Recycle Buffering with Barrels

[Mirality]

It looks like at the moment it's taking about 16 seconds for one recycler to process one stack of cobble. So I tried setting the timer to 4.2s and it does seem much more reliable. There's still the odd occasion where something (usually dirt) will end up backstuffing into the wrong barrel, but it usually sorts itself out within a few seconds.

I think I've completely underestimated how much cobble this quarry produces, though. I was watching it and even with the retriever running (at 4s) it filled the cobble barrel to 64 stacks in just under two minutes. So I'm not sure it's even possible to keep up with this kind of input.

EDIT: Actually, after thinking about it for a bit, you don't really need the emerald pipes. Adding in a third router with Speed, Bandwidth, THOROUGHNESS and Machine Filter upgrades would solve the barrel issue. The Thoroughness upgrade makes it so that the router visits all the machines that it is able to visit in the network IN ORDER, trying to keep that inventory full at all times. Since Barrels only ever keep one kind of item in their inventory, the Router would distribute only one type of item to each Barrel. Which barrel would hold which thing would of course, vary, as the barrels are emptied and refilled, but they would all only hold one kind of item at a time. The Machine Filter is only there to make it so that the Router only visits the Barrels, and not everything else that is connected.

Routers were one of my backup plans. I might still end up doing something like that. But I've heard that thoroughness still doesn't guarantee not duplicating barrels -- since it resumes where it left off and stops as soon as it finds somewhere possible, every time the input item type changes there's a chance it'll end up in an empty barrel even if there was another one that already had that item.

(Also, I did just make a bunch of logic matrices anyway, just in case.)

 

[twisto51]

I think I've completely underestimated how much cobble this quarry produces, though. I was watching it and even with the retriever running (at 4s) it filled the cobble barrel to 64 stacks in just under two minutes. So I'm not sure it's even possible to keep up with this kind of input.

It is easy to keep with a quarry. 4 recyclers with 5 overclockers each will keep up with 4+ quarries.

If the timer on the retriever affects how fast the barrel fills up it isn't quarry speed you're measuring.

 

[Mirality]

No, the timer affects how fast the barrels empty. ie. I was actually getting more than 64 stacks per 100ish seconds -- the recyclers were processing 1 stack per 4.2s, so my total quarry input must have been ~90 stacks in that time, or about 1 stack per 1.2s.

I currently have 4 recyclers with 6 overclockers each, which is a ~16.1s processing time per stack per recycler. I could speed up the timer to pull stacks at the same rate or faster, but then I'll just get backstuffing again unless I add a LOT more recyclers and/or overclockers. (Is there a max limit on overclockers per recycler, or a point where they stop being effective?)

Remember, I'm not talking about a BC quarry here. This is a frame quarry, which is MUCH faster.

 

[twisto51]

Remember, I'm not talking about a BC quarry here. This is a frame quarry, which is MUCH faster.

Just add more recyclers. I don't really know why you're bothering with all the lag associated with moving around that much cobble/dirt, to be honest. I know you've stated you don't want to voidpipe it but that is exactly what I'd do. It'd go into tesseracts/enderchests on the frame, come out at my intermediate processing facility and then all the junk would get voidpiped. It isn't worth the power/lag/infrastructure to recycle the junk when you have igneous extruders as an option. I'm generating close to one uu-matter/second without recycling anything from quarries/tunnelbores. I typically go with frame tunnelbores over frame quarries too since I don't have to mine levels that are mostly worthless just to get to what I want.

There is a max limit on overclockers per recycler. They also use exponentially? more power. I probably wouldn't go past 8 or so(guess it depends what your constraints are, space vs. EU consumption). Sticking a transformer upgrade in each one also helps with powering them. I have 20 of them with 8 overclockers and 1 transformer in each. Think they use 42 EU/tick each with 8 overclockers.

 

[Mirality]

Mostly I like seeing the items whizzing by, and I don't like destroying stuff, even when I do have basically infinite supply of it. (Also not all the cobble is going to recycle, I have some of it going to an induction furnace to make a steady supply of stone for direct use or turning into bricks.)

But yeah, it can get a bit laggy at times, which I'm not fond of. I'm definitely considering ripping half the tubing out and replacing it with routers, or AE, since I've heard they're less laggy. (Also, while testing this out I've managed to get up to a stack of quartz. Not sure how much I need for a decent AE system.)

 

[twisto51]

You don't need much quartz to get started, you will need quite a bit once you start making the larger drives. The thing with AE is that you pay in energy for each transaction. I really try to avoid putting anything into AE that I don't intend to stay there or craft with at some point. Dumping ungodly amounts of cobble into AE only to pull it back out for recyclers probably isn't going to help your lag and will consume plenty of energy. It took 3-4 days of a frame tunnelbore to pay for my AE system.

I like to see items whizzing by too. By filtering out the cobble, dirt, and gravel I only see nice shiny items like diamonds, emeralds, gold ore, gems, etc.

 

[Mirality]

Just because "why the heck not, I have the resources... and fabricators, so it's not a pain in the butt" I made 12 more upgraded recyclers. Had to upgrade them to MV to get them running smoothly, but I was able to drop the timer to 1.1s and now the system keeps up nicely. Woo! I'm using a router to extract the scrap from them now, so it's still nice and compact.

