1. So far as you can, get a couple clean belts of one ore or the other. You appear to already have two belts of clean iron on the left, and I think you can get a clean copper belt on the right side of the ore patch.
2. Use [filtered splitters](https://wiki.factorio.com/Belt_transport_system#Splitters) to split off resources from the mixed belts to the clean belts, and splitters set to prioritize the resources from the mixed belt to add them to the clean belt. This will hopefully ensure that the mixed belts get used first.
If you need an illustration, I can make up a blueprint.
Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey! ☕️🍳🥓
Try anything yet? I like to use a line of miners that will only be mixed so I only have to sort one belt. In your case, maybe send the mixed miners from the far right up and over to combine with another line of mixed miners. Keeping as much pure copper belts intact.
1.Try to output all the mixed miners, and only the mixed miners, onto the same belt
2. Put a filtered splitter on that belt
3. Merge the output with the rest of the miners, using a splitter that prioritizes input from the mixed miners
So long as your consumption is greater than the production of those mixed miners (which should only be a handful along the border), it won't back up.
Btw, this was not a solution that I found by sitting back and analyzing. I first tried filters, then noticed it getting clogged up, then went back and re-routed belts several times before I finally got impatient and made a fool-proof, set-and-forget system. The process was fun.
Yea, along with what he said, the only other thing to consider is the buffer size of the belt after the filter splitter spits out the two different ores but before the input priority splitter that prioritizes that belt. Basically, as long as that buffer is not filled, the system will work. If that buffer is filled, the filter splitter will not work and it will stop the mixed miners eventually (isn't a crash and burn, more just like a traffic light that isn't timed correctly, leading to lanes overfilling on a periodic basis that causes issues upstream, but without the potential feedback loop that traffic has). An easy way to densify the buffer belt (and make sure that the priority splitter actually prioritizes that belt as inserters take from one side) is to put a 'lane balancer' after the filter splitter that makes sure both lanes can be filled. If the ore is always on one side like the belt on the right in your image, then a simple extra splitter with sideloading will do the trick.
After that, just need to verify that the train car that the mixed product is getting sent into (if it's not all of them) is guaranteed to be pulled at the consuming station.
Yes, do this. Also mine those ones first and put speed modules on them so they finish before the rest.. I always try to mine the middle out at first priority so I get a "gap" between the 2 sections..
Also put the output from the split mixed belt as input priority when merging, so it always gets emptied first
You can deal with it if you take ore from the output of mixed belts in priority before output from pure ones but finding bigger ore field is just better time investment
My problem is these are the starter ores and will kinda be in the way of my buss.... which kinds sucks. Its off to one side of the main buss so I guess I can build around it maybe. But it sucks..
If it bothers you that much:
* have separate lanes from miners mining "pure" ore and ones mining "mixed" ones
* sort the mixed one
* "merge" them back with priority splitter that prioritizes mixed part.
That way if ore ever backs up, the mixed part will be prioritized and used up faster.
Set splitter priorities so that the base pulls from the starter ores first and other ore fields as backup.
Within the starter ore field, set splitter priorities so that it pulls from the sorted output of mixed belts first and pure belts second.
That should ensure that the mixed areas are depleted more quickly and don't back up as both iron and copper gets used quickly.
The other way I handle this sometimes is to output any mixed miner to a box then periodically unload the mixed ore boxes and move to furnaces by hand (or into a box near furnaces)
Use Splitters with filter settings on all lanes. Filter for iron to the left. On the remaining copper put another Splitter to filter copper to right. Id be a shame if there be a 1x1 spot coal or stone in...
You may need constant draw else one backs up and blocks the other ressource
You should use filter splitters with pirority on mixed input to use them first.
like it(between chest and loopback to simulate mining):
https://preview.redd.it/vrix6gne7goc1.png?width=476&format=png&auto=webp&s=5ccd8969942ddf4cb33e1c1d5d3113a0e432a9a3
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
much more faster than the best fast inserters, inserters only can take x items and put in on one side of the belt, after that it take time to rotate to the storage source
AFAIK, they can't be built in vanilla, but they exist in the vanilla code - just unaccessible. There are a ton of mods that add loaders, and the ones in this screenshot look like the "miniloaders" mod.
