Is There a Simple Fix for My Jammed RP2 Sorting Machine?

[Eunomiac]

This is one of those questions where I'm sure the answer will make me feel dumb, but after searching wikis and Googles and forums (oh my!), I'm at a loss. (I'll post screenshots if it turns out the answer isn't so simple.)

I have a Sorting Machine attached to an input Chest, which manages my ore processing area by sorting ores to a Pulverizer. The Pulverizer, in turn, sends the dusts back into that input Chest, where the same Sorting Machine is configured to send those dusts to a Furnace.

Say the Chest contains 1 stack of Iron Ore and 1 stack of Copper Ore. The Sorting Machine will send both out to my Pulverizer but, when the Iron Ore reaches the Pulverizer first, the Copper Ore will bounce back to the Sorting Machine. Up to now, all of this is expected behavior.

The problem is that the Sorting Machine jams entirely when the Copper Ore bounces back. Until the Sorting Machine is able to send that Copper Ore to the Pulverizer, it won't process anything at all in the input Chest---even other items with valid destinations, like the pulverized dusts looping back in (which should be sorted to the Furnace).

What's the best solution here? I'd rather not use a Hopper, because space is tight. Would replacing the input Chest with a Relay or Buffer or some other RP2 machine allow the Sorting Machine to return the Copper Ore to the input "chest" rather than clogging up its internal buffer?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Peppe]

Most be call this backstuffing and you should design to avoid it.
Most redpower machines are 1 way, so if something bounces back to them it is held in an output buffer. The output buffer seems to be limited to one item type, but any number of stacks.

So in an a redpower tube network if you get items bouncing back and stopping your redpower machines from outputting you should modify your design to handle the source of the issue.

In your particular case a simple solution would be a restriction tube and any regular tubes you need to get back to your input chest.

On sending items will still prefer the shortest route and should still go to your machines (restriction tube is treated as a very long length of tube).
On bounce back items will then prefer to go back to the input chest through the restriction tube
they can still go into the nearest output buffer of a RP machine if the chest fills up.

 

[Eunomiac]

Thanks, I'll test it out and report back. My only concern is whether connecting a Restriction Tube back to my input Chest will cause an infinite loop: Since the input Chest would always be a "valid destination", does this mean my Sorting Machine will constantly extract items from the input Chest, pump them back around, through the Restriction Tube, back into the input Chest?

(If so, there's a silver lining --- I got one of those spiffy Wind Turbines, but it never spins because I barely use any Bluetricity. An infinite Sorting Machine loop would solve that problem! )

 

[Guswut]

Since the input Chest would always be a "valid destination", does this mean my Sorting Machine will constantly extract items from the input Chest, pump them back around, through the Restriction Tube, back into the input Chest?

Yes, it would loop infinitely.

You may want to go with an "overflow" buffer, which could be a diamond chest at the end of a restriction tube or two (I believe each restriction tube counts as either five hundred, or five thousand standard tubes in regards to priority for tubing) which you would check every now and again. It's less automated, but won't cause massive infinite loops that could, possibly, drain your bluetricity buffer.

It might also be useful to set up some BuildCraft gates to detect the status of the machines, so you could store excess in the overflow chest until it can be used. But at that point, a hopper would likely be a much better solution.

 

[Eunomiac]

Thanks! Alas, it is sounding like I'll have to settle on a Hopper... but even that merely pushes the problem back a bit, since they can fill up too. I'm actually a little surprised the Sorting Machine doesn't simply return the Copper Ore to the input Chest when it bounces back (or that there isn't a RP2 replacement for the chest that would do the same thing).

I'm still holding out hope there's a more elegant solution out there... infinite loops and manually clearing overflow chests to avoid jams all seems a little cumbersome for RP2, which is just about the most polished mod in the FTB pack for my money.