(And it's actually not noticeably any more laggy than MC sometimes gets all by itself.)

 

[Someone Else 37]

Clarification: This image shows that the retriever will only output into the barrel when it retrieves more than the fermenters can handle. The barrel is thus used as a measure to take care of overflow from overzealous retrieving from storage, not as what others might call a buffer.

So the idea of having excess dirt/cobble/etc. back into the line of barrels via restriction tube (or whatever) might work pretty well.
But, using routers and more recyclers instead works too.

Also, will a router set to Output mode with an Ejector upgrade installed actually pull from adjacent inventories before spreading items around? Did I read that correctly?

 

[lazaruz76]

one way to do if you want to use buildcraft pipes is to have a RP2 relay dump items onto an obsidian pipe, that feeds the diamond pipes. I did something similar to filter out bees in a sorting system i built. check my imgur album in my sig for pics of it. if you use this idea just make sure to encase all sides of the transfer area so you don't get spillage. in my system all the items are filtered thru an apiarist pipe for bees, all other items are sent to a relay to be put into the RP2 tube system feeding barrels. for your purpose I would place a filter for junk items feeding a relay, relay drops items to an obsidian pipe, obsidian pipe feeds diamond pipes, diamond pipes sort to each barrel

 

[Someone Else 37]

Instead of a relay, you could use a transposer or filter to eject items from a tube network just as easily- with the potential bonus of less lag and probable bonus of not having to worry about the relay fill up and backstuff your system. However, if you're also deliberately using the relay as a bottleneck, to prevent things from overflowing in the relay downstream of the BC system, consider switching the second relay out with another gap and a transposer.

Alternatively, I believe that a PedPower filter can detect bees, but not the type of bee. So you could filter out bees (with any old bee in it) BEFORE sorting out the things that aren't bees- so just put your obsidian pipe behind a space behind the filter.
I.e. (if the above didn't make sense) set a filter with a random bee dump bees into your obsidian pipe, while leaving everything that isn't a bee in your tube network.
Redpower systems don't care about the NBT data of an item- so all bees look the same.

 

[lazaruz76]

Instead of a relay, you could use a transposer or filter to eject items from a tube network just as easily- with the potential bonus of less lag and probable bonus of not having to worry about the relay fill up and backstuff your system. However, if you're also deliberately using the relay as a bottleneck, to prevent things from overflowing in the relay downstream of the BC system, consider switching the second relay out with another gap and a transposer.

Alternatively, I believe that a PedPower filter can detect bees, but not the type of bee. So you could filter out bees (with any old bee in it) BEFORE sorting out the things that aren't bees- so just put your obsidian pipe behind a space behind the filter.
I.e. (if the above didn't make sense) set a filter with a random bee dump bees into your obsidian pipe, while leaving everything that isn't a bee in your tube network.
Redpower systems don't care about the NBT data of an item- so all bees look the same.

I did not know this. Thanks for the info. I was working on the assumption that red power could tell the difference between bees when I designed the filtration system. Had I known I would have just piped the bees thru a filter straight to the apiarist chest I have.

 

[Mirality]

Clarification: This image shows that the retriever will only output into the barrel when it retrieves more than the fermenters can handle. The barrel is thus used as a measure to take care of overflow from overzealous retrieving from storage, not as what others might call a buffer.

So the idea of having excess dirt/cobble/etc. back into the line of barrels via restriction tube (or whatever) might work pretty well.
But, using routers and more recyclers instead works too.

Yes, I added a restriction tube and wooden chest right next to the retriever. It works well -- occasionally items will go into it and it then prioritises pulling out from that before the barrels, so the chest never gets full, although items sometimes circle a couple of times (mostly when I start losing power to the recycler system -- had to upgrade its power inputs a few times while testing).

Thanks for that idea and the clarification -- the restriction tube was hard to spot in your original screenshot, so I missed it at first.

Also, will a router set to Output mode with an Ejector upgrade installed actually pull from adjacent inventories before spreading items around? Did I read that correctly?

What I have now at the output end of the recyclers is one router set to Extract with Bandwidth and a Machine Filter set to Recycler, and Eject to another router next to it. This router is set to Insert with Bandwidth and Machine Filter of Barrel -- it inserts into one barrel touching it. This barrel then has a wooden pipe underneath to bring the scrap out to where I want to store it for the moment for later Mass Fab use.

I had to add the barrel buffer in there because a wooden pipe with autarchic gate plus one redstone engine still couldn't keep up with the rate at which the routers were pulling scrap out. This probably isn't a long-term solution (the system can only be run in bursts, otherwise the barrel will fill up) but it's sufficient for the moment. I could probably improve it by adding more or better engines, or extra barrels. (Or if routers could insert to BC pipes directly. That'd be nice. I probably could have used an RP2 relay instead but then I'd have had to change all the BC piping, although it would also mean I could have used only one router.)

 

[Phoenix591]

actually, on the bee note, I've been using filters to sort queens vs drones in automating my bee setup, I'm like 75% sure they work using the specific species of bee (and maybe analyzed status? ie analyzed or not analyzed this I'm only about 55% sure about), but not specific geneotype (ie +4 humidity vs +3, etc etc)

and yes, yes this did mean sacrificing a princess of my desired species to sit inside a filter forever... (can probably be avoided using AE and an export bus into a relay, but I'm too lazy to change it)