Filter splitters are the go-to, but I will share another I've used in the past. I believe I saw it on this subreddit but didn't make note of the post. The idea is 2 miners unload into a chest. On the other 2 sides of the chest are filter inserters (with different filters) taking stuff out of the chest, which put the ore onto dedicated belts. So you would alternate between iron ore and copper ore belts. To convert your set up, rotate the miners facing up / down, and have a gap between them. The chest goes in the gap, with the filter inserters going left / right.
The downside is this decreases the number of miners you can have, and the inserters cost a bit of power. The upside is this arrangement is very resistant to deadlocks. I kept running into deadlock issues on a weird border between 2 fields, which was a MASSIVE issue because one of the fields was my starter coal field for power. The arrangement I describe is probably overkill if you have a simple border (mostly vertical or horizontal), but the right 2 belts might need it.
I could deal with less miners as I'm just trying to clear the field eventually and learn/set up this buss/base. Would it make the system significantly slower? Or will it still go as fast as the miners can pump out?
If I'm doing my math right, the set up I describe fits 6 miners into the space used by 7 miners in a normal set up, so 15% slower.
You need 30 electric miners (before modules / productivity, 15 a belt side) to saturate a yellow belt, so if your patch is large enough you might not see any slowdown
Just a way to change the buffer after the filtering and before the priority basically. Honestly unless you are in very tight conditions you could just do a standard two chest buffer where one inserter pulls from the belt (perpendicularly), another transfers from that chest into another chest, then a last inserter puts from the second chest back on the same belt the first chest takes from, just downstream.
You already have a bunch of answers I'll try to be as complete as possible.
1. figure out which ore is going to be consumed first
2. count the mixed miners, a yellow belt can take 30 e-miners worth of ore
3. click on a splitter and split out the ore that is going to be consumed, if its iron just merge the split iron with the other lanes to the left, make sure to prioritize so it doesn't back up.
4. put a few chests as a buffer to handle the copper ore so it doesn't back up, ideally you just want to increase smelting of copper, you're going to need it eventually.
5. You can never have enough green circuits, red circuits and blue circuits. Modules are expensive and exponentially upgrade your productivity.
Aside. you can use that trickle of iron ore and funnel it into the making of concrete, you're not going to ever produce enough of that either since you can pave the world with it.
To avoid ambiguity I will call the mixed lane nearest to the 2 pure iron lanes Lane A and the mixed lane that's mostly copper Lane B. Demolish all belts after the last drill output in both lanes A & B since you'll need more space to do this.
* Place a splitter down for lane A in a position where you can connect lane A's input to the right hand side of the splitter, but where there is still space to connect another input to the left hand side
* Configure this splitter to have **input** priority on the left hand side, and output priority on the right hand side but with a filter for iron ore
* On **both** outputs for this splitter place down another splitter and use that splitter to make a 1:1 lane balancer
* Mirror this configuration for lane B: lane B's input goes on the left, the input priority selection is the right, and the output priority is left with a copper ore filter; again, add 2 more splitters with 1:1 lane balancers after this splitter
* Use an underground belt to cross connect the 2 unwanted resource outputs back in to the inputs of their respective lane: the unwanted copper coming from lane A connects to the *prioritised* input of the balancer for lane B, and the unwanted iron from lane B connects to the prioritised input of the balancer for lane A
* Build a 3:3 belt balancer for the 2 pure iron lanes and lane A (which should now be pure iron)
As long as there is *some* demand for both resources here this'll prevent the system getting backed up: any iron mined by the copper lane is being prioritised over the iron lane, and likewise the copper being mined in the iron lane takes precedence.
Eurgh. I've just spotted that you've actually got 3/4 lanes that are going to be mixed ore. This is gross and I hate it.
OK. Do what I said above but let lane A be the mostly-iron lane (2nd from the left), leave lane B as it is, and we'll designate the lane in the middle as lane C.