 

[Guswut]

I'm still holding out hope there's a more elegant solution out there... infinite loops and manually clearing overflow chests to avoid jams all seems a little cumbersome for RP2, which is just about the most polished mod in the FTB pack for my money.

Infinite loops aren't too bad so long as you don't end up getting the system choked up eternally, which shouldn't happen so long as you're feeding your system things it can process. A hopper in combination with a return restricted tube should keep the infinite power drain down whilst also allowing the system to process more than five types of materials at a time.

What about more pulverizers to deal with the possible excess load?

 

[Peppe]

You could go with a relay over a hopper to extend your input buffer to 9 slots. Or multiple hoppers/relays or multiple processing rigs... some people go as far as a pulverizer per ore.

 

[PhilHibbs]

The infinite loop could be slowed down with a "holding" chest from which a Filter with a nice slow Timer pushes the items back into the input chest. At least I think that Filter might be the right machine, I'm not sure, CMIIW.

 

[Guswut]

The infinite loop could be slowed down with a "holding" chest from which a Filter with a nice slow Timer pushes the items back into the input chest. At least I think that Filter might be the right machine, I'm not sure, CMIIW.

A filter would do the trick, one stack at a time. Turtles could work, too, and it would be more compact that way but would require some LUA.

 

[Slaagathor]

You could put a relay in right before the pulverizer, so the copper dust would sit there until the pulverizer could accept it. May not be super elegant, but puts a holding buffer in place that looks better than a hopper and has higher capacity.

 

[Zjarek_S]

I'd just connect ores from sorting system to separate smelting system, which would just pulverize and smelt ores with large enough buffer to accommodate ores from mining trip or runs of tunnel bore and after processing output to main system (for example painted to be sorted).

 

[crazy_fab]

Stupid question here but why is that so bad? the system should fix itself as soon as the iron is done shouldn't it? If your input chest is already overflowing when your iron is done that probably mean you need more pulverizer. It seem relay are useful in case you get Iron cooper iron which allow both iron stack to get "reunited" in the relay creating less jam. But having one processing line per ore seem overkill as long as you have enough machine.

 

[zemerick]

Personally I prefer to use both multiple machines and a loopback to help keep the system future proof. This allows me to really ramp up the speed of the input without having to redesign the system.

Also, since you are already using a pulverizer...just add a powered furnace right next to it and you don't need to loop back and resend ores.

My current system has a tesseract from my quarry that inputs to a diamond chest. 2 retrievers pull from this chest ( which also allows me to dump stuff in manually for any reason and has a large buffer ), sending to my sorting machine. The sorter sends ores over where each one has its own machine. Excessive yes, but still plenty cheap and easy. Pulverizers immediately dump dusts into adjacent furnaces to be smelted ( so I have line of pulverizer->Powered Furnace-Pulverizer, etc. ) Ingots are dumped out the bottom where they go to a diamond chest. A single relay pulls from the chest and sends them into a somewhat separate set of barrels for ingots. ( I have these on top of my main barrels. ) At the end of the pulverizer and furnace line I have a restriction tube with a tesseract back to the original input. This creates an infinite loop, but travel time keeps the system in check. This also has only come up one time when I gathered ores from a few separate locations and moved them all to this processing age. ( I keep all of this stuff in a separate age to minimize any FPS losses. )

This system can handle 2 quarries running off 200 MJ/t without any clogs or backjams. Sometimes the best solution is to over-engineer it. It takes a tiny bit more resources, and a bit more room...but the fact that I can just leave it running 24/7 without concern is worth it.

 

[Hexagon_Nicegay]

Just get applied energistics and use an export bus to give your ores to the pulverizer, and an import bus to get it back

 

[PhilHibbs]

Usually I don't have a problem with people replying to old threads, if there's something genuinely insightful to add, or if their issue is identical to the original thread issue. But necroing a thread just to say "get rid of your system and use a different mod for everything"? Pointless. Yes, we know AE leaves all other mods in the dust for item storage. But not everyone likes it.