Stack inserters stop unloading when trainsstation has mixed quality ores

[Myricaulus]

They just wait for that one legendary iron ore forever, while holding one of it. With bulk inserters that never happend. Bug?

[Fletch]

I haven't gone to Gleba yet, so haven't unlocked the new Stack inserters yet.

EDIT: It doesn't sound like a bug to me. The inserter is waiting for enough items to fully make a stack (and a single stack must all be the same quality tier).

[Myricaulus]

Would be nice to tell them NOT to wait for a full stack. At least not longer then the others inserters for a full hand.

[Myricaulus]

Appearently i need to ditch this neat mixed ore processing plant for a seperatered one with foundrys for common and smelters for quality ores.

[Pr0wn]

Yes the stack inserters will wait for a full stack and will only take a single quality tier in a stack.
Simplest is to filter ore quality before they reach stack inserters, a looping belt with stack inserters which are quality filtered also works. You can retain a mixed smelting operation afterwards but you’ll have to filter the output once again.

[Fel]

Stack inserters only turn and unload when their hand is completely full, that's the whole point of those even and it should specifically say this in their description.
If the issue comes from quality items being mixed into the rest, you could use filters to force them to only take normal quality and use bulk inserters for the higher quality items.

[Fletch]

Originally posted by Myricaulus:

Appearently i need to ditch this neat mixed ore processing plant for a seperatered one with foundrys for common and smelters for quality ores.

On your train unload station, can you just set filters on each stack inserter so they are dedicated to individual quality tiers? Granted, it doesn't stop your Legendary inserter from stalling by waiting for enough material to make a full stack, but at least the entire station shouldn't deadlock with filters on the inserters...

[Hurkyl]

... or don't use stack inserters?

A thing I've found very useful -- especially on very fast recipes -- is that for my output inserters, I use a stack inserter with the filter "= normal", and a bulk (or fast) inserter with the filter "> normal". That way I stack the normal stuff, and draw out the rest normally.

Sometimes, buildings even get to the point where I will also dedicate a stack inserter to "= uncommon" and use a third inserter (bulk) to cover the rest of the output. Sometimes I use "> uncommon", and sometimes I make it unfiltered if I need it to cover the split seconds when the stack inserter is swinging.

[Glyph]

Stack inserters and bulk inserters are not interchangeable. Don't use stack inserters for low volume things that won't immediately fill the hand. They're for increasing the throughput of already saturated belts.

[Pandorian]

Originally posted by Hurkyl:

... or don't use stack inserters?

A thing I've found very useful -- especially on very fast recipes -- is that for my output inserters, I use a stack inserter with the filter "= normal", and a bulk (or fast) inserter with the filter "> normal". That way I stack the normal stuff, and draw out the rest normally.

Sometimes, buildings even get to the point where I will also dedicate a stack inserter to "= uncommon" and use a third inserter (bulk) to cover the rest of the output. Sometimes I use "> uncommon", and sometimes I make it unfiltered if I need it to cover the split seconds when the stack inserter is swinging.

I use something similar in my copper reprocessing area. I'm trying to quality up the copper by crafting them into wire. So I put stack inserters for the expected outcome of the craft and bulk inserters for everything else. (Yes I know there are better ways to get quality copper but they don't work for the planet my copper reprocessing is on.)

Something else I've tried experimenting with is tying a bulk inserter to a stack inserter and setting the filter/ability to operate based on what the stack inserter has. Doesn't work quite as well as the first example but can be useful in certain situations.