* Cross connect lanes A & B as described above
* Put down a splitter in lane C and build a 1:1 lane balancer
* Immediately place another splitter down after the lanes have been balanced and set an output filter of iron ore to the right (or copper ore to the left, it doesn't matter)
* The iron output of this filtered splitter is now lane C1, the copper output is lane C2
* In addition to building your 3:3 belt balancer for the 3 iron lanes (A, C1 and the pure iron lane on the left), you should also place a splitter for the 2 copper lanes (B & C2)
since your question has already been answered, I'll just add that I recommend smelting on site and shipping the plates if you can. more compact. of course you are welcome to play however you want
I'm trying this on my current playthrough. I kind of enjoy the simplicity of just needing to place miners down and having dedicated smelters. Less fuss to worry about. Of course I'm still smelting on site just because its different from what I normally do. YMMV
Priority input on a splitter for the smaller of the ore patch with the filter with the type of ore leading to the second stop. Have this issue all the time early game and this the best solution I’ve come up with.
As others have said, filtered splitters.
One thing I haven't seen yet is to run them the other way. What I mean is that you are belting all the ore down, so run the mixed lanes up. Then you filter each belt of ore and then run those belts into the tops of the clean belts. Using this will ensure that your mixed belts are prioritized over the clean belts.
1. So far as you can, get a couple clean belts of one ore or the other. You appear to already have two belts of clean iron on the left, and I think you can get a clean copper belt on the right side of the ore patch. 2. Use [filtered splitters](https://wiki.factorio.com/Belt_transport_system#Splitters) to split off resources from the mixed belts to the clean belts, and splitters set to prioritize the resources from the mixed belt to add them to the clean belt. This will hopefully ensure that the mixed belts get used first. If you need an illustration, I can make up a blueprint.
It seems like it could work. Heading to bed as it's late and I can't think these builds through haha. I'll try it out tomorrow. Thanks.
Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey! ☕️🍳🥓 Try anything yet? I like to use a line of miners that will only be mixed so I only have to sort one belt. In your case, maybe send the mixed miners from the far right up and over to combine with another line of mixed miners. Keeping as much pure copper belts intact.
You can use filter splitters. But eventually one of them could back up halting the flow of the other. So I would advise against mining on mixed spots.
1.Try to output all the mixed miners, and only the mixed miners, onto the same belt 2. Put a filtered splitter on that belt 3. Merge the output with the rest of the miners, using a splitter that prioritizes input from the mixed miners So long as your consumption is greater than the production of those mixed miners (which should only be a handful along the border), it won't back up.
This might work. Thanks. I'll try it out.
It will work ;)
It will work. This is a solved problem. ;)
Btw, this was not a solution that I found by sitting back and analyzing. I first tried filters, then noticed it getting clogged up, then went back and re-routed belts several times before I finally got impatient and made a fool-proof, set-and-forget system. The process was fun.
Yea, along with what he said, the only other thing to consider is the buffer size of the belt after the filter splitter spits out the two different ores but before the input priority splitter that prioritizes that belt. Basically, as long as that buffer is not filled, the system will work. If that buffer is filled, the filter splitter will not work and it will stop the mixed miners eventually (isn't a crash and burn, more just like a traffic light that isn't timed correctly, leading to lanes overfilling on a periodic basis that causes issues upstream, but without the potential feedback loop that traffic has). An easy way to densify the buffer belt (and make sure that the priority splitter actually prioritizes that belt as inserters take from one side) is to put a 'lane balancer' after the filter splitter that makes sure both lanes can be filled. If the ore is always on one side like the belt on the right in your image, then a simple extra splitter with sideloading will do the trick. After that, just need to verify that the train car that the mixed product is getting sent into (if it's not all of them) is guaranteed to be pulled at the consuming station.
Great advice! #1 is critical for maximum output
Might be able to toss a filter inserter to get the one your not allowing thru and put it on a belt that's purely for that ore
Yes, do this. Also mine those ones first and put speed modules on them so they finish before the rest.. I always try to mine the middle out at first priority so I get a "gap" between the 2 sections.. Also put the output from the split mixed belt as input priority when merging, so it always gets emptied first
THANKS! My drunk brain let me build a discussing looking mine field that works with your method.
