirected there, and you will not know that you have plenty of quality items lying around in your storage chests.
• Use buffer chests in your mall. Problem: They won't distribute items to the other buffer chests scattered in your base (like the ones used for player quick supply)

I found a solution using 2 chests per machine.

• An inserter puts items (of various quality) in a filtered storage chest (normal quality). The inserter is linked to the storage chest to read the amount of material inside, and is disabled by circuit when there is more than 100 normal solar panels.
• A buffer chest just nearby is set up to request unrealistic amounts of items, say 500 solar panels of each quality except normal (4 requests to setup manually).

This way, the storage chest distributes items evenly in all your network buffer chests as needed, and the rest toward the nearby buffer chest. If you have excess items in your inventory, it will go from your trash slots towards the buffer chest (or towards the storage chest if normal quality)
Why not just insert directly to the buffer chest, you might ask? Because if we do that, the other buffer chests (acting as a buffer for the player, as intended) will starve, because they cannot request items from buffer chests.

How do you manage trash item, and keep your quality items easily accessible?

I use buffer chest for making items available to the network, unrestricted with inserter wired to fill to desired level with logi request of stack size*48 on the buffer chest. For consumers I use requestor with request from buffer checked. For inserting unbuffered garbage into consumer belt I use requestor w/o buffer checked. Has worked fine for me. For landing pad I can't live without set requests, and use SR latches to do so.

I guess I haven't used multiple buffer chests yet, I could see how that would be an issue.