transport pipes?

[wfs0801]

I'm very new to Tekkit, but I'm slowly picking up on how different machines and wiring and what not works. I'm beginning to go on longer mining trips when I go out (mining drill + 4-5 RE-Batteries) and am now looking into automating my macerator so that my goodies from mining don't just stack up as ores after the first stack finished while I'm on a trip. I've done a little research on how transport pipes work, and they seem pretty straightforward for this simple application (haven't actually done it yet, but as soon as I log on). Although, upon my research I couldn't help but to question 1 thing that I couldn't find the answer to. What happens when you have ores going from a chest to a Macerator and they go between the 2 quicker than the Macerator gets finished with them? Meaning, if it finishes a stack of Iron Ore and it's doing the last 1, what happens when it sends a new ore into the Macerator before getting finished with the Iron? Does it randomly spit it back onto the floor? I'd just like to get this bug fixed before setting it up, nothing better than to do it right the first time.

Also, What side/portion of the Macerator should the pipe lead in to insert Ores, and where should it lead out to output dust?

[Omicron]

Most Industrialcraft machines have their inputs similar to what you see when you open the machine's interface. For example, the furnace has the fuel slot on the bottom, the smelting slot on the top, and the product slot over to the side. Meaning the furnace accepts smelting input from the top side, fuel (like coal) from the bottom, and output can be retrieved from the sides. You'll find the macerator to be very similar.

Buildcraft transport pipes will spill the items on the ground when the target inventory is full. Redpower pneumatic tubes will return the item to the sender, called "backstuffing", which blocks the sender from sending any items until the target inventory clears up and the backstuffed item can finally travel to the intended destination. Both things can be inconvenient, especially when your Redpower sender is for example a sorting machine catering to many different outputs. And item spills, of course, are a bad thing. So regardless fo what you use, it pays to set up your system in a way that minimizes target inventory overflow. There exist different strategies for both Buildcraft (pipe loops, insertion pipes) and Redpower (precise timing) or both (buffer chests, splitting input between multiple processing machines).

However, if all you want to do is pump stuff from one chest into one machine, backstuffing won't hurt you (since the sender isn't sending anywhere else anyway), so just use a transposer, a timer and some pneumatic tubes.

[wfs0801]

So, if I understand correctly I should place a Transposer between the chest with Ores and the Macerator? And how much of my tubing/piping should be pneumatic, if not all?

[wfs0801]

I am testing out some different setups, and have noticed that after being on for a few minutes, the redstone engine begins to change color. I want to assume this is not necessarily a good thing, I realized it was green instead of blue and switched it off for now. I have not attempted using and pneumatic tubing, timers, or transposers yet.

[Hushful]

They are just warming up and as long as the redstone engines have something to work or power, they won't overheat and explode.

[wfs0801]

Ah, makes sense, I recall seeing a few details about them 'warming up' and how they're speeds change based on how long they've run. Didn't even think of that Thanks. Back to setting up I go.

[Hushful]

Blue is cold = slowest, Green is warming = slow, Yellow is normal = normal, Red is overheating = fastest (may explode). Steam and Combustion engines will eventually explode. Redstone won't as long as they have something to power.

[wfs0801]

Hooked it all up, started it up and as to my fear, it moves the items faster then the Macerator gets done with them. So now I need a bit of help on the whole timer, pneumatic tubing thing. I've never worked with redstone so I have no idea how it works

[Omicron]

By the numbers given on the Buildcraft wiki, a lone steam engine that is powering something should never explode. In fact, it should never even change color because it transfers so much energy per stroke that its own energy generation cannot move it across the threshold to green (or even away from the 0% mark for that matter).

Is that not how it works in Tekkit?

EDIT: It's really simple, wfs0801.

Place the transposer next to the chest so that the small hole in the back faces away from the chest and the big front opening faces the chest (a screwdriver can rotate it while placed). Connect the back of the transposer to the macerator with pneumatic tubes in exactly the same way you've been doing it with transport pipes.

Then build a timer. The recipe is complex, so look it up in NEI - but trust me, once you play Tekkit for a bit you will know it from memory, you need it that often Set it down next to the transposer, facing it. It will begin pulsing immediately. Rightclick the timer to set its speed. The transposer will suck one item from the chest with every timer pulse. To turn the timer off, place a redstone signal source (such as a redstone torch or a lever) behind it.

[wfs0801]

Well now I've hit an issue. I can't make Brass Ingots without an Alloy Furnace. And I've never seen Clay in this game at all...this is getting very annoying very quickly.

[Omicron]

Clay spawns in copius amounts underwater, especially on shorelines. When I was building a nice factory roof out of bricks, I used to go on diving trips that resulted in six to eight 64-stacks of clayballs every time.

If you really can't find any but want to keep testing, consider spawning yourself an alloy furnace. It may not be fully "legit", but if the world generator is screwing you over...