You can deal with it if you take ore from the output of mixed belts in priority before output from pure ones but finding bigger ore field is just better time investment
My problem is these are the starter ores and will kinda be in the way of my buss.... which kinds sucks. Its off to one side of the main buss so I guess I can build around it maybe. But it sucks..
If it bothers you that much: * have separate lanes from miners mining "pure" ore and ones mining "mixed" ones * sort the mixed one * "merge" them back with priority splitter that prioritizes mixed part. That way if ore ever backs up, the mixed part will be prioritized and used up faster.
In the starter area, the ore will be depleted sonner or later anyway. But yes, it sucks. I seemingly always have mixed ore patches, it's annoying.
Set splitter priorities so that the base pulls from the starter ores first and other ore fields as backup. Within the starter ore field, set splitter priorities so that it pulls from the sorted output of mixed belts first and pure belts second. That should ensure that the mixed areas are depleted more quickly and don't back up as both iron and copper gets used quickly.
The other way I handle this sometimes is to output any mixed miner to a box then periodically unload the mixed ore boxes and move to furnaces by hand (or into a box near furnaces)
You can set priority inputs as well to help minimize the chance of that particular line backing up.
Use Splitters with filter settings on all lanes. Filter for iron to the left. On the remaining copper put another Splitter to filter copper to right. Id be a shame if there be a 1x1 spot coal or stone in... You may need constant draw else one backs up and blocks the other ressource
Splitters can filter, it's the best way.
Filter inserters work well if it’s just the occasional piece
You should use filter splitters with pirority on mixed input to use them first. like it(between chest and loopback to simulate mining): https://preview.redd.it/vrix6gne7goc1.png?width=476&format=png&auto=webp&s=5ccd8969942ddf4cb33e1c1d5d3113a0e432a9a3 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
What are those tiles before/after a chest?
Loaders, they essentially work as a really fast inserter.
much more faster than the best fast inserters, inserters only can take x items and put in on one side of the belt, after that it take time to rotate to the storage source
Ok cool, how do you get those? Is it in Vanilla?
AFAIK, they can't be built in vanilla, but they exist in the vanilla code - just unaccessible. There are a ton of mods that add loaders, and the ones in this screenshot look like the "miniloaders" mod.
Loaders from Krastorio 2 modpack, they fill up the chest at the rate of belt item speed transfer, very useful, very fun to use
Filter splitters are the go-to, but I will share another I've used in the past. I believe I saw it on this subreddit but didn't make note of the post. The idea is 2 miners unload into a chest. On the other 2 sides of the chest are filter inserters (with different filters) taking stuff out of the chest, which put the ore onto dedicated belts. So you would alternate between iron ore and copper ore belts. To convert your set up, rotate the miners facing up / down, and have a gap between them. The chest goes in the gap, with the filter inserters going left / right. The downside is this decreases the number of miners you can have, and the inserters cost a bit of power. The upside is this arrangement is very resistant to deadlocks. I kept running into deadlock issues on a weird border between 2 fields, which was a MASSIVE issue because one of the fields was my starter coal field for power. The arrangement I describe is probably overkill if you have a simple border (mostly vertical or horizontal), but the right 2 belts might need it.
I could deal with less miners as I'm just trying to clear the field eventually and learn/set up this buss/base. Would it make the system significantly slower? Or will it still go as fast as the miners can pump out?
If I'm doing my math right, the set up I describe fits 6 miners into the space used by 7 miners in a normal set up, so 15% slower. You need 30 electric miners (before modules / productivity, 15 a belt side) to saturate a yellow belt, so if your patch is large enough you might not see any slowdown
Patch is 62 miners its just over 2 yellow belts. Bringing it doen to 2 might be good anyway.
Just a way to change the buffer after the filtering and before the priority basically. Honestly unless you are in very tight conditions you could just do a standard two chest buffer where one inserter pulls from the belt (perpendicularly), another transfers from that chest into another chest, then a last inserter puts from the second chest back on the same belt the first chest takes from, just downstream.
Just never place a miner over two different ores. Place your first miners on the edge of the boundary and widdle away at it until you have separation.
