How to properly split 1 belt from the contents of 4?

[Horoai]

Example, iron plates:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=857646869

I want all 4 belts to fill the 1 belt I take away from them at equal parts. The problem with my design is that it unecssarily shuffels plates to the right and it also doesn't really take equal parts from all 4 belts. The further to the right, the less a belt contributes in this picture, right?

Additionally, these 1-belts (from 4) carry double-lane in order to enhance throughput. However, sometimes there are downtimes for some factories (capacity reached) and the plate demand plummets. Yet a few assemblers keep working taking only a small amount of plates and they often do that from only one lane of that belt.
If the downtime lasts long enough this one-sided unloading backs up way into the 4 main belts. Iron plates come in fast enough to prevent the assemblers from touching the second lane on each belt but not fast enough to keep it filled. The result is my 4 main-belts lose half their capacity like this:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=857654036

What can I do? Is there an elegant solution to both these issues?


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Note that wherever I cut one lane off a belt I do it like this:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=857657564

This is purely an issue with inserters right at the assemblers favouring 1 lane of a belt feeding them over the other.

[!?!]

Balance your input, it won't matter if the consumption is uneven.
Or keep dumping so many plates on the bus that it never runs dry.

[Horoai]

What do you mean "balance your input"? My input is balanced. That's why I have the issue.

[!?!]

Then this issue is not an issue that will effect your input in any way and purely cosmetic.

[mittim]

This may help for properly splitting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_63N3QuPZF0

[KatherineOfSky]

Originally posted by 8mittim8:

This may help for properly splitting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_63N3QuPZF0

Note that the Priority Splitter concept has pretty much been abandoned because of throughput issues on the bus. (Like many new ideas, it had its month of fame, and now it's fallen into disuse :-)

[Horoai]

So, I take it this is an unsolved (maybe unsolvable) problem?

[KatherineOfSky]

Originally posted by Yggdrasil:

So, I take it this is an unsolved (maybe unsolvable) problem?

It might be better to say that there are no perfect solutions just yet.

[Horoai]

Originally posted by KatherineOfSky:

Originally posted by Yggdrasil:

So, I take it this is an unsolved (maybe unsolvable) problem?

It might be better to say that there are no perfect solutions just yet.

Yes that's what I wanted to say :P

So I guess my take then will be to use the bad splitters and somehow re-balance the bus lanes after every major factory.

[Coffee Daemon]

If you want the belts to be balanced after yuo've pulled a line off, simply put a balancer after you pull off. Would that work for you?

[Horoai]

Originally posted by Coffee Daemon:

If you want the belts to be balanced after yuo've pulled a line off, simply put a balancer after you pull off. Would that work for you?

You mean one of these?
http://i.imgur.com/6fka8J3.png

Yeah that's what I'm doing right now.

[Nailfoot]

Originally posted by Yggdrasil:

Originally posted by Coffee Daemon:

If you want the belts to be balanced after yuo've pulled a line off, simply put a balancer after you pull off. Would that work for you?

You mean one of these?
http://i.imgur.com/6fka8J3.png

Yeah that's what I'm doing right now.

https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comments/4d3per/belt_balancer_compendium/

Look at the 4:4 balancer in that link, its much more compact than the one you are using.


EDIT

This is the 4 lane balancer most people use now. The top two splitters are not needed but I put them in anyway.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=857985926

[Ruges]

I believe what your looking for OP is somthing like this:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=857991611

The red section is the way you should pull from your main bus. for a spur that is ok with 50 percent of a belt capacity (spliters always send half one way and half the other) The bottom blue section of the above section is a consolidator. It pushes 75% of the belts items to the left belt. That way items further down the main busline will have full lines again to pull from. However it has the added feature of a spill over, Meaning if the spure does not use its full potential it will continue to sent stock down the line.

If your spur needs to use a full line all by itself then you will need to double up the splitters that are sent to it. Below is a setup for pulling from a mainline that will send a full line down the spur. And then below that you would place in a balancer or a consolidator.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=858004848

[Horoai]

Thank you. <3

[Kintharo]

Btw your factory looks optically very damn good, sir