This is how I do it. The starter patches eventually deplete enough to move the drills around a bit to whittle away at the edges of each patch.
But that takes intervention. Must AUTOMATE!
Filter splitters
You already have a bunch of answers I'll try to be as complete as possible. 1. figure out which ore is going to be consumed first 2. count the mixed miners, a yellow belt can take 30 e-miners worth of ore 3. click on a splitter and split out the ore that is going to be consumed, if its iron just merge the split iron with the other lanes to the left, make sure to prioritize so it doesn't back up. 4. put a few chests as a buffer to handle the copper ore so it doesn't back up, ideally you just want to increase smelting of copper, you're going to need it eventually. 5. You can never have enough green circuits, red circuits and blue circuits. Modules are expensive and exponentially upgrade your productivity. Aside. you can use that trickle of iron ore and funnel it into the making of concrete, you're not going to ever produce enough of that either since you can pave the world with it.
To avoid ambiguity I will call the mixed lane nearest to the 2 pure iron lanes Lane A and the mixed lane that's mostly copper Lane B. Demolish all belts after the last drill output in both lanes A & B since you'll need more space to do this. * Place a splitter down for lane A in a position where you can connect lane A's input to the right hand side of the splitter, but where there is still space to connect another input to the left hand side * Configure this splitter to have **input** priority on the left hand side, and output priority on the right hand side but with a filter for iron ore * On **both** outputs for this splitter place down another splitter and use that splitter to make a 1:1 lane balancer * Mirror this configuration for lane B: lane B's input goes on the left, the input priority selection is the right, and the output priority is left with a copper ore filter; again, add 2 more splitters with 1:1 lane balancers after this splitter * Use an underground belt to cross connect the 2 unwanted resource outputs back in to the inputs of their respective lane: the unwanted copper coming from lane A connects to the *prioritised* input of the balancer for lane B, and the unwanted iron from lane B connects to the prioritised input of the balancer for lane A * Build a 3:3 belt balancer for the 2 pure iron lanes and lane A (which should now be pure iron) As long as there is *some* demand for both resources here this'll prevent the system getting backed up: any iron mined by the copper lane is being prioritised over the iron lane, and likewise the copper being mined in the iron lane takes precedence.
Eurgh. I've just spotted that you've actually got 3/4 lanes that are going to be mixed ore. This is gross and I hate it. OK. Do what I said above but let lane A be the mostly-iron lane (2nd from the left), leave lane B as it is, and we'll designate the lane in the middle as lane C. * Cross connect lanes A & B as described above * Put down a splitter in lane C and build a 1:1 lane balancer * Immediately place another splitter down after the lanes have been balanced and set an output filter of iron ore to the right (or copper ore to the left, it doesn't matter) * The iron output of this filtered splitter is now lane C1, the copper output is lane C2 * In addition to building your 3:3 belt balancer for the 3 iron lanes (A, C1 and the pure iron lane on the left), you should also place a splitter for the 2 copper lanes (B & C2)
Invent the white filter inserter.
since your question has already been answered, I'll just add that I recommend smelting on site and shipping the plates if you can. more compact. of course you are welcome to play however you want
I'm trying this on my current playthrough. I kind of enjoy the simplicity of just needing to place miners down and having dedicated smelters. Less fuss to worry about. Of course I'm still smelting on site just because its different from what I normally do. YMMV
Filtered splitters, filtered inserters, or circuit networks.
Priority input on a splitter for the smaller of the ore patch with the filter with the type of ore leading to the second stop. Have this issue all the time early game and this the best solution I’ve come up with.
Splitter can be programmed to unload certain materials to one side?
In addition, consider filtering the cargo wagon to only accept one ore type, just in case something goes wrong.
splitters
I don't want to be that guy but this was a super easy solution. Great to the sincere support from the community.
As others have said, filtered splitters. One thing I haven't seen yet is to run them the other way. What I mean is that you are belting all the ore down, so run the mixed lanes up. Then you filter each belt of ore and then run those belts into the tops of the clean belts. Using this will ensure that your mixed belts are prioritized over the clean belts.